Simone Biles’ path to the 2024 Paris Olympics begins Saturday.
The iconic U.S. gymnast will make her season debut at the 2024 U.S. Classic in Hartford, Connecticut this weekend, where she will headline a star-studded field that is scheduled to feature each of the past three Olympic all-around champions.
The 27-year-old Biles, who won Olympic gold in 2016, returned to competitive gymnastics last year after a nearly two-year hiatus following the Tokyo Olympics. She went on to win four gold medals at the 2023 world championships.
Biles will be joined in this weekend’s field by Tokyo champion Suni Lee and 2012 gold medalist Gabby Douglas, who is making an audacious comeback attempt of her own after nearly eight years away from the sport.
Here’s everything else you need to know about the U.S. Classic:
When is the 2024 U.S. Classic?
While the U.S. Classic takes place both Friday and Saturday at the XL Center in downtown Hartford, most fans will be interested in the final session of competition Saturday night, when Biles, Douglas, Lee and other Olympic hopefuls will all compete. That session runs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET.
How to watch the 2024 U.S. Classic
Biles’ session of competition will be televised live on CNBC and can also be streamed on Peacock. NBC will also run a show recapping all the highlights from the U.S. Classic at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Gabby Douglas, Suni Lee among other big names at 2024 U.S. Classic
Besides Biles, the two biggest names in the field are undoubtedly Douglas and Lee.
Douglas, 28, made her season debut at the American Classic in Texas last month, where she struggled at times but nevertheless qualified to compete in three events at the national championships in roughly two weeks. She will need to amass 51 points across all four events Saturday to qualify for all-around competition at nationals.
Lee, the reigning Olympic gold medalist, has already competed twice this year after an unspecified kidney issue hampered the end of her 2023 campaign. She has said she’s now in remission and has her eyes on a return trip to the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
Who else is competing at the 2024 U.S. Classic?
Shilese Jones, an all-around medalist at the last two world championships, is also slated to compete Saturday, as are the other three members of the team that won a seventh consecutive world title for the U.S. last fall: Skye Blakely, Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong.
Two veterans of the 2021 Olympic team, floor gold medalist Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles, will be among the other familiar faces at the event.
Will Simone Biles compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics?
Almost certainly, yes — though nothing is official just yet.
After this weekend’s U.S. Classic, Biles and other top gymnasts will next compete at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth, Texas from May 30 to June 2. From there, it’s on to the U.S. Olympic trials in Minneapolis, which begin June 27.
The top all-arounder at the Olympic trials automatically qualifies for the Paris Games and, given she’s won every all-around competition she’s entered going back to 2013, that would figure to be Biles. The remaining four athletes, along with two alternates, will be chosen by a selection committee based on their performances this year, scoring potential and how they’d contribute in both qualifying and team finals.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Simone Biles in US Classic gymnastics 2024: Time, how to watch, stream
