In a year, Hezly Rivera has gone from the youngest U.S. Olympian across all sports in Paris to the all-around national champion.
Rivera totaled 112 points in two nights of competition in New Orleans, prevailing by eight tenths over Leanne Wong, a two-time Olympic alternate. Joscelyn Roberson, another Paris Olympic alternate, was third.
Rivera led Wong by two tenths going into the last rotation, then delivered the best floor exercise score (14.2) by anyone on either night.
“I was aware it was pretty close, right before I went on the floor, probably a minute or two,” she said on NBC Sports. “It’s a little bit nerve-racking, but I just tried to trust the process and trust God and just let my body do what it knows how to do.”
All-around and event results from the 2025 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans.
While the rest of her Paris gold-medal teammates are taking this season off, Rivera took a major step in her young career.
Rivera is:
- at 17, the youngest U.S. all-around champion since Ragan Smith in 2017
- the first woman to win junior and senior all-around titles since Jordyn Wieber (2008 and 2011-12)
- the sixth American woman since 2000 to pair Olympic gold with a national all-around title (Simone Biles, Wieber, Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Carly Patterson)
Rivera, the 2023 U.S. junior all-around champ, opened the 2024 Olympic selection season by placing 24th at the U.S. Classic (about a week after her grandmother died).
She climbed to sixth in her senior U.S. Championships debut, then fifth at the Olympic Trials as some veteran gymnasts became sidelined by injuries.
Rivera was picked to be the lone rookie on the Olympic team alongside Biles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles. She competed on uneven bars and balance beam in the qualifying round in Paris.
“My mindset is kind of like, I achieved my dreams, I achieved my goals, but I still have more (goals), so I kind of like to put that (the Olympics) in the back of my head for now,” Rivera, who now has a set of Olympic rings above her bed, said in July. “Every time in the gym, I don’t think that I went to the Olympics. I’m just kind of training like I’ve almost never been, in a way.”
This week, Rivera had the highest scores on beam and floor, plus shared the bars title with Skye Blakely.
Wong, the most experienced woman in the field at 21, won vault. She was bidding to become the second non-teen in the last 50 years to win a U.S. all-around title after Biles.
Next up: a selection competition in early autumn, after which four women will be named to compete at October’s World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia. These worlds include individual events only.
The all-around winner at the selection event automatically makes it. A committee picks the other three, taking into account results at nationals and other 2025 meets.
Skye Blakely stars on balance beam, uneven bars
Blakely shows out on bars, beam at nationals
Skye Blakely scored a 14.350 and 14.400 on uneven bars and balance beam respectively on Day 2 of the 2025 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships.
Two months ago, Blakely didn’t know yet whether she wanted to compete at nationals.
She was runner-up to Biles at the 2024 U.S. Championships, then tore her right Achilles two days before the Olympic Trials.
In her first elite meet in 14 months, Blakely competed strictly on beam and bars this week. She had the top scores on each event Sunday, two days after placing tied for eighth and ninth on them.
“It was first (elite) meet back in a while, but I have high expectations for myself, so day one wasn’t exactly what I was looking for,” said Blakely, who did compete this past NCAA season for the University of Florida. “Just really staying motivated, allowing my family to motivate me, too. And then this morning, just trying to find that fire in me, really staying motivated, dig deep. You know how to do this. I feel like it really reflected in today’s competition.”
Skye Blakely was a contender to make the 2024 Olympic team before an injury she called heartbreaking.
