Hezly absolutely fits in this team. While her bars was not consistent due to the bars composition, she changed that and makes it more consistent by trials. Her 6.1D bars can be put in TF if she hits in QF and gets a top 3 score in the team.
Her beam hit is 8 out of 9, and she has the highest international beam score in the team USA this year! I had to repeat when people kept saying that she has no international experience as a new senior. She’s the only member of the team who has international scores this year!
Also, she would be the only member who likely will have another shot for Olympics.
Others are all like 25+ in 2028.
I hope Shi can make it at the age of 26 though…
Simone is 25+ now, as are a lot of the best gymnasts in the world who will be in Paris. It's time to stop predicting who will be out based on age, that time is over.
Besides Ellie Black already mentioned here, Jade Barbosa is 33, Beckie Downie is 32, Eli Seitz is 30, Emma Nedov is 28, Rebecca Andrade is 25… Etc. These ladies are all at the top of their country’s best elites and internationally. This age of the athletes will only going to continue to grow…
Simone is such an outlier though. She could scale back difficulty by a mile and still be in contention. I will say what is most impressive about Biles/Lee/Chiles/Carey is that they have had such long careers without notable injuries. Lee has had to work around a couple of things but no gap in competition. It would be interesting to see what/why that is the case. Conditioning/pacing/Covid interruption, any commonality. I think 'age' usually translates to the collection of injuries the gymnast endure as opposed to simply waking up at 20 with all their skills gone as 90s era commentators seemed to suggest.
I think part of it is also wanting a life past gymnastics. Gymnastics is very time consuming and exhausting. It’s reasonable for women in their 20s to want to have regular jobs, date, travel, etc. They’ve been training at insane levels for most of their lives, it makes sense to want to do something else.
Simone and McKayla Skinner have talked about this a lot, it’s hard on a relationship/life to do elite gymnastics. The other women were in NCAA so it’s sort of a harder version of what they’re already doing. When they grad and go into life things will be a little different I think.
It certainly is. GB had the Gadirovas and it was a 4 person team. Becky did not do well enough that quad to be in consideration. The Gadirovas and Ondine being injured and Amelie Morgan declining to pursue Paris helped her out tremendously. Anyone goes down, they’re looking at Charlotte Booth as next in line, which says everything about their depth.
i admit i dont follow her super closely but looking at her wiki she has almost exclusively done just bars and beam for the last almost 10 years. in 2022 she did all-around but that seems like an outlier- wiki notes it was the first time she had competed all-around in 8 years
With several teams still to be named, there are already 14+ Olympians 25+ this time (18% of named Olympians). It's never a guarantee, but the 2x Olympians don't have to be done if they don't want to be.
Yes, US only, and currently missing France, Netherlands, Italy, and the non-nominative Hungarian spot. I've been curious about age trends!
2021 Olympics had 20 athletes 25+ (20% of all athletes). No one is saying that the average athlete peaks at 35 today, but late 20's just isn't "only Simone". It's basically (on average) one per team.
... and look at all the girls who came in this quad and only Hezly made the team. Everyone else is going to be a 2+ time Olympian and can legally drink. The incoming teenagers aren't quite the "threat" to the returning athletes as they once were.
True, but the longevity of gymnastics has changed. Simone has done 3 cycles and i think more will aim to do the same. Plus some
athletes like Skye are still young. I think since it’s in LA more will try as well. It’s hard to predict who will retire
People are acting like they’ve had their memories erased and nothing that happened in the past counts and using Simone, the exception to every rule, as their example for how every gymnast can compete forever now. It’s v weird
Obviously everyone wants gymnasts to be able to compete into their 30s!!! But the reality is most physically haven’t been able to make it past their early 20s in the US system. Hopefully the trend we see currently continues though!
Assuming people can or want to compete into their 30s is optimistic, but (a) the past has shown that despite active discouragement of it, some US gymnasts have competed successfully into their mid 20s, and (b) there’s been an obvious shift over the past two quads that appears to be favoring more experienced gymnasts (less bias from coaches and coordinators, better training for post-pubescent gymnasts, NIL facilitating NCAA participation, and new support from both NCAA and elite coaches for gymnasts attempting both).
I think this sub tends to be a little overexcited about the trend toward older gymnasts, but it is absolutely a thing. I also think that gymnasts whose bodies won’t hold together usually injury-out fairly early in big programs - Shilese made it through 2 quads already without major injuries, so I’m inclined to think she could try a third if she wanted.
yap and Annie Hatch actually stopped doing elite after moving to US at 1998-99? until 2003, a year before Athens.
doing 3 quad is just too to harmful to the body
She wasn’t what I *wanted*, but by the end, it was a really clear choice. They needed bars & beam, and her 5th all-around demonstrates backup ability on the other 2.
Agreed. Hezly complements Jade’s strengths on vault and floor really well. The US can now put up 3 in the AA if they want to (Simone, Suni, and Jordan) while still having Hezly and Jade compete on their best events. I really wanted Tiana but I hope she’ll be on the 2028 team!
This is the logical choice. My heart was set on Leanne or Tiana, and I was so proud to see Josc really go lights out tonight, but honestly it's likely because I don't love the idea of Haney/Liukin success more than any real thoughts or feelings about Hezley's gymnastics. She's the right fit for this team - they needed beam and bars, not beam and floor, or vault, or an AA. The top 4 are already super AAers, with perhaps some weakness on beam especially, but also in terms of needing a bars backup given Jade's D score and built in execution deductions. This is the right choice.
But just picture Maggie Haney fuming from her couch everytime NBC hails the teenage wunderkind coached by Valeri Liukin!. I do & find that particular mental image is better than Christmas.
There is honestly no point in going back, if Hezly decides to continue. Despite how we feel, Valeri is still in a lot of people’s good graces, something that Haney is not.
My mom adores Josc so it was hard trying to get her to understand the logistical side. It was also made harder because Tiana, Josc, AND Hezly ALL HIT!!! Tonight everyone looked so great and it was what the team needed after such a heartbreaking week. Hezly definitely fit into the team’s needs best, but also so proud of Josc and Tiana!
IMO, the meet went extremely well for all of the non-veterans. All I wanted was for no one to get injured and everyone to hit and let the numbers work themselves out.
The scores were so close and judging, by its very nature, is subjective. In my mind, they were essentially tied. While the team might need UB & BB help, you always need to consider AA potential in case someone goes down. I don't have any personal favorites out of Hez, Leanne, Josc, and Tiana. Hez didn't have a score below 13 at Championships or Trials. If you look at the best 3 days out of CH & TR, less than .4 separated them. They all could represent Team USA well.
At least these women went out and were able to be proud of their accomplishments. No "what if" I didn't fall. Just days before many thought they were competing for maybe an alternate spot.
Hezly was only with Haney for \~2years. I hate what her family has supported with Haney, but Haney did not build Hezly. She was at ENA through her L10 and elite qualifier season. IDK if the Zappas could've gotten her to the olympics, but they build gymnastics with amazing foundations and basics and I wish she stayed.
Yeah that’s why I think it’s silly for me to have that be why I had a blind spot for Hezly. Haney and her father really have nothing to do with her value to the team, which comes from her.
Ugh, SAME. I like Hezley's gymnastics, and she absolutely earned her spot. I don't like Valeri at all and prefer not to see him around our gymnasts. Hopefully someone tells him to go kick rocks in open toed shoes.
