16-year-old Plano gymnast named to U.S. Olympic team
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JUNE 30: Hezly Rivera prepares for her uneven bars routine on Day Four of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Gymnastics Trials at Target Center on June 30, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Texas will be well represented on the U.S. Women's Olympic gymnastics team in Paris this summer.
USA Gymnastics announced the team on Sunday night after two days of competition at the Olympic trials in Minnesota.
The team will be headlined by 7-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles, from Spring, Texas. It will be Biles' fourth Olympic Games.
North Texas-trained gymnast Hezly Rivera also made the team. Rivera, who trains at World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in Plano, is just 16 years old.
The two-time 2023 Junior World silver medalist and 2024 Winter Cup balance beam champion is currently the youngest Team USA athlete heading to Paris.
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Rivera was born in New Jersey, but came to Texas to train with elite gymnasts.
Biles and Rivera are joined by Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Suni Lee on the five-woman team.
2023 World team champion Joscelyn Roberson, from Texarkana, was named as a replacement on the team. She trains in the Houston area.
2024 U.S. Women's Olympic Team
- Simone Biles — Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre
- Jade Carey — Phoenix, Ariz./Oregon State University
- Jordan Chiles — Vancouver, Wash./World Champions Centre
- Suni Lee — St. Paul, Minn./Midwest Gymnastics Center
- Hezly Rivera — Oradell, N.J./WOGA Gymnastics
- Joscelyn Roberson — Texarkana, Texas/World Champions Centre*
- Leanne Wong — Overland Park, Kan./University of Florida*