Simone Biles is the leader after Day 2 of the 2024 U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials, despite injuries to some notable competitors

Simone Biles is the leader after Day 2 of the 2024 U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials, despite injuries to some notable competitors

After the first night’s competition, Simone Biles, a seven-time Olympic medalist, leads the standings in the all-around event.

 

The first day of competition for the women at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team Trials didn’t come without its twists and turns, but some of the nation’s top gymnasts are officially halfway to realizing a lifelong dream.

After the first evening of competition, Simone Biles has topped the standings for the all-around. Biles didn’t have her best performance but still managed to beat the rest of them with a score 58.900.

Biles’ Tokyo Olympic team-mates round out the top four. Jordan Chiles had a great start at Trials. He finished the day with a 56.400, which was second in all-around.

Suni Lee , the reigning Olympic all around champion, finished third in her only third elite all-around since she began her fight with kidney disease (56.025) a year earlier.

Jade Carey , the reigning Olympic floor champ, had one of her best all-around performances of her career with a score of 55.825, which places her currently fourth in all-around.

A number of top competitors were injured before the competition. Shilese Jones , the world all-around bronze-medalist, fell on vault during warm-ups. Her knee appeared to be injured. She missed the vault rotation, competed on uneven bars and then was scratched for the rest of the competition. Kayla DiCello , Tokyo Olympic alternate, withdrew after she tore her Achilles tendon on vault during the opening of the competition. Skye Blakely , two-time world champion, also suffered a torn achilles in training just days before the competition.

Below are the highlights and results of each rotation.

Rotation 1

Simone Biles began her evening with the uneven bars. This is often considered her weakest event. Biles scored a 14.425, after a clean routine that included a simple hop on the landing.

Suni Lee began the vault competition. She slipped her hand on the table, but was still able to perform her Yurchenko Double Twist and land on her own feet for a score of 13.525.

Leanne Wong , Tokyo Olympic alternate, debuted a Cheng vault with a small step back. Wong was not a top contender to make the Olympic team before several of the top competitors were injured. Wong’s chances could be greatly boosted by the level of difficulty in that vault.

Wong originally received a neutral deduction of two points for not supporting both hands enough when she made contact with the table. However, after a review by the judges, her score increased from 12.450 to 14.450.

Jordan Chiles started her competition with a strong bar routine (14.350).

TOP 10 – ROTATION 1

  1. Leanne Wong | 14.450
  2. Simone Biles | 14.425
  3. Jordan Chiles | 14.350
  4. 14.225
  5. 13.575
  6. Jade Carey | 13.575
  7. 13.525
  8. Simone Rose | 13.450
  9. 13.450
  10. 13.300

Rotation 2

Jade Carey has made a strong impression so far, completing her weaker events at the half-way point with a score of 13.575 in both uneven bars as well as balance beam.

Chiles made a great save on her beam mounting. She missed the beam with her right foot, but she managed to disguise the mistake well. The routine was pretty good (13.625).

Shilese Jones does a really nice routine on uneven bars. The form and technique are excellent, with just one hop forward in the landing (14.675). After the routine, she was a little wincing and had to withdraw from the rest of the competition.

Lee chose the uneven routine with a D-score of 6.3, but she brushed her toes on the mat following the Bhardwaj. This resulted in a deduction of three tenths. She still managed to score a 14.400 despite the difficult level of her routine.

Biles’ beam routine was shaky from the moment that she mounted the beam. She fought hard to keep going and achieve a 13.650.

TOP 10 – ROTATION 2

  1. Leanne Wong | 28.375
  2. Simone Biles | 28.075
  3. Jordan Chiles | 27.975
  4. 27.925
  5. 27.675
  6. 27.600
  7. 27.225
  8. Jade Carey | 27.150
  9. Simone Rose | 26.900
  10. Tiana Sumanasekera | 26.675

Rotation 3

Wong has a great night. The balance beam routine is great, but there’s one big wobble at the switch half. After that routine, she’s got an enormous smile on her face.

Chiles wowed the crowd with her floor exercises and even gave a wink to the camera before she made her first tumble pass. She scored a 14.100.

Joscelyn Robert performed her best floor exercise routine since she injured her ankle last fall at the World Championships. The score of 13.925 was exactly what she needed to stay in the discussion.

Roberson’s Tiana Supmanasekera performed a great floor routine. She made it seem easy to get a 13.875.

Lee had a major wobble on her acrobatic balance beam series, but she battled hard to remain on. This is the mark of an experienced gymnast (14.400).

Biles is a big winner on the floor with a 14.850. It’s just a small hop at the beginning of her triple twisting double-back routine but it is one of the most impressive she has ever done.

Carey proved why she is the reigning Olympic floor champion. She upgraded her third tumbling to a double tucked, increasing her difficulty score from 6.3 to 6.4. Her final score is 14.075.

TOP 10 – ROTATION 3

  1. Simone Biles | 42.925
  2. 42.325
  3. Jordan Chiles | 42.075
  4. Leanne Wong | 41.800
  5. 41.200
  6. Jade Carey | 41.225
  7. 41.150
  8. Tiana Sumanasekera | 40.550
  9. 40.425
  10. Simone Rose | 39.125

Rotation 4

Roberson scored a 14.325 after vaulting a Cheng who was strong. It was a nice way to finish her first night of competition. This gave her a career-best all-around score (55.475). Sumanasekera posted a 54.700, which is also a new career-best.

Lee began her floor routine by performing a full twisting double layout that she stuck cold. She performed a great routine with a different style of music and choreography than what she did a few weeks earlier at the U.S. Championships (13.700).

Biles finished her night with a Yurchenko Double Pike, her eponymous vault. While she waited to hear the score (15.975), the crowd gave her a standing applause. She does a Cheng, hops back but is clean in the air for her second vault.

Carey rounded out her evening with two spectacular vaults. She almost stuck her Cheng vault for a 14.600, and finished her competition with a second vault that was upgraded – an Amanar.

Chiles ended her evening on vault with a Yurchenko clean double twist.

TOP 10 – FINAL DAY 1

  1. Simone Biles | 58.900
  2. Jordan Chiles | 56.400
  3. 56.025
  4. Jade Carey | 55.825
  5. 55.475
  6. 54.875
  7. 54.825
  8. Leanne Wong | 54.750
  9. Tiana Sumanasekera |54.700
  10. Simone Rose | 51.675

The Olympic team is announced following the completion of the competition, which takes place on Sunday 30th June.

Leave a Comment