The U.S. gymnastics Olympic trials will formalize what has been a near-certainty for more than a year: That Simone Biles will make a third trip to the Summer Games and likely add to her Olympic medal haul. Beyond that, however, there is plenty of intrigue about how the rest of the team will come together − with world medalist Shilese Jones nursing a shoulder injury, reiging Olympic champion Sunisa Lee competing in her home state and a host of both veterans and newcomers vying for the few remaining tickets to Paris.
USA TODAY Sports’ Nancy Armour and Tom Schad will provide live updates, results and analysis throughout the gymnastics trials. Follow along.
Shilese Jones scratches from vault; Kayla DiCello is out
MINNEAPOLIS − Shilese Jones walked off the floor during her warmup period on vault and has scratched from the event, per USA Gymnastics’ online scoring system.
Jones was speaking with her coach and members of the medical staff after sustaining a potential injury during warmups. She is due up next on uneven bars.
Meanwhile, USA Gymnastics announced that Kayla DiCello is out for the night after sustaining an injury of her own on the first vault of the night. −Tom Schad
Suni Lee salvages vault after scary takeoff
MINNEAPOLIS – A scary moment for Suni Lee, whose hand slipped on the vault table. The reigning Olympic champion still managed to land her Yurchenko double on her feet, taking a step to the side.
Kayla DiCello injures ankle on vault as gymnastics trials begin
MINNEAPOLIS – More worrisome news for the U.S. On the very first vault of the competition, Kayla DiCello sat down on her landing and appeared to sustain a right ankle injury. She was helped off the mat by members of the medical staff.
DiCello finished third in the all-around competition at nationals and is one of several gymnasts in the mix for a spot on the Paris Olympic team. The 20-year-old was an alternate on the Tokyo Olympic team.
When does Simone Biles compete at U.S. gymnastics Olympic trials?
Simone Biles is likely to compete her first rotation (uneven bars) shortly after 7:45 p.m. ET on Friday, then move in the order of events that is in place for Olympic competition − to balance beam, then floor exercise, then vault. On Sunday night, Biles will start on vault, with her first attempt around 8:20 p.m. ET. She will then go to uneven bars and balance beam before concluding on floor.
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U.S. gymnastics Olympic trials how to watch
Tonight’s coverage and this weekend − including the decisive Saturday and Sunday sessions − will be on NBC. The network will also show every minute of all four nights on its streaming service, Peacock, where it will offer both a general stream and apparatus-specific streams for viewers who are hoping to monitor a specific athlete.
U.S. gymnastics Olympic trials TV schedule
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Friday, 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET: Women’s competition, Day 1 (7:30-8 on Peacock, 8-10 on Peacock and NBC)
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Saturday, 3:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET: Men’s competition, Day 2 (NBC, Peacock)
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Sunday, 8:10 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET: Women’s competition, Day 2 (NBC, Peacock)
Shilese Jones will compete despite injury scare
MINNEAPOLIS – Shilese Jones is good to go.
Jones, who is considered almost as much of a lock for the Paris team as Simone Biles, had to be helped off the floor after appearing to injure her knee during warmups. But USA Gymnastics announced “Shilese Jones will compete.” When Jones’ name was called, she ran out onto the podium, not looking as if anything is amiss.
Jones is already nursing a shoulder injury that kept her out of the national championships four weeks ago.
Shilese Jones has injury scare before competition begins
MINNEAPOLIS – Shilese Jones appeared to injure her left leg during warmups before the first night of Olympic trials.
Jones was practicing on vault when she landed awkwardly and rolled backward on the mat, grabbing her leg. Simone Biles, who was just across the way on uneven bars, immediately ran to check on Jones, who nodded at something Biles said to her.
Jones was able to walk off the floor with help from her coach and a medical staffer, but she was walking very gingerly.
Jones, an all-around medalist at the last two world championships, is considered almost as much of a lock for the Paris team as Biles. But she was already nursing a shoulder injury, which forced her to withdraw from the national championships.
