The Olympics are right around the corner and there are a lot of NCAA athletes who will be competing in Paris. So we want to know, which gymnasts with ties to the NCAA could help their respective teams win a medal in Paris? Which will vie for an all-around final? Which could qualify to an event final? We answer all these questions in our preview.
Team Final
Oregon State rising senior Jade Carey, UCLA rising junior Jordan Chiles, and former Auburn standout Sunisa Lee will compete for a gold medal for Team USA together with Olympic champion Simone Biles and first-year senior Hezly Rivera, a five-star recruit in the class of 2026. Expect to see Carey contributing primarily on vault and floor and Lee on bars and beam. Chiles, on her part, could have the green light on at least three events: vault, bars, and floor.
Alabama alumna Shallon Olsen, Minnesota signee Ava Stewart, and Iowa signees Aurélie Tran and Cassie Lee, alongside repeat Olympian Ellie Black, will challenge for a medal for Canada. Olsen will be expected to contribute on vault, Stewart’s best scores will come on bars and beam, Lee’s on beam and floor, and Tran will likely compete in the all around.
Michigan State commit Lilia Cosman will compete for Romania alongside Amalia Ghigoarta, Ana Bărbosu, Andreea Preda, and Sabrina Voinea. Qualifying to the team final would be an excellent result for an historically competitive team that has struggled to qualify to the Olympics over the past two cycles.
All-Around Final
Assuming that Biles qualifies to the all-around final, the second available spot for Team USA will likely go to either Lee or Chiles. Lee, who finished second at Olympic Trials, has a slight edge over Chiles, but she will need clean landings on vault and floor in qualification.
Similarly for Canada, Black, who won the Canadian championships earlier this year, is expected to qualify to the final. Behind her, Tran and Stewart, who finished second and third at championships respectively, will battle for the second available place. Tran has an edge because she’s the more consistent gymnast of the two and tends to score considerably higher on floor.
Cosman for Romania could also qualify for the final, as could the Philippines’ Aleah Finnegan, who’s a rising senior at LSU. Finnegan narrowly missed out on qualifying to the all-around final at last year’s world championships.
Denver alumna Lynnzee Brown, who represents Haiti, and Alabama alumna Luisa Blanco, who represents Colombia, will also compete in the all-around. It’s unlikely that they will make it to the final, but they already fought through the hard part by qualifying to the Olympics and should compete stress-free in qualifications.
Vault Final
Carey will likely qualify to the vault final alongside Biles for Team USA. She will seek redemption after balking on her first vault in the Tokyo final, which landed her in last place in an event she was the heavy favorite to win.
Olsen will try to qualify to her third consecutive Olympic vault final. She’s on the Canadian team because of this event, so big things will be expected from her.
Csenge Bácskay of Hungary, a rising junior at Nebraska, qualified to the vault final at worlds last year and will hope to replicate this feat in Paris.
Uneven Bars Final
Lee is Team USA’s highest-scoring bar worker and is expected to make her second-consecutive Olympic bar final. In Tokyo, she was a favorite to win gold, but had to settle for bronze after some broken connections. This time around she will have a harder time challenging for gold, but a medal is within her reach. Biles, Chiles, or Rivera could also make the final, but shouldn’t have enough difficulty to challenge for a medal.
Stanford signee Levi Jung-Ruivivar, who’s competing for the Philippines, shouldn’t have enough difficulty to challenge for a top-eight finish, but is one to watch on this event.
Balance Beam Final
For Team USA, Lee could challenge for a place in the final, though she will have tough competition in teammates Biles and Rivera. She finished fifth in Tokyo three years ago and, should she make the final, has the potential to win a medal in Paris.
Canada’s Stewart can score over 14 points on beam on a good day. If she hits a solid set in qualification, she could be in contention for a spot in the final.
Philippines’ Finnegan and UCLA rising senior Emma Malabuyo can rely on their NCAA training for bringing poise and consistency to their beam sets. They both showed some upgrades in training, so a final would be difficult but not completely out of reach.
Floor Exercise Final
Assuming that Biles qualifies for the final, the second spot for Team USA could go to either Carey or Chiles. Carey is the reigning Olympic champion and rose to the occasion at Olympic Trials, where she increased her difficulty from earlier in the season and polished her execution. Chiles also looked sharp at Trials, so this could be the event where she has the highest chance of making a final.
Canada’s Tran consistently scores in the mid 13s on floor. A similar performance in qualification could propel her to the final.
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Article by Talitha Ilacqua