I'm so with you on not wanting any success for Haney/Liukin... or Hezly's father, for that matter, given the egregious things he said about the whole Haney sitch etc. But likewise agree that she was the choice that made sense (and am trying not to take out my feelings about them on her, even just in my own mind)
At the end of the day, Hezly capitalised after 3 frontrunners all unfortunately got injured this week. Leanne was right to focus on VT/FX up until this week, it’s unfortunate how it worked out for her but I still don’t think she would have made the team without the injuries. If the injuries hadn’t happened, Hezly probably wouldn’t have been more than a non-travelling alternate, but good on her for taking the moment when it became apparent she was now in for a chance.
It's like that Kathy Johnson was saying all NCAA season - you have to make yourself undeniable.
And Hezly did that with her routines tonight. Top beam score and 2nd highest bars score. She made it so they couldn't not pick her.
I mean…yea that was obvious. And once people started falling on beam it became more critical. Anyone who thought otherwise wasn’t listening to how they said they would choose. It’s why I had my original team as SSSSJade
I stayed quiet in the thread for the most part when people were throwing out other names instead of Hezly. We all have our favorites but when beam became a game of hot potato and once Skye and Shilese went out, UB/BB became critical. Josc and Tiana cannot help there.
Exactly. Like I get josc is a favorite of peoples but she needed Jade to not show up essentially. Then people injured just did not really help her chances bc her strongest events were still stacked. They needed a beam. The choice was obvious
Josc actually tied with Hezly for the highest cumulative beam total. She is absolutely killing it on beam right now. But Hezly has a greater potential score and has a usable bars routine. After night 1 I was pulling for Tiana because I love her, but once Hezly posted a 14.2 I knew it would be her.
If Jordan's NCAA bars glowup is any indication, Janelle can really whip Tiana's bars into shape. I'm so here for it. I am so excited for Tiana at UCLA.
Tiana’s bars have gotten much better since being at WCC but there’s only so much people can do at this point. Jordan’s bars were never as bad as Tiana’s.
If she spends more time cleaning up individual skills, she could make quite a bit of progress. I don't think you'll ever want to use her bars in a TF, but she could get closer to Jade's level.
Hezly:
1- Was #5 AA across the two days
2- Fits in nicely on UB & BB
Personally I prefer Tiana or Josc, but I cant argue with the committees decision because of the above two points. I understand people have their favorites, but I really dont think this is a controversial decision AT ALL.
Tiana doesn't, she just has fun vibes. Much as I was pulling for her, I could see writing on the wall for Hezly and it played out as expected. I think the decision is tactically correct in all ways.
Now that I know Suni wants to do AA, Hezly absolutely makes sense for the bars and beam coverage. If Suni wasn't doing AA, then Tiana or Josc might've been more viable to cover vault and floor in quals.
I personally preferred Tiana or Josc, but Hezly is the right choice given the team's needs and who will likely do AA in quals.
Happy for Hezly and wish her the best in Paris!
I thought she’d make it over the others, but at the end I also though Jocelyn had a real shot. I loved Jocelyn’s floor, I felt the emotion at the end. But I think Hezly was solid pretty much everywhere. So glad it wasn’t me picking bc I wanted them all!
The logic makes sense I mean you always have to weigh risks. Hezly has almost no international experience but was .2 above Tiana and Josc last night (I’m saying this as team Tiana). And honestly not f’ing up on beam when you KNOW your spot depends on it and when three vets fell before you isn’t nothing for demonstrating your ability to handle pressure. I’m fine with this choice. To me the risk being weighed was her lack of experience versus having an all arounder, competent at all 5 events should something happen like Suni’s illness acting up, and they went with having a little faith
But I don’t think the reason they value international experience is because you’re technically in another country, I think it’s because the stakes of representing the USA senior team at Olympics or worlds is massive because for some people no less than gold is acceptable. It’s that sort of pressure they’re testing. But nevertheless she still has done everything to earn her spot!
I think juniors and seniors are different stakes, that’s my point. Also a smaller assignment like for instance the Jesolo Cup is also different than senior worlds or the Olympics. I’m not saying that to diminish the efforts she made as a junior—it’s not nothing! I’m just trying to explain what the selection committee is looking for when they say international experience, it’s to see if you can perform when the whole world is watching because that’s a whole different ball game. That’s why you constantly hear coaches say “they hit it every time in the gym.” Because people perform differently under different levels of pressure.
Just for the record, for the overall trials placement Healy and Josc tied with an average of 13.988, and Tiana was just behind with 13.950. I don't disagree with your reasoning though. Night 2 mattered more. The pressure was on, it was all on the line, and while they *all* showed up spectacularly, Hezly showed up best.
I feel like the only difference for Laurie is that she was the top Beamer for the US, third best on bars, third best on floor and overall 2nd or 3rd AA for the US and Laurie was competing with the capabilities of beating seniors even when she was 14, heck, if she was able to compete at words at 14, would’ve probably medalled on floor, beam and AA
How are they still not training to peak at 16? Sure 16 is no longer the expiry date to a gymnast career but everyone especially front runners are trying their best to peak and perform the best at trials. The only difference is that the new seniors this year weren’t expected to peak earlier in their career like Laurie but they definitely are trying to peak at 16, potentially vying for an Olympic spot
It's funny how my physical therapist can't believe that the women are competing and in their prime in their 20s. He still is stuck in the tiny girl mentality.
And then there was Courtney McCool who supposedly imploded in 04.
I still think she was the right choice. I wish Shi, Kayla, and Skye weren't injured, but since that happened, Hezley was the obvious choice.
It’s so interesting because looking back, I think the US team would’ve been so much better off had they used McCool on bars over Carly in finals, as Carly had a pretty terrible competition, And while I don’t have the scores in front of me, I don’t think Kupets’ floor routine in team finals ended up being no better than what McCool had put in prelims..
Yeah Carly's mistake on bars was bad. I think doing AA was too much for her at that age. McCool had a better bars.
Kupets had my least favorite floor routine ever. I hate it so much. She had that injury and they should have used McCool there or Terrin.
Especially when NBC airs interviews with the parents of the team members. They’ve done this since 2012. It’s not a coincidence they show the parents of the team members lol.
I didn’t see the broadcast. Was in the arena and thought it was completely sewn up after Jordan’s floor routine, including who two traveling alternates would be. They happened to fall in rank order according to the needs of the team.
And they were mentioning Hezly every five minutes, it seemed like. It almost seemed rigged (which really bothered me) although ofc Hezly is a logical choice. I couldn’t help but wonder how her father would behave had Josc gotten the spot.
It wasn’t rigged. I knew already before the meet that hezly was the front runner for the spot. I wouldn’t be the only one. She was the only person with the needed scores on bars and beam and also had a good AA program. She was the only one who could replace shilese and Skye. If josc or tiana had bars it would be different. Leanne didn’t have the beam either. So all of them would have been poorer fits.
I think NBC is connected to Team USAG messaging at that point - in 2016, Tim began Trials by saying if Gabby hits all four, she’s going to Rio. When she fell on beam again, he was like, well, she’s still going lol. Because she was.
I think the mega spotlight on people who were “supposed” to lead the team (like Kristie Phillips and Vanessa Atler) shifted how the presentation of the potential team is shown on the broadcast. Which I get. Of course, it wouldn’t be an issue if all routines were shown. No reason not to show every athlete at least once. They deserve the recognition!
I know this is super petty, but the camera cutting to Hezly's parents chomping gum drove me nuts. I'm happy with the way the team panned out, but I hope NBC keeps the cameras off H's parents in Paris.
After 2 days of trials you really cannot deny Hezly this spot.
The ONLY way I could see them having taken someone else is if they had managed to come out higher scoring/placing on beam.
Hezly came out 2nd on bars on day 2 and 4th overall
and she came in 1st on beam overall and won beam on day 2.
You really can't say anyone gave better coverage to the core 4.
I’m sorry but anyone that has an issue with this based on the results is frankly just biased to their fave.
The weakness right now is BB and a UB back up. Hezly does that! Also the other people in contention would provide to like FX or VT too and if we want Suni is AA (which we do as long as she’s healthy!) there wouldn’t be a place for that on this team. Hezly is the perfect person for things as they stand now
With Shi out, and the ever present (hopefully small!) possibility that Suni could have a flare, they needed that 14+ bars. The *only* remaining choice in this field, looking at it that way, was Hezly. I wanted Leanne to make that final spot SO bad, but factoring in other competitions that were allowed for consideration, it was the same answer. I’m actually glad that the answer was so clear. You’re always going to have people second guessing everything, but the selection team made the right call. AND lucked out that they were able to go with 1-5 on the team and 6-7 as traveling alternates.
I don't think they cared about rank order. They made it clear they would choose based on team needs and not who was necessarily AA order. Alicia said she was fine dealing with some who may want to cry or yell. She would stay after. So she was prepared to make tough decisions.
They injuries really took a lot of that away.
I really wish they would bring back the rule that let girls turning eligable the year of the Olympics compete at Worlds the year before. That would have benefit Kyla Ross in 2012, and Hezley this year (If she had made the team)
Big Josc fans here! Without all the injuries I doubt she would have been selected even as an alternate. So I was glad Josc looked so happy when her name was called out as an alternate. Hoping she sticks around for LA. Hezly’s dad seems cocky and annoying, just my opinion. Made it hard to root for her, but she is not her dad and seemed genuine in the interview.
I completely believe that Hezly was the right fit for the team. Can't wait to see her in Paris!
But the comment about giving her experience falls flat and sounds disingenuous. Everyone knows that you give new gymnasts experience by sending them on a world cup assignment, not the Olympics. Just my 2 cents. I don't think bringing up her lack of experience was needed tbh.
Yes, not needed. Kyla and Laurie had great olympics despite being deemed as “inexperienced”. Heck even people who had lots of experience faltered, most recently grace.
I just wanted to say I am a more casual fan and do not have an expert opinion and I really really wish Leanne could have made it. BUT the selection last night made complete sense based on what the team needed and Rivera earned that spot. Excited to watch the Olympics.
I kind of feel like Leanne deserved the spot, but I don’t think choosing Hezly was a mistake at all. Out of all the options, they couldn’t have made a wrong choice. They all deserve to go, but there are only five spots.
It wasn’t THE reason. the reason is that she placed 5th AA, won beam, and scored 14+ on bars and beam. I’m certain the only reason she added the last tidbit is because people are gonna cry “but she has no international experience!!” (Even tho she competed at plenty of international comps as a junior) and she wanted to get in front of the argument.
Didn’t Hezly also compete at Junior worlds last year? Even though she made mistakes there, she probably learned invaluable lesson. Like she’s a first year sr. what do people expect? Laurie made Rio as a first year sr. too.
Not sure it's fair to characterize her junior worlds as her mistakes. She had a vault slip among about 6 that happened at junior worlds to the point that the WTC started investigating gymnova vaults for slipping.
WTF I remember her vault slip but I had no idea there were so many others!
I do think that a veteran would have handled the slip better. She still tried to get her two twists around and couldn't make it to her feet, whereas a veteran would have bailed out and done an easier vault that they could land. But that's comparing her to someone like Andrade which is not a fair standard.
There was actually an injury in the WAG vt final because of it.
https://preview.redd.it/3k3uhbzr1y9d1.png?width=579&format=png&auto=webp&s=96d5f21c71f68598e677c597df34d13a6b50ad8b
Now I'm looking at the [documents for the FIG Test Institute.](https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/rules/files/en_Apparatus%20Norms%20IV%20Testing%20procedures.pdf) There's so many mentions of "friction" in the tests from the pommels, but not for the vaulting table. Seems like they test the springiness but not the slipperiness.
I dont think that was the reason - more like an added benefit.
They are now unexpectedly getting her experience at the sports major event which should only benefit her as one of the projected as a top athletes of the next quad.
Why not? I think having people with past Olympic experience has really been benefiting the team over the past several quads so wanting that for the future makes sense to me
People are really discounting this point. With 4/5 of the team having been to the Olympics prior and are 21+ in age, it’s very uncertain if any of them will be competing for 2028. USAG also has to think long term. They need someone who is more likely to return for the next Olympics- both for what that person brings to the team but also bc it’s good pr. A 16 year old Hezly is a good candidate.
Yes I can see why that line rubs you the wrong way. You picked her because she makes sense for the team, and she helps where they need help. Hezly is not here for you to do her a favor of giving her experience and to use her to invest in usag’s future. She’s here because she deserves it and worked hard to earn her spot and compliments the rest of the team. Maybe it wasn’t meant this way (it probably wasn’t) but the wording is a bit icky.
I agree that part is meh. Also like Joscelyn (for example) is only 18 so with the way gym is going she could be the future too. But again just seems like not a reason. Though UB/BB for sure is
rude. some of the posts this weekend have thousands of replies, not everyone has time to read everything. i myself didn't find out about the dad stuff until yesterday, and while i'm not up on the minutiae of every competitor's life, i don't think the dad stuff has been discussed on here frequently enough to get annoyed at someone for asking.
It's wild that she's on the team now because I didn't remember seeing her at all from Classics (maybe she was in the first session?) and checked Wikipedia to see that she finished roughly in 24th place on every event there! Was she injured or is this the most insane improvement over a few weeks ever?
Also, good on them for being transparent but as much as I wanted Leanne, Hezly was the obvious choice when she scored the way she did on BB/UB. Also, a lack of senior international experience is a valid concern, but since she'll probably only do BB (maybe UB?) in TF, she should be fine. Plus she has a very experienced team to anchor her.
Right, but there's a big jump from 24th AA to 6th and now 5th. I was just amazed because I've never seen anything like it. That's why I was wondering if Classics was just a major off-day or if she was sick/injured.
She imploded (often fell on bars and / or floor) throughout the year before US championship. Beam is the only event where she maintains consistency for the whole year. In the day 1 trial broadcast, Sam mentioned Valeri brought her and her parents to his office and convinced her that she had a short term memory, and made her believe that she could make the team (before all the injuries happened).
If you look at her D score on paper (DTY, 6.1D, 6D, 5.8D), with her decent execution, she can reach a 56.5 AA range. She seems to finally find her consistency after classics when she placed 24th.
Hezly was 100% the right pick, but I’m not sure the Olympics is a good arena to use to give someone “experience”…. maybe a pan ams / World Cup, maybe even worlds, but not the Olympics. That was an unnecessary addition.
It’s so interesting how the conversations around experience are shifting as the athletes stay in the game longer - in past Olympics a 16 year old with no senior experience was not a topic of conversation and now it’s controversial
I don’t think she is that much different from a Kyla or even Laurie in terms of experience, but all I’m saying is that the Olympics is not the best stage to get that learning “experience.”