Skye Blakely attends trials after Achilles injury
MINNEAPOLIS − Skye Blakely was on the floor during warmups, on crutches and her right leg heavily bandaged.
Blakely ruptured her Achilles tendon during training on floor exercise on Wednesday. She landed a tumbling pass and immediately fell to the mat. She was sobbing as she was carried off the podium, and she had to be taken out of the arena in a wheelchair.
“This is not the way I saw my Olympic trials going or how my season ends,” Blakely said in an Instagram post Thursday. “I’m devastated and heartbroken but I believe everything happens for a reason. I was so close to reaching my dream but this injury was unavoidable.”
Blakely had been considered a strong contender for the Olympic team. She was part of the U.S. teams that won gold at the last two world championships, and her stock rose even higher after she debuted a monster new vault at the national championships earlier this month.
It’s not clear if she’ll continue competing at the elite level. She has already committed to Florida. −Nancy Armour
U.S. gymnastics Olympic trials announcers
Mike Tirico will host NBC’s coverage, and Terry Gannon (play-by-play) will be joined by analysts Tim Daggett, Samantha Peszek and John Roethlisberger on the call.
Simone Biles is a lock for Paris Olympics. But who’s going to join her?
The top contenders are: Shilese Jones, an all-around medalist at the last two world championships; reigning Olympic champion Suni Lee; Tokyo floor exercise gold medalist Jade Carey; and Tokyo Olympian Jordan Chiles. Also keep an eye on Kayla DiCello and Leanne Wong, two of the Tokyo alternates, and Josc Roberson, a member of last year’s worlds team. And if you’re looking for dark horses, Hezly Rivera and Tiana Sumanasekera could make things interesting.
Skye Blakely, a member of the last two world teams whose stock was rising after debuting a monster vault at the national championships, is out after an Achilles injury during podium training Wednesday. Read Nancy Armour’s full analysis on how Team USA might shake out.
How many spots are on U.S. gymnastics Olympic team?
There are five spots up for grabs on both the U.S. men’s and women’s gymnastics teams at the Olympic trials.
When will U.S. women’s gymnastics Olympic team be named?
The women’s team will be named Sunday night.
Sunisa Lee’s health journey changed her gymnastics mindset. Here’s how
Suni Lee is in good shape to make the five-person U.S. team for the Paris Olympics. She was fourth at the national championships in early June and has upgraded her routines on uneven bars and floor since then. But a health crisis 15 months ago –– she developed a kidney disease that caused her to retain so much fluid she couldn’t even put on her grips –– has upended her life. There were days she couldn’t even get out of bed.
Lee said a phone call she got Jan. 4, the details she wants to keep private, was a turning point for her.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going back into the gym tomorrow and I’m going to be better than I ever was.’ That was the day I was like, ‘Yep, this is what I want. And I’m gonna put my mind into it,’” she said.
Read Nancy Armour’s full story on Suni Lee’s health journey.
Shilese Jones shoulder injury update
Shilese Jones is no longer feeling pain in her injured shoulder and “feels pretty good” ahead of this week’s U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials, her coach Sarah Korngold said Wednesday.
Jones, who has established herself the United States’ top female gymnast outside of Simone Biles, withdrew from the U.S. championships about a month ago but successfully petitioned USA Gymnastics for her spot at trials, which begin Friday. She has been dealing with a small tear in her right labrum for approximately two years, Korngold said, and growing pain ahead of nationals led her to withdraw and take a week off as a precaution.
“We’ve slowly been building back up into routines. So she’s been doing her full routines,” Korngold said Wednesday.
Why Simone Biles is ‘close to unstoppable’ as she just keeps getting better with age
Here Simone Biles is at 27 at the U.S. gymnastics Olympic trials, better now than anyone, ever, has ever been in her sport. “I use the phrase, ‘Aging like fine wine,’” she joked in early June, after she’d extended her own record with her ninth U.S. championship. Perhaps the biggest difference at this stage of her career is that Biles’ mind and body are in sync. Read Nancy Armour’s full story on Simone Biles.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Simone Biles at US gymnastics Olympic trials live results, updates
