Olympic champions Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Suni Lee headline talented field in Core Hydration Classic

With Paris 2024 approaching, the road to the Olympics is ramping up for USA Gymnastics. The 2024 Core Hydration Classic, taking place May 17-18, serves as a tune-up meet for elite gymnasts before the 2024 U.S. Xfinity Gymnastics Championships and the Olympic Trials. The event will take place at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

At the Classic, gymnasts in the junior category will compete on Friday, and gymnasts in the senior category will compete on Saturday. Sixteen gymnasts are scheduled to participate in the junior elite competition. Fifty gymnasts are registered to participate in the senior elite competition.

Who is participating in the Core Hydration Classic?

USA Gymnastics has announced the list of registered participants. The senior competition at the Classic will be separated into two sessions. The second session will feature the most notable participants. The stacked field includes World and Olympic medalists, NCAA athletes and young rising gymnasts.

This will be the first time in gymnastics history that three Olympic All-Around gold medalists will compete in one event. All-Around Champions Gabby Douglas (2012), Simone Biles (2016), and Suni Lee (2020) have all registered for the competition. Each of them has hopes of representing the United States at the Olympics again this summer as part of the five-member team. Douglas and Biles are already two-time Olympians, and Lee was on the 2020 Olympics team.

The GOAT is set to perform at the Core Hydration Classic. Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast ever, was a member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team that won gold and the 2020 team that earned silver. She has seven Olympic medals, 30 World Championship medals and eight national titles. Biles’ experience with the twisties during the 2020 Olympics, where she withdrew from the team competition and some of her individual events, sparked a universal conversation about mental health. Her journey during this Olympic cycle has consisted of prioritizing her mental health.

2024 has marked the return to elite gymnastics for Gabby Douglas, who was a part of the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic teams in 2012 and 2016. Douglas has three Olympic medals and three World Championship medals. She returned to training in 2022 with her eyes set on Paris. Douglas was slated to make her return to elite competition at the 2024 Winter Cup in February but was forced to withdraw when she tested positive for COVID-19. She appeared at the American Classic in April.

Suni Lee was a member of the 2020 U.S. Olympic team that took home silver in 2021. She has three Olympic medals, three World medals and two NCAA Championship medals. Lee’s NCAA career at Auburn ended early as she struggled with kidney issues, and she has had a tough road to get back on track. At one point, she had to pause training. One troubling symptom was swollen hands, which made it difficult for her to grip the uneven bars. But Lee persevered, making a comeback at the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Her participation at the championships was more about being there than the outcome. A year later, Lee will try to show that she’s at the top of her game.

In addition to these All-Around Champions, other Olympians attending are Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles. Carey won an individual gold, and Chiles earned a team silver. 2020 Olympic alternates Kayla DiCello and Leanne Wong will participate, as well. Several attending gymnasts have been to the World Championships, including Skye Blakely, Shilese Jones, Lexi Zeiss, Joscelyn Roberson, and Konnor McClain. Many of these gymnasts have also had success in NCAA Gymnastics.

At the Classic, gymnasts will participate in the usual four events: uneven bars, balance beam, vault, and floor exercise. Gymnasts competing in the all-around will vie for the Classic title. In this yearly competition, some gymnasts will not participate in the all-around. Since this is a tune-up just a few weeks before the U.S. Championships, some athletes are still ramping up to full strength.

Event information for the Core Hydration Classic, including time schedule, TV broadcasts, and streaming information, can be found here. Following the Classic, the road to Paris continues with the Xfinity U.S. Championships from May 30 to June 2, where the U.S. National Team will be determined. The Olympic Trials will take place from June 27-30.