2016 Women's Olympic Trials

The Final Step: Women's Olympic Trials Preview

The Final Step: Women's Olympic Trials Preview

The stage is set for the U.S. Women's Gymnastics Olympic Trials as 14 gymnasts take the final step toward making the Olympic team. The Trials will take plac

Jul 6, 2016 by Justine Kelly
The Final Step: Women's Olympic Trials Preview
The stage is set for the U.S. Women's Gymnastics Olympic Trials as 14 gymnasts take the final step toward making the Olympic team. The Trials will take place this weekend in San Jose, Calif., with the first day of competition on Friday, June 8, and the final day on Sunday, June 10. The five-member Olympic team, plus three alternates, will be named at the conclusion on Sunday.

The U.S. women's team is incredibly deep this year, so it will be tough to narrow down five competitors and three alternates. No matter what, the committee will be forced to leave some of the most talented gymnasts in the world at home. We broke down the competitive field below.



Staying Consistent at the Top


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A few gymnasts have performed exceptionally at the past few domestic meets (Classics and P&Gs) and proved themselves on the international stage. They will look to stay consistent during the Trials and perform as they have all year to clinch spots on the Olympic team.

Simone Biles leads this elite group. A three-time world champion who recently bagged her fourth National Championship win, Biles is by far the strongest all-around competitor for the U.S., and the team will look for her to stand out on vault, beam and floor.

Olympic champion Aly Raisman has shown she's capable of big gymnastics, especially on vault, floor and beam, where she's right up there with Biles as one of the highest-scoring gymnasts. Raisman was chosen for the 2012 Olympic team not just for her strong gymnastics, but also for her consistency. Over the past few competitions, Raisman again demonstrated she is a gymnast the team can rely on. She placed second behind Biles at P&Gs and also took silver on beam and floor. 

First-year senior elite Laurie Hernandez sprung onto the scene this year to prove she can provide big scores for the team on multiple events. Hernandez started her year at a few international competitions--Jesolo and Pac Rims--and helped the team win gold at both. She also captured several individual medals at Jesolo, including a gold on balance beam. Hernandez recently upgraded a few of her routines, and her high D-scores combined with her excellent execution put her near the top. Her most recent success came at P&Gs, where she won bronze in the all-around, in addition to bronze on bars, beam and floor. The U.S. team could use her on multiple events, but particularly on bars and beam.

Gabby Douglas, the reigning Olympic all-around champion, is back in top form after taking time off after the 2012 Olympics. She was one of the best competitors for the U.S. at the 2015 World Championships, and ended up winning silver in the all-around, in addition to contributing to team gold. Douglas has competed more than many of the other gymnasts on the national team this year. She started 2016 with gold at the American Cup, followed by another gold in the all-around and a silver on bars at Jesolo. Douglas had a few issues at P&Gs this year and didn't score near what she is capable of, so she will look to prove she's ready at Trials and she can especially contribute on bars.


One Last Chance to Prove They're Ready


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For other gymnasts, the Trials will be one last chance to prove themselves. Maggie Nichols had an amazing 2015 season headlined by the World Championships, where she competed on every event for the team. Nichols also won bronze on floor, an event she will highlight at the Trials to demonstrate specific value to Team USA. Nichols had a good start to 2016 with silver at the American Cup to prove she's a top all-around competitor. But she suffered an unfortunate meniscus injury just before Pac Rims. P&Gs was her first competition back--she only competed bars and beam, and had some issues on both. Nichols will look to demonstrate she's back in top form and that her vault and floor are strong enough for team competition.

Ragan Smith will also look to improve before the Trials. As a first-year senior, Smith had an impressive start to the year with strong performances at Jesolo and Pac Rims, where she helped the team win gold at both. She also finished second in the all-around at Jesolo and won gold on beam at Pac Rims. Smith had some issues at P&Gs, and she's hoping for solid performances at Trials, especially on beam.


Filling the Gap on Bars


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One question that has been on everyone's mind is whether the U.S. might fill one of five spots on the Olympic team with a bar specialist to boost the overall team score; as of now, it's looking like either Madison Kocian or Ashton Locklear. For Kocian, the Trials will be a chance for her to repeat what she did at P&Gs. She not only hit her difficult bar routine, but she also placed fifth in the all-around to show she can be used on other events. For Locklear, she will look to repeat her success at P&Gs as the national champion on bars, and hopes to put up a strong score on beam, her only other event.


Additional Strong All-Arounders


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The U.S. team contenders are so strong that several all-around competitors will be vying for a spot either on the five-member team or as an alternate. One of those gymnasts is Brenna Dowell. She was a member of the 2015 world team, but struggled through the qualification round and didn't end up competing with the team during finals. She improved a lot since then and put up a strong showing at Pac Rims, where she won silver on floor exercise. Dowell is capable of performing the same level of difficulty as Locklear on bars, but has struggled with consistency. At Trials, she will aim for a strong bar routine on both days, coupled with solid performances on vault and floor.

Amelia Hundley is another gymnast who has proven herself. Hundley is capable of performing all four events, and is especially strong on vault and bars. She placed sixth in the all-around at P&Gs and had one of the higher-scoring double twisting Yurchenkos on vault, scoring a 9.0 in execution on both days. Hundley will be look to stay consistent for the Trials and demonstrate she can be relied upon to hit her routines.

Other gymnasts we will see at Trials include MyKayla Skinner, Christina Desiderio, Rachel Gowey and Emily Schild. For Skinner, the main events she'll want to do well on are vault and floor, where she has high difficulty. Desiderio can potentially contribute on floor as well, where she has strong tumbling and a 6.0 D-score. Both Gowey and Schild will look to put up big numbers on bars, their best events. Both gymnasts are capable of a 6.4 D-score and both are also able to compete all-around, so they will hope for solid performances on the other events, as well.

Who do you think will end up on the Olympic team? Let us know what you think!


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