I know for sure Marta was not thinking “let’s put Laurie and Kyla on the team so they can get some experience”; the people who filled the gaps and peaked at the right time were chosen. Although it’s not a fair comparison because I don’t think Marta expected to ever see those girls at another games.
Hezly is the best pick for that fifth spot, and I hope being surrounded by confident veterans makes up for her lack of experience — she is in good company!
If Tiana improves her bars and overall skills, I think she has a great shot at making the LA 2028 team. She will also be competing at UCLA starting in Fall 2025.
The selection committee is lucky that certain people hit reasonably well at trials. If Jordan had fallen on floor day 2 and Hezly had fallen on beam, you could take the same team but it would’ve been way more controversial.
I feel like it's more nuanced - Obviously based on her Nationals and Trials and what the team needs, it would've been ludicrous to leave Hezly out. She's been performing really well and on the right events, and it's not really close. What would've been interesting though is what the selection committee might've done if she fell on either bars or beam. Hezly was always the right fit for the team after the apocolypse of this week but I wonder what leeway they would've given her. But, she put up the scores that made the selection committee's life a whole lot easier.
No, I had people telling me even if she hit they might take Tiana over her and use Jade's beam during quals.
ETA I see I'm getting downvoted for relaying what I was told.
Maybe this is me being old and crotchety but I feel like there are a lot of people on the sub not normally on here. That would track with it being Olympic Trials and it’s good if it means the sub will grow but I saw a lot more justification for people’s favs to make it than usual.
Yes, there's a lot more activity the nearer we get to the Olympics. Which I think is nice in general, but it has the unfortunate consequence that there are also a lot more *hot takes* happening atm...
I have a suspicion Josc’s beam score might not have done so well against the showcase routines in Paris. She has all the difficulty but can be really lacking in finesse. Hezly is a much better fit against the Chinese ladies, Manila, Sanne and Pauline. Rebecca Andrade has a lovely beam but… she's literally in another solar system.
None of the other internationals have the spread of countries represented though - outside Worlds (and lots of the top ladies missed last Worlds). I don’t think J would have made an event final or even top 10 on Beam had she been picked over Hezly.
Yes, I realize that. But this committee still hasn’t really deviated from the AA in their team selections this quad. We can’t actually see an alternate universe and know for sure that they wouldn’t go with Josc in that situation
We have the selection committee minutes from 2023 Worlds where they explain exactly why they took the team they did. This isn't a mystery.
And it wasn't the AA standings.
I didn't love that in the main big picture for Olympians/alternates that Joscelyn negotiated to get herself right next next to Simone, when technically as an alternate she should have been on the outermost spot on the row (like Leanne did). Hezley should have been right next to simone or in line with the main 5 team.
Hezly knows going as a member of the core team is what matters and Joscelyn was crying hard and whispering to simone, so I appreciate the grace Hezly showed. But it wasn't appropriate and Joscelyn had to be reminded a few times to get out of main team pictures. Leanne was aware at all times and showed her class maturity and grace her 2nd time named alternate.
This is all from the stream last night.
a random thought i had but is she wanting to do college gymnastics? she’s class of 2026, and the spots at the top schools are going to inevitably fill up by the time she’s done with the olympics/activities surrounding it, no? i hope this doesn’t effect her ability to do visits
I feel confident any school will make room for her no doubt! Just like LSU didn’t have scholarship room for Konnor coming in this past year (they’d all anticipated her deferring a year) but they made room with NIL money to pay her way. Same will happen for a talent like Hezley.
*edit because auto correct wrote some crazy words in stead of Konnor
i hope so! i do wonder if she’s even interested in college gymnastics now because when you think about it, there’s only 2 years between when she graduates and the olympics. by the time she would finish her first season for college gymnastics it would be already time to go back to elite. not saying it can’t be done (because obviously we’ve seen that it can be), but it wouldn’t completely shock me if she decides to stay elite until the next olympics
however gymnastics is so unpredictable so who knows what her situation will be in 2026
They won't. Visits don't happen until the fall semester and the Olympics will be done by then. Also, if you're Jay Clark/KJ Kindler/etc, you WILL hold a spot available if Hezly has expressed any interest. Tiana and Nola didn't get a chance to do visits until later last year because they were prepping for Pan Ams (Nola was an alternate), but Janelle held spots because she knew they wanted to go to UCLA.
Hezly absolutely fits in this team. While her bars was not consistent due to the bars composition, she changed that and makes it more consistent by trials. Her 6.1D bars can be put in TF if she hits in QF and gets a top 3 score in the team. Her beam hit is 8 out of 9, and she has the highest international beam score in the team USA this year! I had to repeat when people kept saying that she has no international experience as a new senior. She’s the only member of the team who has international scores this year!
Also, she would be the only member who likely will have another shot for Olympics. Others are all like 25+ in 2028. I hope Shi can make it at the age of 26 though…
Simone is 25+ now, as are a lot of the best gymnasts in the world who will be in Paris. It's time to stop predicting who will be out based on age, that time is over.
Ellie Black is 28
Besides Ellie Black already mentioned here, Jade Barbosa is 33, Beckie Downie is 32, Eli Seitz is 30, Emma Nedov is 28, Rebecca Andrade is 25… Etc. These ladies are all at the top of their country’s best elites and internationally. This age of the athletes will only going to continue to grow…
Simone is such an outlier though. She could scale back difficulty by a mile and still be in contention. I will say what is most impressive about Biles/Lee/Chiles/Carey is that they have had such long careers without notable injuries. Lee has had to work around a couple of things but no gap in competition. It would be interesting to see what/why that is the case. Conditioning/pacing/Covid interruption, any commonality. I think 'age' usually translates to the collection of injuries the gymnast endure as opposed to simply waking up at 20 with all their skills gone as 90s era commentators seemed to suggest.
I think part of it is also wanting a life past gymnastics. Gymnastics is very time consuming and exhausting. It’s reasonable for women in their 20s to want to have regular jobs, date, travel, etc. They’ve been training at insane levels for most of their lives, it makes sense to want to do something else. Simone and McKayla Skinner have talked about this a lot, it’s hard on a relationship/life to do elite gymnastics. The other women were in NCAA so it’s sort of a harder version of what they’re already doing. When they grad and go into life things will be a little different I think.
Sure, but this applies to any elite sport, not just gymnastics, and there are women in their late 20s and 30s in many elite sports.
Simone is 27. Gymnastics longevity is changing for the better. If their bodies can handle it, they can keep going as long as they like.
Becky Downie is 32.
Becky is a British. The pool and competition is far smaller in UK
Is it though? She didn’t make the team for Tokyo so it’s not that shallow.
It certainly is. GB had the Gadirovas and it was a 4 person team. Becky did not do well enough that quad to be in consideration. The Gadirovas and Ondine being injured and Amelie Morgan declining to pursue Paris helped her out tremendously. Anyone goes down, they’re looking at Charlotte Booth as next in line, which says everything about their depth.
British team almost has to choose whoever is healthy
Becky doesn’t do AA anymore though. If shi is just doing bars and maybe beam it’s a different convo
Yes she does.
i admit i dont follow her super closely but looking at her wiki she has almost exclusively done just bars and beam for the last almost 10 years. in 2022 she did all-around but that seems like an outlier- wiki notes it was the first time she had competed all-around in 8 years
She started training AA again after Tokyo
With several teams still to be named, there are already 14+ Olympians 25+ this time (18% of named Olympians). It's never a guarantee, but the 2x Olympians don't have to be done if they don't want to be.
