Simone Biles has added another title to her ever-growing list of honors. This time on Saturday at the XL Center in Hartford, she won the USA Gymnastics Core Hydration Classic individual all-around for the second consecutive year with a score of 59.500.
After kicking off the competition with a sharp performance on the balance beam, Biles made a statement on floor exercise by reintroducing Biles II (a double backflip and triple twist in a tuck position) to his routine. She bounced on the landing and was sent out of bounds, but even after deducting points, she still earned 14.800 points, her highest score of the tournament. On no other floor routine did she score higher than 14.000.
Jones, the 2023 World Championships individual all-around bronze medalist, had a strong performance against Biles. She earned her 15.250 points on the uneven bars and was the only athlete in the competition to score over 15 points.
Jones led the competition in the first two turns, but Biles scored an eye-popping 15.600 on vault and took the lead after three turns. Jones scored the next highest score on vault, a score of 14.350, and finished the individual all-around with a score of 57.650. Jordan Chiles, a member of the 2021 Olympic team, placed third with a score of 55.450.
The Core Classic is the last opportunity for gymnasts to announce qualifying scores for the 2024 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, which will be held from May 30 to June 2. The championship will serve as the final qualifying event for the Olympic Trials, which will be held on June 22nd.
Sunitha Lee, the 2021 Olympic individual gold medalist, did not compete in the individual all-around at the Hartford Games. Although she missed her best event, the uneven bars, she performed cleanly in the other three events, leading with a score of 14.500, and took first place in the beam category. Her total score of 40.650 met her three-event standard, qualifying her for the individual all-around at the U.S. National Championships, which will be held from May 30th to June 2nd.
Gabby Douglas, who has not competed in the individual all-around since the 2016 Olympics, had a shaky start, falling twice on the first rotation of the uneven bars. She finished her routine to enthusiastic cheers from the XL Center crowd. As she reapplied the chalk on her hands after her second fall, the crowd chanted her name every time she approached the bar. However, she withdrew from her competition after her first rotation and she did not compete in the remaining events of the individual all-around.
Douglas also fell into the bars twice at the American Classic in April. The 28-year-old has already qualified for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in all events except floor exercise, so she can still apply to compete in the individual all-around at the U.S. Championships. If Douglas had completed her individual all-around on Saturday, she would have needed to score 51 points or higher to qualify. This number became a jackpot after she scored a 10.100 on bars.
LSU freshman Connor McClain, fresh off helping the Tigers win the 2024 NCAA Championship, nailed his beam routine, earning him the third-highest score of the meet behind Biles and Lee. However, she also withdrew due to injury after her first competition and left the venue in a wheelchair.
