The team will be heavily favored to win gold — especially with Russia, a gymnastics power, still banned from international competition because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine — and the American women are also poised to collect an impressive medal haul from the individual events.
Biles committed several major mistakes during Tuesday’s all-around competition at the selection event held at a gym in Katy, Tex., but she performed much better Wednesday with error-free routines on bars and beam. She will arrive in Belgium seeking a sixth all-around gold at the world championships.
“I feel like everybody was nervous [Tuesday] — not just me,” Biles told reporters Wednesday. “And I don’t know why. But it was just rough. So today was a lot better.”
This group of U.S. gymnasts — featuring four athletes with world championships medals, along with a newcomer in Roberson — will contend for podium finishes on each apparatus. (Kayla DiCello, an alternate for the Tokyo Olympics, will also travel as an alternate.) The gymnasts earned their spots on the team after a two-day selection event that featured an all-around competition Tuesday and additional performances Wednesday on two apparatuses (bars and beam for almost everyone).
Jones, who won the all-around silver at last year’s world championships, nearly climbed ahead of Biles on the first day of the selection event, when the top all-around finisher secured an automatic spot on the team. But Jones had a mistake on bars during her final routine and landed in second. She rebounded with an excellent showing Wednesday for a 14.750, the highest bars score during the two-day event. Jones’s best all-around score this season, a 57.800 on the second day of nationals, is well short of Biles’s highest (59.300) but should be enough to contend for an all-around medal.
Olympians Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey were not selected for the world championships team. Both experienced multiple falls during the trials, and gymnasts with more consistent showings throughout the season and this week were chosen instead. (The team for the Pan American Games was also selected Wednesday, and Chiles earned the opportunity to compete there.)
In addition to Biles and Jones, two other gymnasts on the five-member squad have experience at the world championships: Blakely won gold with the team in 2022; Wong, an alternate for the Tokyo Olympics, was also part of the U.S. team last year, and she has two individual medals (silver in the all-around and bronze on floor) from the 2021 world championships.
Blakely fell on bars Wednesday, but she entered the day as seemingly a near-lock for the team because of her recent performances. Blakely has consistently scored at least a 14.000 on vault, bars and beam — enough to be an asset to the team score on each apparatus — and she could advance to the finals at worlds on bars and beam. Even with a low floor score during Tuesday’s all-around competition, Blakely tallied a 55.000 — not far off the scores of Biles (55.700) and Jones (55.300).
Wong, a junior at Florida who continues to train with her college coaches through the elite season, built upon her strong showing at nationals by hitting all her routines during the trials. Wong provides the team a steady option on each apparatus.
In a team final, the United States will rely on three gymnasts per apparatus, so identifying the top three finishers on each is often the starting point for determining the group with the highest scoring potential. Wong doesn’t fit as well into those calculations. Other gymnasts — Zoe Miller with a strong bars score or Kaliya Lincoln with an excellent floor routine — could provide a bigger scoring boost than Wong. But Miller and Lincoln offer less on the other apparatuses, and Wong’s ability to contribute anywhere holds value.
Roberson earned a spot on the team after a breakout season. The 17-year-old from Texas began training at World Champions Centre, the club owned by Biles’s family, a year ago, and she has improved significantly since then. Roberson placed just 18th at nationals in 2022 but rose to seventh this year, then fourth in the all-around at the selection event.
Roberson performs two different vaults — a requirement to win a medal on the apparatus — and she could earn a place alongside Biles on the podium at world championships. She has also scored as high as 14.150 on floor this season and has the potential to advance to the final.
