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Simone Biles had already narrowly secured a spot on the U.S. team that will compete at the world championships later this month, but the other gymnasts in the running had to wait another day. Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely, Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong will join Biles on the five-member team competing in Antwerp, Belgium, USA Gymnastics announced Wednesday evening.
The team will be heavy favorites to win gold – especially with Russia, a gymnastics power, still barred from international competition due to the invasion of Ukraine – and the American women are also poised for an impressive medal haul in the individual events achieve.
Biles made several serious errors during the all-around competition on Tuesday at the selection event at a gym in Katy, Texas, but she performed much better on Wednesday with error-free routines on the parallel bars and beam. She will come to Belgium looking for her sixth all-around gold at the World Championships.
“I feel like everyone was nervous [Tuesday] — not just me,” Biles told reporters Wednesday. “And I do not know why. But it was just hard. So today was a lot better.”
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This group of U.S. gymnasts — consisting of four athletes with world championship medals plus a freshman at Roberson — will compete for podium spots on each apparatus. (Kayla DiCello, an alternate for the Tokyo Olympics, will also travel as an alternate.) The gymnasts secured their spots on the team after a two-day selection event that included an all-around on Tuesday and additional performances on two apparatus on Wednesday (beam and bars for almost everyone).
Jones, who won silver in the all-around at last year’s world championships, nearly finished ahead of Biles on the first day of selection competition, when the top all-around finisher earned an automatic spot on the team. But Jones made a mistake on the parallel bars during her final routine and ended up in second place. She bounced back on Wednesday with an excellent performance of 14.750, the highest bar score during the two-day event. Jones’ best all-around score this season, a 57.800 on the second day of nationals, is well below Biles’ highest score (59.300) but should be enough to compete for an all-around medal.
Olympians Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey were not selected for the World Championship team. Both suffered multiple falls during the trials, and gymnasts who showed more consistent performances throughout the season and this week were chosen instead. (The Pan American Games team was also selected on Wednesday, and Chiles was given the opportunity to compete there.)
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In addition to Biles and Jones, two other gymnasts on the five-member squad have experience at world championships: Blakely won gold with the 2022 team; Wong, an alternate for the Tokyo Olympics, was also part of the U.S. team last year and won two individual medals (silver in the all-around and bronze on floor) at the 2021 World Championships.
Blakely crashed at the bars on Wednesday, but based on her recent performances, she appeared to be almost a slam-dunk for the team at the start of the day. Blakely has consistently scored at least 14,000 points on vault, parallel bars and beam – enough to have a positive impact on the team score on each apparatus – and she could advance to the finals on parallel bars and beam at world championships. Despite a low floor score in Tuesday’s all-around, Blakely scored 55.000 – not far from the scores of Biles (55.700) and Jones (55.300).
Wong, a junior at Florida who continues to train with her college coaches during the elite season, built on her strong performance at nationals by completing all of her drills during trials. Wong gives the team a stable option on every device.
In a team final, the United States relies on three gymnasts per apparatus. Therefore, identifying the top three finishers on each apparatus is often the starting point for determining the group with the highest scoring potential. Wong doesn’t fit these calculations well. Other gymnasts – Zoe Miller with a strong result on parallel bars or Kaliya Lincoln with an excellent floor routine – could provide a bigger points boost than Wong. But Miller and Lincoln offer less in the other units, and Wong’s ability to contribute anywhere is valuable.
Roberson earned a spot on the team after a breakthrough season. The 17-year-old from Texas began training at the World Champions Center, Biles’ family’s club, a year ago and has improved significantly since then. Roberson only placed 18th at the national championships in 2022, but moved up to seventh this year and then fourth in the all-around at the selection competition.
Roberson performs two different jumps – a requirement to win a medal on the apparatus – and she could secure a spot on the podium alongside Biles at world championships. She has also scored as high as 14.150 on floor this season and has the potential to advance to the finals.