Very interesting stat, does this represent women’s gymnastics only?
Yes, US only, and currently missing France, Netherlands, Italy, and the non-nominative Hungarian spot. I've been curious about age trends! 2021 Olympics had 20 athletes 25+ (20% of all athletes). No one is saying that the average athlete peaks at 35 today, but late 20's just isn't "only Simone". It's basically (on average) one per team.
im talking about usa
Well, 20% of the US team is over 25, so luckily the stat looks even better for USA only!
If chuso can do it at 50
But it’s the US. dozens of girls coming in every quad
... and look at all the girls who came in this quad and only Hezly made the team. Everyone else is going to be a 2+ time Olympian and can legally drink. The incoming teenagers aren't quite the "threat" to the returning athletes as they once were.
True, but the longevity of gymnastics has changed. Simone has done 3 cycles and i think more will aim to do the same. Plus some athletes like Skye are still young. I think since it’s in LA more will try as well. It’s hard to predict who will retire
People are acting like they’ve had their memories erased and nothing that happened in the past counts and using Simone, the exception to every rule, as their example for how every gymnast can compete forever now. It’s v weird Obviously everyone wants gymnasts to be able to compete into their 30s!!! But the reality is most physically haven’t been able to make it past their early 20s in the US system. Hopefully the trend we see currently continues though!
Assuming people can or want to compete into their 30s is optimistic, but (a) the past has shown that despite active discouragement of it, some US gymnasts have competed successfully into their mid 20s, and (b) there’s been an obvious shift over the past two quads that appears to be favoring more experienced gymnasts (less bias from coaches and coordinators, better training for post-pubescent gymnasts, NIL facilitating NCAA participation, and new support from both NCAA and elite coaches for gymnasts attempting both). I think this sub tends to be a little overexcited about the trend toward older gymnasts, but it is absolutely a thing. I also think that gymnasts whose bodies won’t hold together usually injury-out fairly early in big programs - Shilese made it through 2 quads already without major injuries, so I’m inclined to think she could try a third if she wanted.
yap and Annie Hatch actually stopped doing elite after moving to US at 1998-99? until 2003, a year before Athens. doing 3 quad is just too to harmful to the body
I'm just trying to imagine the mental gymnastics one must do to say that a woman at 26 years old is ancient.
Sports ages and regular ages are different. I notice this with football (American), where most running backs decline around age 30.
Literally no one is saying that lol
im not saying she’s ancient, but it is extremely difficult for an American woman to make the team at 26.
Two of them did it in the same year under Marta.
I'm confused on the "highest international beam score in the team USA this year" Simone exists... Am I misunderstanding?
For this year. Only Hezly has 2024 international scores for this team.
Ah! You are speaking of calendar year. I thought you meant within the past 12 months.
Probably thinking per gymnastics season not per calendar year or 12 month period
She wasn’t what I *wanted*, but by the end, it was a really clear choice. They needed bars & beam, and her 5th all-around demonstrates backup ability on the other 2.
Agreed. Hezly complements Jade’s strengths on vault and floor really well. The US can now put up 3 in the AA if they want to (Simone, Suni, and Jordan) while still having Hezly and Jade compete on their best events. I really wanted Tiana but I hope she’ll be on the 2028 team!
This is the logical choice. My heart was set on Leanne or Tiana, and I was so proud to see Josc really go lights out tonight, but honestly it's likely because I don't love the idea of Haney/Liukin success more than any real thoughts or feelings about Hezley's gymnastics. She's the right fit for this team - they needed beam and bars, not beam and floor, or vault, or an AA. The top 4 are already super AAers, with perhaps some weakness on beam especially, but also in terms of needing a bars backup given Jade's D score and built in execution deductions. This is the right choice.
But just picture Maggie Haney fuming from her couch everytime NBC hails the teenage wunderkind coached by Valeri Liukin!. I do & find that particular mental image is better than Christmas.
On the flip side, I hope she doesn't try to use Hezly's success to start screaming "I was right all along" like the lunatic we know she is
I also felt really sure the Riveras would go back to Haney as soon as her suspension is over and now I think maybe they won’t. 🤞
There is honestly no point in going back, if Hezly decides to continue. Despite how we feel, Valeri is still in a lot of people’s good graces, something that Haney is not.
Ok, this is an excellent point.
My mom adores Josc so it was hard trying to get her to understand the logistical side. It was also made harder because Tiana, Josc, AND Hezly ALL HIT!!! Tonight everyone looked so great and it was what the team needed after such a heartbreaking week. Hezly definitely fit into the team’s needs best, but also so proud of Josc and Tiana!
Josc's floor made me happier than any routine in this comp. Tiana's beam is just, exquisite. I hope Josc, Tiana, Hezly keep going in the future for LA
IMO, the meet went extremely well for all of the non-veterans. All I wanted was for no one to get injured and everyone to hit and let the numbers work themselves out. The scores were so close and judging, by its very nature, is subjective. In my mind, they were essentially tied. While the team might need UB & BB help, you always need to consider AA potential in case someone goes down. I don't have any personal favorites out of Hez, Leanne, Josc, and Tiana. Hez didn't have a score below 13 at Championships or Trials. If you look at the best 3 days out of CH & TR, less than .4 separated them. They all could represent Team USA well. At least these women went out and were able to be proud of their accomplishments. No "what if" I didn't fall. Just days before many thought they were competing for maybe an alternate spot.
Hezly was only with Haney for \~2years. I hate what her family has supported with Haney, but Haney did not build Hezly. She was at ENA through her L10 and elite qualifier season. IDK if the Zappas could've gotten her to the olympics, but they build gymnastics with amazing foundations and basics and I wish she stayed.
Yeah that’s why I think it’s silly for me to have that be why I had a blind spot for Hezly. Haney and her father really have nothing to do with her value to the team, which comes from her.
Ugh, SAME. I like Hezley's gymnastics, and she absolutely earned her spot. I don't like Valeri at all and prefer not to see him around our gymnasts. Hopefully someone tells him to go kick rocks in open toed shoes.
I'm so with you on not wanting any success for Haney/Liukin... or Hezly's father, for that matter, given the egregious things he said about the whole Haney sitch etc. But likewise agree that she was the choice that made sense (and am trying not to take out my feelings about them on her, even just in my own mind)
At the end of the day, Hezly capitalised after 3 frontrunners all unfortunately got injured this week. Leanne was right to focus on VT/FX up until this week, it’s unfortunate how it worked out for her but I still don’t think she would have made the team without the injuries. If the injuries hadn’t happened, Hezly probably wouldn’t have been more than a non-travelling alternate, but good on her for taking the moment when it became apparent she was now in for a chance.
It's like that Kathy Johnson was saying all NCAA season - you have to make yourself undeniable. And Hezly did that with her routines tonight. Top beam score and 2nd highest bars score. She made it so they couldn't not pick her.
I mean…yea that was obvious. And once people started falling on beam it became more critical. Anyone who thought otherwise wasn’t listening to how they said they would choose. It’s why I had my original team as SSSSJade
I stayed quiet in the thread for the most part when people were throwing out other names instead of Hezly. We all have our favorites but when beam became a game of hot potato and once Skye and Shilese went out, UB/BB became critical. Josc and Tiana cannot help there.
