SAN ANTONIO — Three years after Gabby Douglas won her first Olympic gold medal, many young black girls are starting to follow suit. They might be in the mix to represent USA Gymnastics at the 2024 Games in Paris or scattered across NCAA gymnastics programs, including those at historically black colleges and universities. But they need a trailblazer to show them the way. Cathy Rigby was one of the first female athletes to rise through the ranks of the U.S. women’s national team and dominate on the world stage. Rigby, who retired after a career that spanned more than two decades, was not just a great gymnast but a great athlete for the sport of women’s gymnastics. She set an example that helped to make the sport more accessible to a diverse group of young women, who would not otherwise have been exposed to it.
USA Gymnastics, which has dominated international competition for the past decade-plus, had the hardest roster to put together at this year’s world championships. It was missing Olympic all-around champion Simone Biles, who has decided to take an indefinite break from elite competition and might not come back at all. Also out for the team final is Suni Lee, who won her second American all-around title this summer, and Konnor McClain, the U.S. all-around champion who’s out for the rest of 2022 with a back injury.
But the Americans still have an impressive roster. Jordan Chiles, who won the all-around at the U.S. championships, and Jade Carey, the floor exercise world cup champion, are both near-locks to make the team. And even though MyKayla Skinner didn’t qualify for the team, she has medal potential on both vault and floor.
So the U.S. will likely be a force to be reckoned with in Tokyo, where the men’s and women’s team finals will take place on Wednesday. And while some have raised alarm bells because the American roster is not stocked with Olympic veterans, it is clear that the program is taking its rebuilding phase seriously.
The women’s squad is rounded out by Skye Blakely, the 2021 world all-around silver medalist, Leanne Wong, who qualified for the individual vault event final, and Lexi Zeiss, the traveling alternate. The selection committee will choose a fifth gymnast to compete in the all-around and event finals at the end of the week.
The men’s and synchronized squads will be competing this weekend at the Trampoline Gymnastics Pan American Championships in Monterrey, Mexico. And the top Level 10 women’s and Level 8-9 men’s artistic athletes will be in Oklahoma City for the USA Gymnastics Development Program National Championships. They’ll vie for a spot on the country’s senior international squad for this fall. The full schedule can be found here. — By Nancy Armour, USA TODAY Sports
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