Hezly Rivera is now the youngest athlete in the entire U.S. delegation headed to the 2024 Olympic Games after earning a coveted spot on the women’s gymnastics team. Gymnastics is one of the most popular Olympic sports, and Rivera joins greats like Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time. Rivera, 16, is the youngest athlete in the USA delegation to the Paris Olympics.
Rivera, who has Dominican American heritage, also joins Suni Lee, Jade Carey, and Jordan Chiles on the team. Leanne Wong and Joscelyn Roberson were named traveling replacement athletes. Rivera is 16 years old. She’s originally from New Jersey but has been living and training in Plano, Texas, at the famous WOGA facility. At the Olympic Team Gymnastics trials in Minneapolis last weekend, Rivera and Roberson tied for the highest overall beam score with a score of 27.975, according to USA Gymnastics.
At a ceremony announcing the Olympic team on Sunday, Rivera thanked God, her family, coaches, and teammates for their support. “I made a lot of sacrifices to be here, so I’m just so incredibly grateful, forever,” Rivera said.
Last month she was celebrating her 16th birthday, and in a matter of weeks, Hezly Rivera will be in Paris competing for Team USA alongside Olympic veterans Simone Biles and Suni Lee. The gymnast from New Jersey landed a coveted spot on the women’s gymnastics team over the weekend after a stellar performance at the U.S. trials in Minneapolis. At just 16 years old, she’s currently the youngest athlete of any sport competing on behalf of Team USA later this month.
The relative newcomer will compete for Olympic medals for the first time on the world stage, but she’s no stranger to winning. She recently competed in the 2024 Winter Cup, where she placed third all-around and clinched gold on the balance beam.
“I am so grateful to be here and to be selected on this Olympic team. I have made so many sacrifices to get here so I want to thank God, my coaches, family, my friends, and my teammates. I just can’t believe that I am here,” Rivera told NBC DFW after making the team.
Rivera said she managed to keep her cool during the trials, despite going up against a roster of former Olympians. “I thought of it as every other meet. Just going out there and doing my thing, basically doing what I do in the gym. I was just thinking it’s just me and my beam or just me and the bar. I try to calm myself down beforehand. I [was thinking] I’m like the underdog and there wasn’t so much pressure on me which was probably a good thing. I just went out there and did my thing,” she said.
New Jersey seems to be building a reputation for getting young athletes onto Team USA. Eight years ago, Old Bridge’s Laurie Hernandez traveled to Rio where she won a team gold and an individual silver medal on balance beam.
Who is on the women’s U.S. Gymnastics roster for the 2024 Olympics?
Simone Biles
Jordan Chiles
Suni Lee
Jade Carey
Hezly Rivera
Joscelyn Roberson (traveling replacement athlete)
Leanne Wong (traveling replacement athlete)
There’s no such thing as being too young for the Olympics. That’s because there are no specific age limits for taking part in the competition. As long as you show you’re good enough, you can compete against the world’s best, unless a specific sporting federation sets its own rule on age.
That paves the way for some incredibly young and talented athletes to make their mark early, such as 16-year-old American gymnast Hezly Rivera. Rivera qualified for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team alongside stars like Simone Biles and Suni Lee. Along with Rivera, here are other young athletes to keep tabs on:
Who are the youngest Olympians in Paris?
Along with Rivera, here’s a list of young athletes in Paris along with the event they’ll be competing in:
Sky Brown, Great Britain skateboarding: 15 years old
Hezly Rivera, Team USA gymnastics: 16 years old
Quincy Wilson, Team USA track and field: 16 years old
Lola Tambling, Great Britain skateboarding: 16 years old
Dominika Banevič (B-Girl Nicka), Lithuania breaking: 17 years old
Aubrey Kim, Team USA Paralympics swimming athlete alternate: 17 years old
Minna Stess, Team USA skateboarding: 17 years old
Alex Shackell, Team USA swimming: 17 years old
Phoebe Gill, Great Britain track and field: 17 years old
Summer McIntosh, Canada swimming: 17 years old
Thomas Heilman, Team USA swimming: 17 years old
Eva Okaro, Great Britain swimming: 17 years old
Baptiste Addis, French recurve archery: 17 years old
When is the Paris Olympics?
The 2024 Paris Olympics will run from Friday, July 26 to Sunday, Aug. 11.
