What you missed from U.S. Gymnastics Championship
USAT’s Nancy Armour and Cydney Henderson break down the weekend of for the women at the U.S. Gymnastics Championship.
Sports Seriously
PHOENIX — Olympic gold medalist Hezly Rivera had some ground to make up on the second and final day of the 2026 U.S. Gymnastics Championships after an uncharacteristic fall on uneven bars left her in fourth place.
That’s when her experience shined through. Rivera turned in a dazzling performance on Sunday, Aug. 9 to successfully defend her all-around title, finishing with a two-day combined score of 111.95, 1.15 points ahead of Claire Pease (110.8). Rivera also won the balance beam title and finished second overall on floor.
“I think it showed that you can come back after a little mess up or a little mistake,” Rivera said after her victory. “It just shows how strong I am mentally because physically everything’s there. But the mental aspect of things is definitely where it’s at. You can’t really do this without having a strong mentality.”
A two-woman race between Rivera and Pease, training partners at World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in Texas, emerged entering the final two rotations on Sunday. And with Rivera and Pease being featured in the same group, both the competitors and fans in attendance at Phoenix’s Mortgage Matchup Center could see where they stacked up against each other after each event.
Pease entered Sunday tied atop the leaderboard with Skye Blakely. But halfway through Sunday, Pease had a half-point lead over Rivera entering the third rotation on floor.
“I was not watching (the scoreboard),” Rivera said. “I knew it was close because obviously Day 1 and stuff, but I was not paying attention at all… I looked at my scores and then I just looked down everywhere, just trying to keep my head in the game and focused.”
Rivera went first on floor and immediately set the tone by sticking the landing on her first tumbling pass. A huge smile spread on Rivera’s face and she went on to stick all but one landing to earn a 14.3 on floor.
Next up was Pease. She stepped out of bounds on her first tumbling pass and wasn’t able to regain her composure. Pease was on the verge of stepping out of bounds on her third pass, but she landed on one leg and kept her second foot in the air to avoid another deduction. Her overall performance lacked polish and poise, and her 13.2 score on floor ceded the lead to Rivera.
Going in the final rotation on vault, Rivera took a 0.6 lead over Pease. All she needed was a clean vault routine. Rivera had a small hop on her landing, but stayed within the boundaries to score a 14.4 and all but solidify a win.
Pease was off-center on her vault and landed out of bounds for a deduction that dropped her vault score to 13.85. She finished second overall with a total two-day combined score of 110.8 and won the uneven bar title.
“I’m just so grateful to have her by my side as a teammate,” Rivera said of Pease. “We are always just having so much fun in the gym… and then outside of the gym, we also have a great bond.”
Charleigh Bullock (110.55) finished in third place, followed by Reese Esponda (108.9) in fourth and two-time Olympic gold medalist Jade Carey (108.75) in fifth.
Rivera and Pease automatically qualify for next month’s selection camp with a Top 2 finish. The selection camp roster will be rounded out by at least 10 other gymnasts, who will be announced at a later date. They’re all vying to make the five-person team that will go on to represent Team USA at the 2026 World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in October, marking the first opportunity to qualify for the LA28 Olympics on home soil.
Skye Blakely entered the second and final day of competition tied atop the leaderboard after a solid first day in her return to all-around in elite competition. Blakely opened Sunday on floor, the event she said was the hardest to come back to because it’s where she suffered her Achilles injury in 2024.
Disaster struck. Blakely fell right out the gate on her first tumbling pass and she was never able to recover. She had a shaky landing on her next pass and stepped out of bounds on her last tumbling pass. Blakely scored a 11.9 on floor, effectively knocking her out of medal contention.
Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at @CydHenderson.
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