4 gymnasts to watch in 2024 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships

Less than two weeks after the 2024 Core Hydration Classic, the 2024 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships will mark another step in the journey to the 2024 Olympics for artistic gymnasts. With the results from the Championships, USA Gymnastics will determine the men’s and women’s national teams, and gymnasts will be chosen to participate at the 2024 Olympic Trials.

The 2024 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships will be held from May 30 to June 2. 41 women and 34 men are registered for the senior competitions, while 14 women and 43 men are registered for the junior competitions. Men will compete on May 30 and June 1, while women will compete on May 31 and June 2. See event and broadcast information here.

The best gymnasts in the U.S. will be in action at the Championships. All eyes will be on Simone Biles as she seeks her ninth all-around national title. But who else should we expect big performances from? Here are four gymnasts to watch in the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.

4. Shilese Jones

Six-time world medalist Shilese Jones is on the verge of punching a ticket to Paris. She participated at the Olympic Trials in 2021, where she placed tenth in the all-around. Since then her stock has risen with two highly successful World Championship appearances. With her recent second-place finish at the Core Hydration Classic, the 21-year-old showed why she belongs on the Olympic team this summer.

In 2021, Jones faced the ultimate disappointment when she did not make the Olympic team. She hadn’t always planned to try a second time, but she began to consider it while participating in the Gold Over America Tour later that year. After her dad passed away, Jones decided to continue in elite gymnastics and dedicate everything to him.

With the importance of peaking right around the Olympic Trials and Olympic Games, Jones is pacing herself. She’s a top tier all-around gymnast, and there’s a good chance she’ll be at the Olympics and qualify as one of the U.S.’s two gymnasts in the all-around final. Jones is ready to tackle an important summer.

3. Fred Richard

Fred Richard is helping catapult U.S. men’s gymnastics back onto the map. He was on the 2023 World Championships team, where the American men took home a bronze medal. It was the first time the U.S. men’s team medaled at a World Championships since 2014. At 19 years old, Richard became the first man to win a world all-around medal for the U.S. since 2010. Competing for the University of Michigan, he recently placed second in the all-around and second on rings at the 2024 NCAA Championships. He was a 2024 finalist for the James E. Sullivan Award presented to the top U.S. athlete at the collegiate or Olympic level.

Although Richard has racked up impressive feats at a young age, not everything has been smooth sailing for the 20-year-old. Richard fell during his high bar routine in the all-around competition at the World Championships last fall. If he hadn’t, Richard might have become a world champion. This mistake fuels him in his quest to make an Olympic team and compete in the all-around.

The U.S. men haven’t won an Olympic medal in the team competition since 2008. Richard could be one of the driving factors for the U.S. men getting back on the Olympic podium this summer as a team, and he has emerged as their biggest chance for an Olympic all-around medal. Richard is brimming with the potential to rise to greater heights.

2. Brody Malone

A world champion on the high bar, Brody Malone is a comeback story to watch in the men’s competition following a difficult knee injury. The 24-year-old also holds a World Championship bronze medal on high bar and collected ten NCAA titles competing for Stanford University. Malone represented the U.S. at the 2020 Olympics, where the team placed fifth.

Malone injured his knee during the event finals in March 2023 at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge. He had a tibial plateau fracture in his right knee, a torn meniscus, a torn LCL, a partially torn PCL, and cartilage damage. The extensive damage required three surgeries. After recovering, Malone returned to competition in 2024 at the Houston National Invitational and then the 2024 Winter Cup.

He’s back in action, but Malone has a lot to prove. He’s planning to compete in the all-around at the Championships. While he was recovering, the U.S. men won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships, the U.S.’s first World Championship medal in a men’s team final since 2014. Malone has to show that he can make the team even better.

1. Suni Lee

Suni Lee has fought back from health issues to make another run at the Olympics. She’s the reigning all-around Olympic champion. Lee is a three-time Olympic medalist, three-time World medalist, and a two-time NCAA Championship medalist. After the 2020 Olympics, Lee competed in collegiate gymnastics for Auburn University but ended her NCAA career early due to kidney issues. Recently, the 21-year-old competed in three events at the Core Hydration Classic: vault, balance beam, and floor exercise.

Returning to elite gymnastics while battling kidney issues was no easy task. At one point, Lee had to stop training entirely. Last summer, participating in elite competition and showing she could get out there was a bigger deal than the results. Now in the Olympic year, it’s about peaking at the right time.

Lee qualified to compete on three apparatuses at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, and her petition to compete in the all-around was approved. The most important event for her to show readiness on is uneven bars. That’s where she can contribute the most to the team. Lee is definitely in the conversation for the 2024 Olympics, but she’ll need to fight off several other gymnasts who are in the running.

Be sure to tune in to the 2024 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships to see these exciting athletes compete.