8 Potential Gymnasts That Could Make The Women's USA Olympic Team | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Sports

8 Potential Gymnasts That Could Make The Women's USA Olympic Team

Amongst the 14 gymnasts that compete, only five spots will be awarded to go to Rio.

350
8 Potential Gymnasts That Could Make The Women's USA Olympic Team
Twitter

Every four years, five gymnasts are given the opportunity to represent their country in the Olympics games for the United States. This year, 14 athletes are competing for a spot on the Olympic team from the United States that will travel to Rio in August. The youngest athlete competing is 15 and the oldest is 23-years-old.

For these young gymnasts, the Olympics have been their dream for their entire lives. They have dedicated all of their time to training for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent team USA in the biggest competition of their lives. They have sacrificed so much to try and reach their goal.

With the Olympic Trials happening on June 8 and 10 in San Jose, California, here is a list of eight potential gymnasts you could see on the 2016 United States Olympic gymnastics team.

1. Simone Biles

After the 2012 Olympics, 19-year-old Simone Biles made her splash into the gymnastics spotlight. She is currently a three-time world all-around champion, 14-time world medalist and four-time national all-around champion. Simone Biles is definitely a top contender to make the Olympic team. Her incredibly difficult routines blow her competition out of the water. In Rio, she could potentially come away with five gold medals in the team, all around, floor exercise, vault and balance beam competitions. Simone is a force to be dealt with in gymnastics.

2. Gabby Douglas

Gabby Douglas, 20, is the reining 2012 Olympic all-around champion. Her goal is to be the first woman to successfully defend her all-around title in Rio since Vera Caslavska. Winning silver in the all-around at last year's world competition, Douglas proved that she is still a force to be reckoned with on all four events.

3. Aly Raisman

Aly Raisman, 22, is the reining 2012 Olympic floor exercise champion. Her comeback is definitely something to watch. Just two weeks ago, she placed second to Simone Biles in the all-around competition. She also finished second in three out of four apparatuses at the championships, behind Biles in each event.

4. Laurie Hernandez

Laurie Hernandez, 16, is a gymnast that rose to the senior division in 2016. When competing at nationals two weeks ago, she placed third in the all-around competition. Hernandez is overall a dominant athlete and gymnast who brings amazing spunky energy to all of her routines.

5. Ashton Locklear

Ashton Locklear, 18, is an uneven bars and beam specialist. Where Locklear shines is on the uneven bars. In St. Louis, she beat out her closest competition, Kocian, by .15 over two nights.

6. Madison Kocian

Madison Kocian, 19, is the reigning uneven bars champion at the 2015 Worlds competition. She also placed fifth in the all-around competition at nationals two weeks ago. Kocian would contribute to the team the most on uneven bars, the event where she shines.

7. MyKayla Skinner

MyKayla Skinner, 19, is a gymnast that has a lot of difficulty in her routines. Skinner could help the U.S. team mainly on vault and on floor.

8. Ragan Smith

Ragan Smith, 15, is the youngest gymnast competing at Olympic trials. This is her first year competing in the senior level and she can definitely contribute to Team USA on the balance beam.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
campus
CampusExplorer

New year, new semester, not the same old thing. This semester will be a semester to redeem all the mistakes made in the previous five months.

1. I will wake up (sorta) on time for class.

Let's face it, last semester you woke up with enough time to brush your teeth and get to class and even then you were about 10 minutes late and rollin' in with some pretty unfortunate bed head. This semester we will set our alarms, wake up with time to get ready, and get to class on time!

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

The 5 Painfully True Stages Of Camping Out At The Library

For those long nights that turn into mornings when the struggle is real.

856
woman reading a book while sitting on black leather 3-seat couch
Photo by Seven Shooter on Unsplash

And so it begins.

1. Walk in motivated and ready to rock

Camping out at the library is not for the faint of heart. You need to go in as a warrior. You usually have brought supplies (laptop, chargers, and textbooks) and sustenance (water, snacks, and blanket/sweatpants) since the battle will be for an undetermined length of time. Perhaps it is one assignment or perhaps it's four. You are motivated and prepared; you don’t doubt the assignment(s) will take time, but you know it couldn’t be that long.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

The 14 Stages Of The Last Week Of Class

You need sleep, but also have 13 things due in the span of 4 days.

647
black marker on notebook

December... it's full of finals, due dates, Mariah Carey, and the holidays. It's the worst time of the year, but the best because after finals, you get to not think about classes for a month and catch up on all the sleep you lost throughout the semester. But what's worse than finals week is the last week of classes, when all the due dates you've put off can no longer be put off anymore.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 20 Thoughts College Students Have During Finals

The ultimate list and gif guide to a college student's brain during finals.

53
winter

Thanksgiving break is over and Christmas is just around the corner and that means, for most college students, one hellish thing — finals week. It's the one time of year in which the library becomes over populated and mental breakdowns are most frequent. There is no way to avoid it or a cure for the pain that it brings. All we can do is hunker down with our books, order some Dominos, and pray that it will all be over soon. Luckily, we are not alone in this suffering. To prove it, here are just a few of the many deranged thoughts that go through a college student's mind during finals week.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

28 Daily Thoughts of College Students

"I want to thank Google, Wikipedia, and whoever else invented copy and paste. Thank you."

1340
group of people sitting on bench near trees duting daytime

I know every college student has daily thoughts throughout their day. Whether you're walking on campus or attending class, we always have thoughts running a mile a minute through our heads. We may be wondering why we even showed up to class because we'd rather be sleeping, or when the professor announces that we have a test and you have an immediate panic attack.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments