Following a third-place finish at USA championships last month and a second-place finish here, first-year senior Laurie Hernandez assured herself a spot. The 22-year-old from Needham, Massachusetts, is expected to perform well in Rio after consistently finishing in the top three at the Olympic Trials.
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Laurie Hernandez competes in the floor exercise during Day 2 of the 2016 U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Olympic Trials at SAP Center on July 10, 2016 in San Jose, California.
The 2016’s U.S. Women’s Gymnastic Team was just announced after a seriously grueling Olympic trials, and it’s made up of five rockstars-three of whom are women of color. After an exciting night of competition at the SAP Center, five gymnasts were named to the team by the Selection Committee. While the Olympic spot that once seemed automatic is still well within reach, the 20-year-old acknowledges the pressure has gotten to her.
The three-time all-around world champion from Spring, Texas, is most looking forward to the group events.
“We’re still fierce”, Biles said. “She’s trusting her strengths and not trying to do anything earthshaking, just do the routines she’s prepared for, and I am very pleased with how she looks through the training session”, Karolyi stated. “I’m sure it will hit me”. It shouldn’t be a problem. She ranked seventh in the all-around at trials. Karolyi admitted that “I had in my mind this team”, and “still this was the hardest decision I had to make”.
“I don’t really care”, Smith said.
Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, and Madison Kocian will compete next month in Rio de Janeiro, and are favored to win the gold medal thanks to an unstoppable mixture of awesomeness and flexibility.
“It’s been a little bit challenging to me that every single turn counts”, the defending Olympic all-around gold medalist said, finally, “not letting it slip away and just saying, ‘It’s just practice, I’ll just do it in competition.’ I really have to just focus in and make every turn count”. Still, her versatility in all four events and her shining performances on uneven bars – something U.S. is weak in – pushed her to the front. Now, she is really going to live up to her grandma name.
Now retired and serving as a volunteer assistant at UCLA (where she’s also a student), Wieber doesn’t believe she was overworked, calling her injury “inevitable” after thousands of hours in the gym. Karolyi will be in charge and she will expect Douglas to respond as she did last fall, when she shook off sluggish preparations to capture silver at the 2015 world championships behind Biles.
“I think I’ve gotten a lot more confident in the past years”, she said. Having her experience and wisdom will do nothing but lead a positive path for Team USA. Douglas, with wins at the American Cup and City of Jesolo Trophy in March and a second-place finish behind Biles at World Championships in October showed Douglas can still be at the top of her game despite what could be viewed as a disappointing weekend. She took a moment to compose herself at the end of a nomadic quadrennium that saw her become a star and bounce across the country from Iowa to Los Angeles back to Iowa and then OH in search of a gym. Her concern – her only concern – is that the Americans six-year run of world dominance is intact when she leaves. Anything less than sending Karolyi into retirement with gold would be a “Miracle On Ice”-level upset”.
Hernandez might also be a contender for an all-around medal if she can clean up her routines and replicate her beam. The 16-year-old finished second to Biles at the trials, in addition to winning balance beam.
Up next for the gold medal favorite is a 10-day training camp before heading to Rio.
Raisman’s spot ended a remarkable resurgence in recent months.
Biles’ stellar performance included an execution mark of 9.9 – one-tenth shy of perfection – which she may have foreshadowed a day prior in practice. She was the only competitor outside of those two to score higher than a 15.0 on bars and she did it both nights.
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There were tears in the aftermath as the team celebrated in a sea of confetti. Retired Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton told espnW that Biles is “the best I’ve ever seen”. “We were just holding hands and [gymnastics coach Martha Karolyi] came in and was emotional since this was going to be her last Olympics”. “I’m saving it for Rio”.
