Hesley Rivera She had nothing to lose and everything to gain in competing for a spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team.
“I consider myself an underdog,” Rivera told reporters recently when asked about the pressures of the Olympic Trials. “I looked at it like any other tournament.”
The New Jersey Tumblers will compete in 2024. Paris She joins veterans Simone Biles, Suni Li, Jordan Childs and Jade Carey as the only rookie on the team that won the individual all-around silver medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
“I can’t believe I’m a part of this team,” Rivera said. “The depth of the roster is incredible.”
Dominican American athletes The fifth Latina She will represent the United States in gymnastics, following in the footsteps of Laurie Hernandez, Kyla Ross, Aniya Hatch and Tracy Talavera.
“I just want to help the community grow,” Rivera said. Remezcla“I want Latinos to look up to me and think, ‘I want to be like her when I grow up.'”
Rivera also Team USA’s youngest player I turned 16 in June.
Rivera was favored to compete in the 2028 Olympics due to her age and the depth of her team, but injuries to three top contenders — Cirice Jones, Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello — paved the way for her trip to Paris. Despite a sudden thinning of the uneven bars and balance beam field, Rivera put in strong performances in the two major events at the U.S. Trials, finishing fifth.
“Bars and beam are definitely events where I can contribute to the team, so [them]”I kind of knew, ‘Yeah, I have a chance,'” Rivera said.
Selection committee member Alicia Sacramone Quinn, head of strategy for U.S. women’s gymnastics, said the fifth-place result was down to what the team was missing, but that they had always had their eye on Rivera, who won gold on balance beam at the 2024 Winter Cup.
“Haseley has done a really great job,” Sacramone Quinn said, “and we felt she was the right person to fill that final spot.”
Rivera secured his place on the team. american gymnastics She made history by making the Olympic team in her first year as a senior elite gymnast.
“I was definitely a little nervous, especially when they called my name,” Rivera said. [didn’t] I did my best to make the team, that’s all I can do.”
Rivera told reporters that he had been waiting for this moment since he was eight years old.
“I never thought anything like this would happen,” Rivera said, “but I’m just so grateful for the experience and every moment that came with it.”
Rivera began training at age 5 after attending a best friend’s birthday party at a local gym.
“The coaches said I had potential and told my parents, ‘We should enroll her in classes,'” Rivera said of the birthday party. “I went to the party and never left.”
In 2021, Rivera and her family moved to Texas to train at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy under renowned coach Valeri Liukin, father of five-time Olympic medalist Nastia Liukin, whom Rivera calls “an amazing coach.” Claims Verbal and emotional abuse.
“Valeri has prepared her well by giving her a lot of challenges,” Sacramone Quinn said. “She has a great coach who is guiding her and keeping her on that path, and she’s surrounded by experienced teammates.”
Rivera’s family has been supportive of her journey. clip The photo, taken by her father, Henry Rivera, shows him with his eyes closed to peer at his daughter for just a moment as she dances on the balance beam at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.
“He’s been with me from the beginning,” Rivera said. “He always encourages me to do my best, but he’s also there to comfort me when things get tough.”
As she prepares for her first Olympic Games, Rivera said she trusts in God, and moments after finishing her routine, she recited her favorite Bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11, to reporters.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to bring you peace and not disaster, to give you a future and a hope,” Rivera said.
Times reporter Thuc Nhi Nguyen contributed to this report.
