The U.S. Gymnastics Championships will take place August 8 through 11 in Kansas City, Missouri. Simone Biles is favored to earn a record sixth all around title and could potentially win any (or all) of the individual events. In addition to the excitement Biles is sure to generate, both the junior and senior championships promise to be highly competitive displays of top tier gymnastics. There will be a heavy NCAA presence in both divisions: Florida leads the way with eight gymnasts, while UCLA and Utah boast five and four gymnasts respectively.
Juniors
| Gymnast | Club | College | Freshman Season |
| Ciena Alipio* | West Valley Gymnastics School | uncommitted | 2023 |
| Sydney Barros* | Texas Dreams | UCLA | 2024 |
| Love Birt | First State | uncommitted | 2025 |
| Skye Blakely* | WOGA | uncommitted | 2024 |
| Sophia Butler* | Discover | Florida | 2023 |
| Kailin Chio | Gymcats | uncommitted | 2025 |
| Kayla DiCello* | Hill’s | Florida | 2023 |
| Addison Fatta | Prestige | uncommitted | 2024 |
| eMjae Frazier | Parkettes | uncommitted | 2023 |
| Karis German* | World Champions Centre | Alabama | 2023 |
| Olivia Greaves* | MG Elite | Florida | 2023 |
| Levi Jung-Ruivivar | Paramount Elite | uncommitted | 2025 |
| Lauren Little | Everest | Alabama | 2023 |
| Lily Lippeatt* | Cincinnati | LSU | 2023 |
| Nola Matthews | Airborne | uncommitted | 2026 |
| Konnor McClain* | Revolution | uncommitted | 2024 |
| Zoe Miller | World Champions Centre | uncommitted | 2024 |
| Kaylen Morgan* | Everest | Michigan | 2023 |
| Sydney Morris | First State | uncommitted | 2023 |
| Sophie Parenti | San Mateo | uncommitted | 2025 |
| Anya Pilgrim | Hill’s | uncommitted | 2024 |
| Ariel Posen | MG Elite | UCLA | 2023 |
| Sienna Robinson | Browns | uncommitted | 2024 |
| Katelyn Rosen | Mavericks | UCLA | 2024 |
| Lyden Saltness | Midwest Gymnastics Center | Auburn | 2024 |
| Jamison Sears | World Class | uncommitted | 2024 |
| Ava Siegfeldt | World Class | Oklahoma | 2023 |
| Mya Witte | Genie’s Gymnastics | uncommitted | 2024 |
| Ella Zirbes | Flips | Utah | 2024 |
*Junior National Team member
The junior championships should be a fierce competition with no clear front-runner heading in. U.S. Classic champion Konnor McClain, junior worlds team members Kayla DiCello, Skye Blakely and Sydney Barros, American Classic champion Ciena Alipio, and Gymnix all around silver medalist Olivia Greaves have consistently finished at the top of the junior ranks this year. However, Sophia Butler, Lily Lippeatt and Kaylen Morgan have also turned in impressive international performances while numerous others—eMjae Frazier, Anya Pilgrim and Karis German—have shown they too can challenge the scores from that top group.
Seniors
| Gymnast | Club | College | Freshman Season |
| Simone Biles* | World Champions Centre | professional | N/A |
| Sloane Blakely* | WOGA | Florida | 2022 |
| Jade Carey* | Arizona Sunrays | Oregon State | 2021 (deferred from 2019) |
| Jordan Chiles* | World Champions Centre | UCLA | 2021 (deferred from 2020) |
| Kara Eaker* | GAGE | Utah | 2022 |
| Aleah Finnegan* | GAGE | LSU | 2022 |
| Morgan Hurd* | First State | Florida | 2021 (deferred from 2020) |
| Shilese Jones* | Future Gymnastics Academy | Florida | 2021 |
| Emily Lee | West Valley Gymnastics School | UCLA | 2022 |
| Sunisa Lee* | Midwest Gymnastics Center | Auburn | 2022 |
| Grace McCallum* | Twin City Twisters | Utah | 2022 |
| Riley McCusker* | MG Elite | Florida | 2021 (deferred from 2020) |
| Gabby Perea* | Legacy Elite | California | 2021 |
| MyKayla Skinner | Desert Lights | Utah | 2017 |
| Trinity Thomas* | University of Florida | Florida | 2019 |
| Faith Torrez | Legacy Elite | Oklahoma | 2023 |
| Leanne Wong* | GAGE | uncommitted | 2022 |
*Senior National Team member
With the Tokyo Olympics less than a year away, the results of these championships will help determine both the 2019-2020 national team and who will be invited to selection camp for the upcoming world championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
While SImone Biles is the obvious gold medal favorite, the remaining senior field is exceptionally deep and competitive; any of these gymnasts could realistically contend for a medal this weekend or an invitation to the selection camp. Perhaps with this in mind, all five of the 2019 Pan American WAG team members—Kara Eaker, Aleah Finnegan, Morgan Hurd, Riley McCusker and Leanne Wong—have opted to compete this weekend (some of their male counterparts will be offering their results from those games for consideration rather than participate at nationals). If these five understandably choose not to compete full difficulty, the remaining competitors could capitalize to earn a top all around placement.
Emma Malabuyo (UCLA ’22) and Shania Adams (Alabama ‘21) both qualified to championships but withdrew due to injury.
Article by Claire Billman
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