Gymnasts to watch before Tokyo
KANSAS CITY, Mo – The 2020 Olympics are less than a year away, and there are a lot of questions surrounding who might represent Team USA in Tokyo. Simone Biles is a lock barring serious injury, but who are the women that might join her in the pursuit of Olympic glory?
Biles just dominated the national championships, changing her sport with every competition she enters, according to USA TODAY Sports' Nancy Armour. But in order for Team USA to capture a team gold medal in Tokyo, Biles will need some help.
Here are five gymnasts to watch that could make a splash ahead of the Summer Games:
Morgan Hurd
A fall on floor exercise during night one of nationals dropped Hurd from second to eighth in the all-around standings, but she came back with a vengeance Sunday and ended up fourth.
Hurd has competed in two world championships and collected four individual medals, including a gold and bronze in the all-around. She's known for peaking at exactly the right time each season, so don't be surprised if she upgrades her routines as Tokyo approaches.
Riley Mccusker
Fresh off finishing second in the allaround at the GK U.S. Classic in Julyne and winning a Pan American Games gold medal on uneven bars two weeks ago, Mccusker appeared to be on the rise. But competing so much in such a short amount of time may have taken its toll at nationals, where she fell on her best event on night one and withdrew Sunday due to illness.
National team coordinator Tom Forster confirmed that the entire Pan American team would be invited to worlds selection camp no matter what happened at national championships, so Mccusker is still in the running to compete in Stuttgart at worlds. She also has one of the most difficult bar routines in the country, a solid beam routine and plenty of international experience. Her ability to contend for an individual medal on bars could help her case for Tokyo.
Kayla Dicello
Though Dicello competed in the junior division of the 2019 U.S. championships, she turns 16 next January, making her eligible to compete for Team USA in Tokyo.
In her first major international competition, the 2019 junior world championships, she helped the team to a thirdplace finish and was the only American woman to win individual medals – a gold on vault and a bronze on the balance beam. Dicello collected even more hardware at nationals, winning the junior all-around, vault and floor exercise titles while tying for third on the uneven bars.
The past two Olympic teams have included first-year seniors – Kyla Ross in 2012 and Laurie Hernandez in 2016 – so don't count Dicello out because of her age, especially when she has plans to "upgrade everything" before making the jump to the big leagues.
Jade Carey
Carey is charting a unique path to the Olympics and won't participate in the team competition if she secures an individual spot through winning World Cup events. She's one meet away from locking down a ticket to Tokyo and is the second-best vaulter and tumbler behind Biles. Because of her high difficulty on vault and floor, she has a good chance of qualifying for event finals on both.
Sunisa Lee
Lee, 16, was a bit of an underdog coming into these nationals because of her age and inexperience at the senior level, but she finished night one in second and held on to end up behind only Biles on the all-around podium.
Her 6.4 difficulty score on bars was the highest of the women competing this weekend, and the risk paid off when she won the event title.
Like Mccusker, she could contribute a big score on bars during the team competition and potentially vie for a medal in event finals.