MINNEAPOLIS — While the USA Gymnastics Championships, featuring rhythmic, acrobatic and trampoline and tumbling events, is already underway at the Minneapolis Convention Center, eyes are now fixated on the U.S. Olympic Team Trials happening just a few days — and a short walk — away.
You'll no doubt recognize some of the names taking stage at the Target Center later this week, like Minnesota's own, all-around gold medalist Sunisa "Suni" Lee; Simone Biles, who just won her ninth national title (the only gymnast in the history of the sport in the U.S. who has more than seven); and Shane Wiskus, another representative of the Gopher State, who hopes to represent the United States for the second time since competing at the Tokyo Games.
Overall, 16 women and 20 men will vie for their respective places on Team USA, but only five — plus two traveling and two non-traveling replacement athletes each — will ultimately meet the mark. The top-ranked man and woman in their respective all-around events will automatically make the cut, while the remaining spots will be determined by a selection committee that takes this weekend's trials into account, as well as their respective performances throughout the season.
You can find a general outline of what you need to know about the trials here.
Keep reading to see who's sticking their landings this weekend in Minneapolis — and dreaming of reliving those routines next month in Paris.
WHO TO WATCH: WOMEN
The women hope to be the team to beat at this year's Summer Games, chasing gold in Paris after having settled for silver at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Among those runners-up competing again for their spot on Team USA include Simone Biles, Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles.
Biles — a seven-time Olympic medalist, 30-time World Championships medalist and 2016 Olympic all-around champion — needs no introduction, but it's always worth mentioning her incredible achievements anyway. Coming off her ninth national championships win, Biles has all but punched her ticket to Paris ahead of these trials.
The aforementioned St. Paul native Suni Lee is also one to watch this weekend, coming off a gold medal win for her all-around performance in addition to an uneven bars bronze in the 2020 Summer Games. The local legend will find comfort on home court, as Minnesotans look forward to cheering her on, especially after overcoming health battles related to kidney disease.
Jordan Chiles, a member of 2020's silver-medal team, also hopes to paint it gold with Team USA in Paris.
Jade Carey, who went on to qualify individually for Tokyo, will also have another shot this year at making the women's team. While she didn't compete with "The Fighting Four" during the last games, her gold-medal-winning performance on the floor in Tokyo will make competition stiff.
But don't sleep on some of the lesser-known names competing for gymnastics glory, like six-time world medalist Shilese Jones; four-time world medalist Leanne Wong; her University of Florida teammate Kayla DiCello; and two-time world team champion Skye Blakely are also not to be missed.
COMPETITORS
EVENTS: Vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise
- Simone Biles — Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre
- Skye Blakely — Frisco, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics
- Jade Carey — Phoenix, Ariz./Oregon State University
- Dulcy Caylor — Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre
- Jordan Chiles — Vancouver, Wash./World Champions Centre
- Kayla DiCello — Boyds, Md./Hill’s Gymnastics
- Shilese Jones — Auburn, Wash./Ascend Gymnastics Center
- Suni Lee — St. Paul, Minn./Midwest Gymnastics Center
- Kaliya Lincoln — Frisco, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics
- Eveylynn Lowe — Blue Springs, Mo./Great American Gymnastics Express
- Zoey Molomo — Frisco, Texas/Metroplex Gymnastics
- Hezly Rivera — Oradell, N.J./WOGA Gymnastics
- Joscelyn Roberson — Texarkana, Texas/World Champions Centre
- Simone Rose — Sammamish, Wash./Pacific Reign Gymnastics
- Tiana Sumanasekera — Pleasanton, Calif./World Champions Centre
- Leanne Wong — Overland Park, Kan./University of Florida
WHO TO WATCH: MEN
Six of the men who took a third-place, bronze-medal finish at the World Championships in 2023 are back for more fierce competition this weekend, hoping to land among the stars who make up this year's men's gymnastics team.
Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Yul Moldauer, Frederick Richard, Khoi Young and the 2023 team's traveling replacement, Colt Walker, come to Minneapolis making a strong case for the men's team, which according to Team USA gymnastics, hasn't stood on an Olympics podium since 2008.
While many of those men have the advantage of youthfulness on their side — Young, Richard, Hong and Juda still performing at their prime in their early 20s — some veterans of USA Gymnastics could still give them a run for their money.
Donnel Whittenburg, the oldest competitor at this year's trials, is a seven-time U.S. apparatus champion and was named an alternate for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Whittenburg joins three-time U.S. all-around champion Brody Malone; other past Olympic alternates Cameron Bock and Alex Diab; and Shane Wiskus, a native of Spring Park, Minnesota, on their quest for another shot at representing Team USA at July's games.
COMPETITORS
EVENTS: Parallel bars, pommel horse, rings, horizontal bar, vault and floor exercise
- Fuzzy Benas — Richmond, Texas/University of Oklahoma
- Jeremy Bischoff — Santa Clarita, Calif./Stanford University
- Cameron Bock — Tustin, Calif./University of Michigan
- Tate Costa — Narragansett, R.I./University of Illinois
- Alex Diab — Hinsdale, Ill./EVO Gymnastics
- Asher Hong — Tomball, Texas/Stanford University
- Patrick Hoopes — Lehi, Utah/U.S. Air Force Academy
- Paul Juda — Deerfield, Ill./University of Michigan
- Josh Karnes — Erie, Pa./Penn State University
- Brody Malone — Aragon, Ga. /EVO Gymnastics
- Kiran Mandava — Cypress, Texas/Cypress Academy of Gymnastics
- Yul Moldauer — Arvada, Colo./5280 Gymnastics
- Stephen Nedoroscik — Worcester, Mass./EVO Gymnastics
- Curran Phillips — Naperville, Ill./EVO Gymnastics
- Frederick Richard — Stoughton, Mass./University of Michigan
- Kai Uemura — Chicago, Ill./Lakeshore Academy
- Colt Walker — Cedar Park, Texas/Stanford University
- Donnell Whittenburg — Baltimore, Md./Salto Gymnastics
- Shane Wiskus — Spring Park, Minn./EVO Gymnastics
- Khoi Young — Bowie, Md./Stanford University
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