US Olympic Women's Gymnastics Trials to Kick Off at San Jose's SAP Center
By NBC Bay Area staff ••
The U.S. Women's Gymnastics Olympics Trials kick off Friday night in San Jose.
Thousands of fans will flock to the SAP Center as Olympic hopefuls — including frontrunners such as Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman — vie for five coveted spots to represent Team USA in Rio.
The competition comprises two full days of competitions: On Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m. Both events are sold out. The Olympic gymnastics team is expected to be announced around 7:45 p.m. Sunday.
This is the first year since 1976 that two separate U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials are being held, according to NBC.
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Simone Biles is the four-time national champion and three-time world champion in the all around. With 10 gold world championship Biles holds the record for most ever won by a female gymnast. After winning the national title in 2014 by 4.25 points, a huge margin when medals are often decided by tenths of a point, legendary gymnast and 1984 Olympic all-around champion Mary Lou Retton said, “She may be the most talented gymnast I’ve ever seen in my life, honestly. And I don’t even think she’s tapped into what she really can do. I think she’s unbeatable.” Here, Biles performs on the Balance Beam during the Gymnastics World Championships on October 8, 2014 in Nanning, China.
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Gabby Douglas is the reigning Olympic all-around champion who won silver behind Biles at the 2015 World Championships. She was the first U.S. gymnast to win gold in both the Olympic all-around and team competitions and she was the first reigning women’s all-around Olympic champion to win an all-around world championship medal since the Soviet Union’s Yelena Davydova in 1981. Here, Douglas performs at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships on October 24, 2015 in Glasgow, Scotland.
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Lauren Hernandez is another first-year senior. She won all-around bronze at the P&G Championships. At nationals in 2015, Hernandez also claimed medals in all four event finals: gold on uneven bars, silver on floor, and bronze on vault and balance beam. Hernandez’s signature event is the floor exercise, where her early ballet training and sassy attitude earned her high scores and big cheers. Here, Hernandez competes in the floor exercise at the 2016 P&G Gymnastics Championships on June 26, 2016 in St. Louis, Missouri.
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Madison Kocian competes in all four women’s gymnastics events, but it’s her prowess on uneven bars — often one of the U.S.’s weakest events — that has made Kocian an invaluable member of two world championship teams. In an unusual twist, she tied with three other gymnasts for uneven bars gold at the 2015 Worlds. Here, Kocian competes on the balance beam during the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships on October 24, 2015 in Glasgow, Scotland.
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Aly Raisman, the 2012 Olympian champion on floor, was second only to Biles at the P&G Championships, winning silver medals in the all-around, floor and beam categories. Along with her three Olympic medals, Raisman has four world championship medals in her trophy case: team golds from 2015 and 2011, team silver from 2010, and floor bronze from 2011. Here, Raisman competes on the balance beam at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team Trials on July 1, 2012, in San Jose, California.
Gymnastics legend and coach Bela Karolyi kicked off the festivities Friday afternoon outside the SAP Center.
"We are going to win!" Karolyi said to cheers from the crowd. "USA! USA!"
Fans trickling into the event were decked out in red, white and blue.
The all-around champion — the athlete with the highest combined score over two nights of competition — at the upcoming trials automatically lands a spot on the Olympic team.
In 2012, that was Douglas. This year, gymnast observers say, Biles is a standout as she hasn’t been defeated once during all-around competitions in the last three years.
The other four spots on the team will be filled based on a number of factors, including the 13 remaining gymnasts' scores, consistency, presentation, physical ability and readiness.
In the wake of the Dallas shooting, police are increasing security at the SAP Center for the Olympic Trials. Jessica Aguirre and Scott Budman reports.
The Olympic Selection Committee also will consider performances by Brenna Dowell, Rachel Gowey, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, Maggie Nichols, MyKayla Skinner, Christina Desiderio, Ragan Smith, Amelia Hundley, Ashton Locklear, and Emily Schild.
For more Olympic Trials Live coverage visit NBCSports.com