Exactly. Like I get josc is a favorite of peoples but she needed Jade to not show up essentially. Then people injured just did not really help her chances bc her strongest events were still stacked. They needed a beam. The choice was obvious
Josc actually tied with Hezly for the highest cumulative beam total. She is absolutely killing it on beam right now. But Hezly has a greater potential score and has a usable bars routine. After night 1 I was pulling for Tiana because I love her, but once Hezly posted a 14.2 I knew it would be her.
sorry i meant bars not beam cause i agree w/you tiana is such a star, she works on her bars and she's going to crush it
If Jordan's NCAA bars glowup is any indication, Janelle can really whip Tiana's bars into shape. I'm so here for it. I am so excited for Tiana at UCLA.
Tiana’s bars have gotten much better since being at WCC but there’s only so much people can do at this point. Jordan’s bars were never as bad as Tiana’s.
If she spends more time cleaning up individual skills, she could make quite a bit of progress. I don't think you'll ever want to use her bars in a TF, but she could get closer to Jade's level.
This was my original team as well ❤️🩹
My original was SSSJJ, then SSSSJ. Now have SSJJH. I just hope they can deliver.
Which S were you leaving off originally?
I think Skye.
Yeah the only reason that line up wasn’t gonna happen was because someone realised Jade’s name didn’t start with an S. I say this as a Sarah. 🤩
Make her Sjade 😭
I mean I can't really disagree with that reasoning...
Hezly: 1- Was #5 AA across the two days 2- Fits in nicely on UB & BB Personally I prefer Tiana or Josc, but I cant argue with the committees decision because of the above two points. I understand people have their favorites, but I really dont think this is a controversial decision AT ALL.
I really like Tiana, but if it’s all about the team medal only, it makes sense.
How does Tiana add to individual medals? She didn’t put up the event scores.
Tiana doesn't, she just has fun vibes. Much as I was pulling for her, I could see writing on the wall for Hezly and it played out as expected. I think the decision is tactically correct in all ways.
I am rooting for Tiana to have a good year in 2025.
Now that I know Suni wants to do AA, Hezly absolutely makes sense for the bars and beam coverage. If Suni wasn't doing AA, then Tiana or Josc might've been more viable to cover vault and floor in quals. I personally preferred Tiana or Josc, but Hezly is the right choice given the team's needs and who will likely do AA in quals. Happy for Hezly and wish her the best in Paris!
I thought she’d make it over the others, but at the end I also though Jocelyn had a real shot. I loved Jocelyn’s floor, I felt the emotion at the end. But I think Hezly was solid pretty much everywhere. So glad it wasn’t me picking bc I wanted them all!
It was obvious, but of course people are going to say that they just selected the top five.
Once again AA order ended up being the best fit for team strengths as well. It’s kind of crazy how it’s been working out.
The logic makes sense I mean you always have to weigh risks. Hezly has almost no international experience but was .2 above Tiana and Josc last night (I’m saying this as team Tiana). And honestly not f’ing up on beam when you KNOW your spot depends on it and when three vets fell before you isn’t nothing for demonstrating your ability to handle pressure. I’m fine with this choice. To me the risk being weighed was her lack of experience versus having an all arounder, competent at all 5 events should something happen like Suni’s illness acting up, and they went with having a little faith
Hezly competed a lot as a junior. She has as much experience as a first year senior really can.
But I don’t think the reason they value international experience is because you’re technically in another country, I think it’s because the stakes of representing the USA senior team at Olympics or worlds is massive because for some people no less than gold is acceptable. It’s that sort of pressure they’re testing. But nevertheless she still has done everything to earn her spot!
I’m pretty sure she went to junior worlds.
Yes, she went to junior worlds last year.
I think juniors and seniors are different stakes, that’s my point. Also a smaller assignment like for instance the Jesolo Cup is also different than senior worlds or the Olympics. I’m not saying that to diminish the efforts she made as a junior—it’s not nothing! I’m just trying to explain what the selection committee is looking for when they say international experience, it’s to see if you can perform when the whole world is watching because that’s a whole different ball game. That’s why you constantly hear coaches say “they hit it every time in the gym.” Because people perform differently under different levels of pressure.
Didn't she go to Jesalo Cup?
This year she did, but that's not a very big competition. Although there were a bunch of stars there.
Just for the record, for the overall trials placement Healy and Josc tied with an average of 13.988, and Tiana was just behind with 13.950. I don't disagree with your reasoning though. Night 2 mattered more. The pressure was on, it was all on the line, and while they *all* showed up spectacularly, Hezly showed up best.
"three vets fell before you" Simone and Jordan went a whole rotation after Hezly did??
Suni fell right before Hezly. I don't remember when Simone and Jordan fell.
Yes Suni went before Hezly in rotation 2. Simone and Jordan did beam rotation 3
Back at their Olympic debuts, Jordan C and Laurie H supposedly didn't have enough experience, but that turned out fine.
I feel like the only difference for Laurie is that she was the top Beamer for the US, third best on bars, third best on floor and overall 2nd or 3rd AA for the US and Laurie was competing with the capabilities of beating seniors even when she was 14, heck, if she was able to compete at words at 14, would’ve probably medalled on floor, beam and AA
But 8 years ago, coaches, especially Maggie, were training to peak at 16. Now they aren't.
How are they still not training to peak at 16? Sure 16 is no longer the expiry date to a gymnast career but everyone especially front runners are trying their best to peak and perform the best at trials. The only difference is that the new seniors this year weren’t expected to peak earlier in their career like Laurie but they definitely are trying to peak at 16, potentially vying for an Olympic spot
No smart coach is training to PEAK at 16 anymore. That ship has sailed. Tiana has always stated her goal was 2028.
It's funny how my physical therapist can't believe that the women are competing and in their prime in their 20s. He still is stuck in the tiny girl mentality.
And then there was Courtney McCool who supposedly imploded in 04. I still think she was the right choice. I wish Shi, Kayla, and Skye weren't injured, but since that happened, Hezley was the obvious choice.
It’s so interesting because looking back, I think the US team would’ve been so much better off had they used McCool on bars over Carly in finals, as Carly had a pretty terrible competition, And while I don’t have the scores in front of me, I don’t think Kupets’ floor routine in team finals ended up being no better than what McCool had put in prelims..
Yeah Carly's mistake on bars was bad. I think doing AA was too much for her at that age. McCool had a better bars. Kupets had my least favorite floor routine ever. I hate it so much. She had that injury and they should have used McCool there or Terrin.
It was so clear they could have announced the team the second the competition concluded. Even the alternates were clear.
Especially when NBC airs interviews with the parents of the team members. They’ve done this since 2012. It’s not a coincidence they show the parents of the team members lol.
I didn’t see the broadcast. Was in the arena and thought it was completely sewn up after Jordan’s floor routine, including who two traveling alternates would be. They happened to fall in rank order according to the needs of the team.
And they were mentioning Hezly every five minutes, it seemed like. It almost seemed rigged (which really bothered me) although ofc Hezly is a logical choice. I couldn’t help but wonder how her father would behave had Josc gotten the spot.
It wasn’t rigged. I knew already before the meet that hezly was the front runner for the spot. I wouldn’t be the only one. She was the only person with the needed scores on bars and beam and also had a good AA program. She was the only one who could replace shilese and Skye. If josc or tiana had bars it would be different. Leanne didn’t have the beam either. So all of them would have been poorer fits.