How to watch the 2024 Olympics in Paris
NBC and Peacock will present live coverage of all Olympic events throughout each respective day.
Bergen County native Hezly Rivera secured her spot on Team USA Sunday night when she was chosen by the U.S. gymnastics selection committee to compete alongside Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Jade Carey at the upcoming Paris Olympic Games. Having just turned 16 on June 4, Rivera is the youngest member of the team and the only one making her Olympic debut.
“Do you even drive yet?” Biles asked her on the TODAY Show Monday morning with Rivera responding, “I technically can, but I haven’t been.” An Oradell native, Rivera currently lives in the Dallas area where she is coached by Valeri and Anna Liukin, parents and coaches of Nastia Liukin who won the all-around competition in the 2008 games.
She has been competing in gymnastics since the age of 5 when she attended a friend’s birthday party at a gymnastics facility, according to Olympics.com. While at the party Rivera stood out so much that her parents were approached by the staff who suggested that she try out for the team.
Over the last couple of years, Rivera has competed in multiple national competitions including the 2023 Winter Cup, the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, and the 2024 Winter Cup. The Paris games will be her fourth competition on the international stage. Her first was at the 2022 DTB Pokal Cup in Germany. She also competed at the Junior World Championships and the 2024 Jesolo Trophy in Italy earlier this year.
Now, following the conclusion of the 2024 Olympic Trials, Rivera is preparing to head to Paris to compete in her first Olympic Games. “It feels so surreal,” she said on the TODAY Show. “I cannot believe that I am here right now. It’s just, all my hard work has been paying off. I’m so excited to represent team USA at the Olympics.”
Online support for Hezly Rivera going to Paris Olympic Games
Since the Team USA announcement late Sunday evening, the young gymnast has seemingly been met with endless support and excitement. “She had my heart after day 1. I was rooting for her on day 2 and she was exceptional! Then watching her dad after she was chosen, I was just beyond excited for her. Let’s go team USA!” said one commenter on Rivera’s Instagram.
“Yes!!! She was amazing!! So proud she is representing USA I think she will surprise everyone at the Olympics,” said another Instagram commenter.
Of course, you can’t forget about Rivera’s parents, especially her father, who has also gained some media attention for his heart-warming reactions during the televised coverage of the trials. “Watching the parents as their daughter is announced always gets me teary-eyed,” said one user on X, formerly Twitter. “Hezly Rivera’s dad was the one who stood out the most. His pride, love, and pure joy for his daughter was so sweet.”
“Chills when Hezly Rivera was selected for the Olympic team. Watching her parents all night, especially the pride of her dad that was so evident, was so special,” said another, with tons of social media users hoping to see more of Rivera’s parents during the Olympic games.
Olympic gymnastics schedule and scoring
The women’s gymnastics competition in Paris will begin on Sunday, July 28 with five qualifying rounds, per NBC Olympics’ breakdown of the gymnastics competition format. According to Olympics.com, the schedule is as follows:
Sunday, July 28: Women’s Qualification
Tuesday, July 30: Women’s Team Final
Thursday, Aug. 1: Women’s All-Around Final
Saturday, Aug. 3: Women’s Vault Final
Sunday, Aug. 4: Women’s Uneven Bars Final
Monday, Aug. 5: Women’s Balance Beam Final and Women’s Floor Exercise Final
Every gymnast will compete during the qualification rounds which serve as qualifiers for the team final, the all-around final, and the individual event finals, according to NBC. During the qualification rounds, four athletes will compete in each event only counting the top three scores. An athlete attempting to qualify for the all-around final has to perform in all four events. If they do not compete in all four events, they will only be in contention for the team finals and the individual event finals.
During the team finals, three athletes can compete on a specific apparatus for each team and all three scores will be added up. The team with the highest cumulative team score, which will be made up of 12 total scores, will take home the gold.
According to The Athletic, Rivera’s routines on the uneven bars and the balance beam will be “the key elements” to her piece in the “team-building puzzle” as those two apparatuses are slight weak spots for the combined team of Biles, Chiles, Carey, and Lee. In order to qualify for the all-around final, Rivera will have to compete on all four apparatuses during the qualifying rounds and finish in the top 24. To advance to the apparatus finals she must be one of the top-eight scorers on any given apparatus in qualifying. In addition, only two gymnasts per nation will be eligible to compete in each apparatus final.
Source: Axios, NBC New York, Olympics.com
