Hezly Rivera’s Olympic gold medal has a little company now.
Rivera, who won gold as a member of the U.S. women’s team in the Paris Olympics last year, won the all-around competition at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans.
Entering the final rotation with a narrow lead over Olympic alternate Leanne Wong, Rivera turned in the best floor score of the meet, posting a 14.200 score. Rivera finished with a 112.000 total over the two-day event, eight-tenths better than Wong’s 111.200.
Joscelyn Roberson finished third at 109.600, with Ashlee Sullivan fourth with a 107.950.
“I was aware it was pretty close, right before I went on the floor, probably a minute or two,” Rivera said on Peacock. “It’s a little bit nerve-racking, but I just tried to trust the process and trust God and just let my body do what it knows how to do.”
The meet will play a role this fall when the four spots on the U.S. team will be set for the World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, in October.
Asher Hong won the men’s all-around on Saturday.
Rivera, 17, was the youngest competitor across all nations and all events at Paris last summer. She is also the youngest U.S. all-around champion since Ragan Smith won the title less than two weeks after turning 17 in 2017.
She is also the sixth gymnast since 2000 to win U.S. all-around and Olympic gold, joining the likes of Simone Biles, Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin.
The result provided Rivera with redemption after she finished 12th at the U.S. Classic in Illinois last month following falls on beam and bars.
With each rotation performed on Friday and again on Sunday and both scores added together for the meet total, Rivera posted the highest total score on floor (28.200) and the balance beam (28.350) and tied with Skye Blakely for the highest uneven bars score (27.600).
Wong won the vault with a 28.175.
Blakely finished second to Biles in the 2024 U.S. Championships but ruptured an Achilles while training two days before the Olympic Trials.
–Field Level Media