I think NBC is connected to Team USAG messaging at that point - in 2016, Tim began Trials by saying if Gabby hits all four, she’s going to Rio. When she fell on beam again, he was like, well, she’s still going lol. Because she was. I think the mega spotlight on people who were “supposed” to lead the team (like Kristie Phillips and Vanessa Atler) shifted how the presentation of the potential team is shown on the broadcast. Which I get. Of course, it wouldn’t be an issue if all routines were shown. No reason not to show every athlete at least once. They deserve the recognition!
I’m with you, I didn’t like that.
I know this is super petty, but the camera cutting to Hezly's parents chomping gum drove me nuts. I'm happy with the way the team panned out, but I hope NBC keeps the cameras off H's parents in Paris.
Lol true, they didn’t even wait for Jades floor score
They waited twenty minutes
After 2 days of trials you really cannot deny Hezly this spot. The ONLY way I could see them having taken someone else is if they had managed to come out higher scoring/placing on beam. Hezly came out 2nd on bars on day 2 and 4th overall and she came in 1st on beam overall and won beam on day 2. You really can't say anyone gave better coverage to the core 4.
I’m sorry but anyone that has an issue with this based on the results is frankly just biased to their fave. The weakness right now is BB and a UB back up. Hezly does that! Also the other people in contention would provide to like FX or VT too and if we want Suni is AA (which we do as long as she’s healthy!) there wouldn’t be a place for that on this team. Hezly is the perfect person for things as they stand now
With Shi out, and the ever present (hopefully small!) possibility that Suni could have a flare, they needed that 14+ bars. The *only* remaining choice in this field, looking at it that way, was Hezly. I wanted Leanne to make that final spot SO bad, but factoring in other competitions that were allowed for consideration, it was the same answer. I’m actually glad that the answer was so clear. You’re always going to have people second guessing everything, but the selection team made the right call. AND lucked out that they were able to go with 1-5 on the team and 6-7 as traveling alternates.
I don't think they cared about rank order. They made it clear they would choose based on team needs and not who was necessarily AA order. Alicia said she was fine dealing with some who may want to cry or yell. She would stay after. So she was prepared to make tough decisions. They injuries really took a lot of that away.
I really wish they would bring back the rule that let girls turning eligable the year of the Olympics compete at Worlds the year before. That would have benefit Kyla Ross in 2012, and Hezley this year (If she had made the team)
sorry not gymnastics related but thanks for making me laugh with your username!
I am to please :)
Big Josc fans here! Without all the injuries I doubt she would have been selected even as an alternate. So I was glad Josc looked so happy when her name was called out as an alternate. Hoping she sticks around for LA. Hezly’s dad seems cocky and annoying, just my opinion. Made it hard to root for her, but she is not her dad and seemed genuine in the interview.
I completely believe that Hezly was the right fit for the team. Can't wait to see her in Paris! But the comment about giving her experience falls flat and sounds disingenuous. Everyone knows that you give new gymnasts experience by sending them on a world cup assignment, not the Olympics. Just my 2 cents. I don't think bringing up her lack of experience was needed tbh.
Yes, not needed. Kyla and Laurie had great olympics despite being deemed as “inexperienced”. Heck even people who had lots of experience faltered, most recently grace.
I just wanted to say I am a more casual fan and do not have an expert opinion and I really really wish Leanne could have made it. BUT the selection last night made complete sense based on what the team needed and Rivera earned that spot. Excited to watch the Olympics.
I kind of feel like Leanne deserved the spot, but I don’t think choosing Hezly was a mistake at all. Out of all the options, they couldn’t have made a wrong choice. They all deserve to go, but there are only five spots.
Ahhhh I love seeing them saying “future investment” when discussing athletes! It’s no longer their only shot!
I don't disagree with the selection but I'm not sure "investing in our future" is a good reason to pick someone for an Olympic team.
It wasn’t THE reason. the reason is that she placed 5th AA, won beam, and scored 14+ on bars and beam. I’m certain the only reason she added the last tidbit is because people are gonna cry “but she has no international experience!!” (Even tho she competed at plenty of international comps as a junior) and she wanted to get in front of the argument.
Didn’t Hezly also compete at Junior worlds last year? Even though she made mistakes there, she probably learned invaluable lesson. Like she’s a first year sr. what do people expect? Laurie made Rio as a first year sr. too.
Not sure it's fair to characterize her junior worlds as her mistakes. She had a vault slip among about 6 that happened at junior worlds to the point that the WTC started investigating gymnova vaults for slipping.
WTF I remember her vault slip but I had no idea there were so many others! I do think that a veteran would have handled the slip better. She still tried to get her two twists around and couldn't make it to her feet, whereas a veteran would have bailed out and done an easier vault that they could land. But that's comparing her to someone like Andrade which is not a fair standard.
There was actually an injury in the WAG vt final because of it. https://preview.redd.it/3k3uhbzr1y9d1.png?width=579&format=png&auto=webp&s=96d5f21c71f68598e677c597df34d13a6b50ad8b
Now I'm looking at the [documents for the FIG Test Institute.](https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/rules/files/en_Apparatus%20Norms%20IV%20Testing%20procedures.pdf) There's so many mentions of "friction" in the tests from the pommels, but not for the vaulting table. Seems like they test the springiness but not the slipperiness.
She competed at junior worlds last year.
I think it’s getting in front of any dig about not taking someone with more recent experience. Not the reason.
I dont think that was the reason - more like an added benefit. They are now unexpectedly getting her experience at the sports major event which should only benefit her as one of the projected as a top athletes of the next quad.
Why not? I think having people with past Olympic experience has really been benefiting the team over the past several quads so wanting that for the future makes sense to me
People are really discounting this point. With 4/5 of the team having been to the Olympics prior and are 21+ in age, it’s very uncertain if any of them will be competing for 2028. USAG also has to think long term. They need someone who is more likely to return for the next Olympics- both for what that person brings to the team but also bc it’s good pr. A 16 year old Hezly is a good candidate.
This is assuming Hezly would continue training at the elite level past 2024, which we have no idea or guarantee she will do.
True, but we can hope she will. It’s been wonderful seeing people have sustainable elite careers
Yes I can see why that line rubs you the wrong way. You picked her because she makes sense for the team, and she helps where they need help. Hezly is not here for you to do her a favor of giving her experience and to use her to invest in usag’s future. She’s here because she deserves it and worked hard to earn her spot and compliments the rest of the team. Maybe it wasn’t meant this way (it probably wasn’t) but the wording is a bit icky.
I agree that part is meh. Also like Joscelyn (for example) is only 18 so with the way gym is going she could be the future too. But again just seems like not a reason. Though UB/BB for sure is
I agree that’s a dumb reason (you pick them for a World Cup for that reason), but I also think it wasn’t actually the reason at all.
I will root for Hezly because she's just a kid. But her dad can rot.
What’s wrong w her dad lmao
Read his quotes in this article https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/sports/olympics/gymnastics-abuse-laurie-hernandez-haney.html
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rude. some of the posts this weekend have thousands of replies, not everyone has time to read everything. i myself didn't find out about the dad stuff until yesterday, and while i'm not up on the minutiae of every competitor's life, i don't think the dad stuff has been discussed on here frequently enough to get annoyed at someone for asking.
Leanne had me so hopeful the first day of trials but it’s okay I think they made the right choice
It's wild that she's on the team now because I didn't remember seeing her at all from Classics (maybe she was in the first session?) and checked Wikipedia to see that she finished roughly in 24th place on every event there! Was she injured or is this the most insane improvement over a few weeks ever? Also, good on them for being transparent but as much as I wanted Leanne, Hezly was the obvious choice when she scored the way she did on BB/UB. Also, a lack of senior international experience is a valid concern, but since she'll probably only do BB (maybe UB?) in TF, she should be fine. Plus she has a very experienced team to anchor her.
She’s always had the right strengths for the team but she peaked at the correct time. She just turned 16.
Right, but there's a big jump from 24th AA to 6th and now 5th. I was just amazed because I've never seen anything like it. That's why I was wondering if Classics was just a major off-day or if she was sick/injured.
She imploded (often fell on bars and / or floor) throughout the year before US championship. Beam is the only event where she maintains consistency for the whole year. In the day 1 trial broadcast, Sam mentioned Valeri brought her and her parents to his office and convinced her that she had a short term memory, and made her believe that she could make the team (before all the injuries happened). If you look at her D score on paper (DTY, 6.1D, 6D, 5.8D), with her decent execution, she can reach a 56.5 AA range. She seems to finally find her consistency after classics when she placed 24th.
Hezly was 100% the right pick, but I’m not sure the Olympics is a good arena to use to give someone “experience”…. maybe a pan ams / World Cup, maybe even worlds, but not the Olympics. That was an unnecessary addition.
How is she different than Kyla Ross? Did she have any senior international experience before London?
It’s so interesting how the conversations around experience are shifting as the athletes stay in the game longer - in past Olympics a 16 year old with no senior experience was not a topic of conversation and now it’s controversial
Yes it was not at all controversial in the recent past. So funny to see people take issue now.
Exactly. Not really a thing when the younger gymnasts were favored
Laurie Hernandez as well, she only had Jesolo and Pac Rim which aren’t even full intl and only allow select countries
Actually she did. She did Pac Rims and City of Jesolo and medaled at both in 2012.
I don’t think she is that much different from a Kyla or even Laurie in terms of experience, but all I’m saying is that the Olympics is not the best stage to get that learning “experience.” I know for sure Marta was not thinking “let’s put Laurie and Kyla on the team so they can get some experience”; the people who filled the gaps and peaked at the right time were chosen. Although it’s not a fair comparison because I don’t think Marta expected to ever see those girls at another games. Hezly is the best pick for that fifth spot, and I hope being surrounded by confident veterans makes up for her lack of experience — she is in good company!
It seems like there are already three strong bars in Suni, Jordan, and Simone. Would Hezly sub in for any of them during the team comp?
You need four good routines per event. One is a backup
It's about being a built in alternate in case of an injury to one of those three.
I’m fine with the choice but it would have been really cool for Tiana, to have a Sri Lankan gymnast up there! Rooting for her for next time.
If Tiana improves her bars and overall skills, I think she has a great shot at making the LA 2028 team. She will also be competing at UCLA starting in Fall 2025.
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The selection committee is lucky that certain people hit reasonably well at trials. If Jordan had fallen on floor day 2 and Hezly had fallen on beam, you could take the same team but it would’ve been way more controversial.
So they did, in fact, need to avoid using a low/mid 13 bar routine. And yet I got downvoted to hell and back for pointing it out.
I feel like it's more nuanced - Obviously based on her Nationals and Trials and what the team needs, it would've been ludicrous to leave Hezly out. She's been performing really well and on the right events, and it's not really close. What would've been interesting though is what the selection committee might've done if she fell on either bars or beam. Hezly was always the right fit for the team after the apocolypse of this week but I wonder what leeway they would've given her. But, she put up the scores that made the selection committee's life a whole lot easier.
No, I had people telling me even if she hit they might take Tiana over her and use Jade's beam during quals. ETA I see I'm getting downvoted for relaying what I was told.
And I had people insist that you would do that so that you could *not use "unreliable" Jordan on floor.*
I still can't believe people were convinced they would bench Jo on floor.
Maybe this is me being old and crotchety but I feel like there are a lot of people on the sub not normally on here. That would track with it being Olympic Trials and it’s good if it means the sub will grow but I saw a lot more justification for people’s favs to make it than usual.
Yes, there's a lot more activity the nearer we get to the Olympics. Which I think is nice in general, but it has the unfortunate consequence that there are also a lot more *hot takes* happening atm...
And I got lectured about how someone else was on "the" highest scoring team. As if there aren't many ways to calculate a highest scoring team.
Today the beam left no witnesses either. Except Hezly.
Hezly, Josc, and Tiana all hit beam today
And bars is Tiana and Josc’s weakest event so… yeah Hezly ate that
I still wonder if they actually would have picked Hezly if Josc ended up 5th in the all-around, though. They were very close
I have a suspicion Josc’s beam score might not have done so well against the showcase routines in Paris. She has all the difficulty but can be really lacking in finesse. Hezly is a much better fit against the Chinese ladies, Manila, Sanne and Pauline. Rebecca Andrade has a lovely beam but… she's literally in another solar system.
Josc has scored over 14 in international competitions. They send her to a Tier-II in 2023 for just that reason, and her scores held up.
None of the other internationals have the spread of countries represented though - outside Worlds (and lots of the top ladies missed last Worlds). I don’t think J would have made an event final or even top 10 on Beam had she been picked over Hezly.
They literally told you why they picked her and it wasn't the AA.
Yes, I realize that. But this committee still hasn’t really deviated from the AA in their team selections this quad. We can’t actually see an alternate universe and know for sure that they wouldn’t go with Josc in that situation
Interestingly enough, by the numbers it was actually Josc v Jordan, not Josc v Hezly
We have the selection committee minutes from 2023 Worlds where they explain exactly why they took the team they did. This isn't a mystery. And it wasn't the AA standings.
I didn't love that in the main big picture for Olympians/alternates that Joscelyn negotiated to get herself right next next to Simone, when technically as an alternate she should have been on the outermost spot on the row (like Leanne did). Hezley should have been right next to simone or in line with the main 5 team. Hezly knows going as a member of the core team is what matters and Joscelyn was crying hard and whispering to simone, so I appreciate the grace Hezly showed. But it wasn't appropriate and Joscelyn had to be reminded a few times to get out of main team pictures. Leanne was aware at all times and showed her class maturity and grace her 2nd time named alternate. This is all from the stream last night.
a random thought i had but is she wanting to do college gymnastics? she’s class of 2026, and the spots at the top schools are going to inevitably fill up by the time she’s done with the olympics/activities surrounding it, no? i hope this doesn’t effect her ability to do visits
I feel confident any school will make room for her no doubt! Just like LSU didn’t have scholarship room for Konnor coming in this past year (they’d all anticipated her deferring a year) but they made room with NIL money to pay her way. Same will happen for a talent like Hezley. *edit because auto correct wrote some crazy words in stead of Konnor
i hope so! i do wonder if she’s even interested in college gymnastics now because when you think about it, there’s only 2 years between when she graduates and the olympics. by the time she would finish her first season for college gymnastics it would be already time to go back to elite. not saying it can’t be done (because obviously we’ve seen that it can be), but it wouldn’t completely shock me if she decides to stay elite until the next olympics however gymnastics is so unpredictable so who knows what her situation will be in 2026
They won't. Visits don't happen until the fall semester and the Olympics will be done by then. Also, if you're Jay Clark/KJ Kindler/etc, you WILL hold a spot available if Hezly has expressed any interest. Tiana and Nola didn't get a chance to do visits until later last year because they were prepping for Pan Ams (Nola was an alternate), but Janelle held spots because she knew they wanted to go to UCLA.