The U.S. gymnastics team will almost certainly have Simone Biles on its roster for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Figuring out who else will join her may depend on who is still healthy.
Shilese Jones, member of Team USA’s 2022 and 2023 World Championship teams, was ruled out of the remainder of the Olympic Trials on Saturday after suffering an injury during the warm-up for the vault on Day 1. She is the third major contender for the Olympic team to be named, joining Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello.
Jones’ injury meant she could only compete on the uneven bars, where she posted the best score of the competition with 14.675. For her mother, it was a special moment.
Jones had already withdrawn from the U.S. Championships last month due to a shoulder injury and now needed to petition to be admitted to the Trials.
Her injury is a huge loss for Team USA. She is the only woman in the world to reach the all-around podium at the last two world championships, winning silver behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade in 2022 and Biles in 2023. If healthy, she was almost an Olympic team contender simply for her talent on the uneven bars, with medal potential in the all-around.
Blakely and DiCello also had a shot at making the Olympic team until they both tore their Achilles tendons this week. Blakely went down during podium training two days before the trials, while DiCello had a bad landing on her vault and immediately indicated something was wrong.
With all three gymnasts out of competition, the standings at the Trials looked like this after Day 1:
1. Simone Biles, 58,900
2. Jordan Chiles, 56,400
3. Sunisa Lee, 56,025
4. Jade Carey, 55,825
5. Joscelyn Roberson, 55,475
The five-member Olympic team will be named for Day 2 of the Trials on Sunday.
