Jara Washington and Erica Pauda
35 minutes ago
INDIANAPOLIS, Minn. — Simone Biles and other U.S. gymnastics stars competed Friday night on the first night of women’s national team trials for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
KXAN’s Jara Washington reported from Minneapolis, surrounded by a crowd of excited attendees.
Outside the entrance to the stadium, a crowd was waiting for the competition to begin. Simon Biles is the greatest gymnast of all time. Other big names to watch on Friday were Biles’ teammate and fellow Tokyo 2020 Olympian Jordan Childs, the 2020 all-around gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, rising star Lea Jones and this season’s USAG standout Kayla DiCello.
“There’s a lot of history in this gym. We’re going to see some great gymnastics today. We have the top five gymnasts on the team and who knows who the top four will be,” said one fan outside the venue.
Washington said while watching the girls practice over the past few days, they all seemed to be in a really good mental state.
But in a surprise move, Skye Blakely, another top contender for the U.S. team, was wheeled out of podium training on Wednesday night in a wheelchair after rupturing her Achilles tendon, posting that she was devastated because she never expected her Olympic trials to end like that.
The trial began at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
