World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023 Preview: Know USA athletes and who they will compete against
The most anticipated 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships will be held from September 30 to October 8 at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, Belgium. The Championships will serve as the qualifying opportunity for the gymnasts for all the events at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The championships will select nine teams each in men's and women's categories to compete at the Bercy Arena in Paris. Additionally, the top six men and top four women athletes will earn their spots for the Paris Olympics.
Simone Biles will return to Antwerp for the first time after competing in the 2013 World Championships where, as a 16-year-old, she secured two gold medals. She will make her historic sixth appearance in the Belgian capital.
The USA's women's team will compete to defend their title against Great Britain, as both teams secured their spots to compete in Paris during the 2022 World Championships. Biles will enter as the favorite to compete in the all-around event.
The 26-year-old will compete against fellow team member Shilese Jones and Great Britain's Jessica Gadirova. Other athletes to compete in the all-around events are France's Melanie de Jesus dos Santos and Japan's Miyata Shoko. Rebeca Andrade, the gold medalist of the 2022 World Championship's all-around event will also be seen in the competition alongside Biles.
Biles will enter as the only female gymnast to perform the Yurchenko double-pike. In the balance beam event, Biles will face the 2021 World Championship medalist, Ashikawa Urara. Along with Biles, Jones, Skye Blakely, Leanne Wong, and Joscelyn Roberson will also represent the USA.
The national champion in the all-around event, Hong Asher will represent the USA men's team at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships alongside Paul Juda, Richard Frederick, Young Khoi, Moldauer Yul, and Walker Colt.
An overview of team USA at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2022
The USA women's team showed a remarkable performance at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2022 which was held in Liverpool, England. The team including Shilese Jones, Jade Carey, Leanne Wong, and Skye Blakely left behind Great Britain to clinch the overall top position by scoring a total of 166.564.
Jones earned the silver medal in the individual all-around event with a total score of 55.399. She also secured a silver medal in the Uneven Bars, scoring a total of 14.766. The top two positions in the vault event were secured by the Americans, Carey and Jordan Chiles, who scored a total of 14.516 and 14.350 respectively.
Chiles and Carey won the top positions for the USA in the floor exercise events, with the former clinching a silver medal and the latter tying with Andrade for a bronze medal.
The detailed schedule of the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships can be found here.