The first day of the U.S. women’s gymnastics Olympic trials opened on a sour note. In fact, the whole week has been rough, and it seemed to affect some of the early performances on Friday.
On Wednesday, Skye Blakely, a strong contender for the five-woman team that will compete in the Olympics next month in Paris, injured her right Achilles during training and pulled out of the competition.
Then on Friday, Shilese Jones, a growing star in the sport, injured a knee on a vault practice and ultimately withdrew from three of four events. And on the first official event of the night, Kayla DiCello — who finished third in the all-around at the U.S. Championship in late May — was injured on her vault dismount and missed the rest of the competition.
“It’s not something you want to start this Olympic Trials off with,” said Jordan Chiles, whose score of 14.325 on the vault — on the penultimate pass of the night — put her into second place in the all-around after Day 1. “Knowing that, I just knew I had to take time to myself and reset and have fun.
“This meet is already stressful in itself; might as well put some good energy out there.”
Chiles is one of four 2020 Olympians competing in the trials, and she finished between two of her former teammates.
Simone Biles finished first among 15 competitors in the all-around race with 58.900 total points after capping her night with the best score on any event, a 15.975 on the vault. Chiles was next with 56.400 points, and St. Paul’s Sunisa Lee was third with 56.025 in front of 16,153 at Target Center.
The all-around winner after Sunday’s competition will automatically qualify for the Paris Games, which begin with Opening Ceremonies on July 26. The other four members will be chosen by a selection committee after Sunday’s rotations.
“Day 1 is over with, and that’s the hardest day,” said Chiles, 23, who had the night’s third-best scores in the vault and floor exercise (14.100). “Night 2, we’re just going to have even more fun. Honestly, once you get out there, and you put yourself out there and you know what you can do, Day 2 is a little easier because you’re like, ‘I’ve done it once, I’ll just do it again.’ ”
Biles and Lee declined to be interviewed after Friday’s competition.
Lee, 21, was the breakout star of the last Summer Games, winning gold in the all-around to help the U.S. earn silver in the team race. But she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease that threatened to end her career, and forced her to drop out of Auburn. Since returning, she has finished first in the balance beam in two U.S. competitions, and in May won silver on the beam and placed fourth in the all-around at the U.S. Championships.
It’s quite a feat considering she was in a hospital bed less than a year ago after being diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. She nearly fell during her beam routine Friday but kept her balance, on one leg, and finished by sticking the dismount to record the night’s best score on apparatus, 14.400.
Lee also was third on the uneven bars and set to finish second until Chiles passed her with her vault in the penultimate pass of the night.
Biles, the sport’s superstar since winning four gold medals in the 2016 in Rio De Janeiro — and just about unbeatable after pulling out of three events at the 2020 games — recorded the night’s best scores on the vault and floor (14.850) and was second in the uneven bars.
She had a rough start to her beam routine — her discontent clear to lip-readers after her dismount — but still finished with the fourth-best score, 13.650. Her coach at World Champions Centre in Texas, Laurent Landi, said the early injuries this week seemed to affect her early.
Landi said Biles has been in a good place, and her performances seem to prove it. Since 2023, she has won the all-around at the 2023 World and U.S. Championships and the 2024 U.S. Championships.
“She’s really a hundred percent right now. In training, she hits everything — perfectly normal,” Landi said. “Because of (the injuries), there’s anxiety. ‘Am I the next one to be hurt? What’s going to happen?’ ”
DiCello and Blakely are Champions Centre teammates.
“You can’t control all this. So, control the controllable,” Landi said. “You have perfect preparation, you’re perfectly fit physically, and mentally I believe. You have the tools to help yourself. Something happened on the beam, you know. She was very, very angry, but she calmed herself down, finished her routine, made it, and had the almost perfect floor and then the amazing vault. … It was a great recovery.”
The Trials continue Saturday with Day 2 of the men’s side, which will determine the five-man team that goes to Paris. Fred Richard, Brody Malone and Spring Park’s Shane Wiskus are 1-2-3 in the all-around standings after Thursday’s competition.
