The road to Paris

Meet the Dallas gymnasts competing at Olympic Team Trials this weekend

Dallas native Skye Blakely has a good chance of making the Olympic team.

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

With the 2024 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony just a month away, it's finally time to pick the high-profile gymnastics teams who'll represent the United States in Paris. Many powerhouse Texans - including several with Dallas ties - are among the contenders.

The path to Paris ran through Fort Worth recently at the Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships, where the top finishers earned their invitations to U.S. Olympic Team Trials. This weekend (June 27-30), they'll go flip-to-flip and vault-to-vault in Minneapolis; who'll stick the landing and get a chance to compete for Olympic glory? Fans won't know until Sunday night when the full team is announced. (See schedule, below.)

The competition will be fierce. Sixteen women and 20 men will vie for just five spots each, plus two traveling and two non-traveling replacement athletes for each squad.

And realistically, the women are competing for four spots; barring any catastrophes, all-time great Simone Biles will lead the team. Also expected to make the cut: Shilese Jones, six-time World medalist.

One of the top contenders to help round out the team is Dallas native Skye Blakely. The 19-year-old, who lives in Frisco and trains at champion-producing WOGA Gymnastics, is a two-time World team champion. She was crowned the 2024 U.S. all-around silver medalist in Fort Worth, where her debut of a difficult "Cheng" vault put her prominently in the conversation for the Olympics. Three years after her bid to make the 2020 Olympic team ended with an injury, Blakely is peaking at the right time.

UPDATE 6-27-2024: Skye Blakely was injured during a practice at Olympic Trials on Wednesday, June 26. On Thursday morning, USA Gymnastics announced that she will have to withdraw from competition. "During Podium Training on Wednesday, Skye Blakely sustained a right Achilles injury and will be unable to compete in Olympic Trials. We are cheering for Skye in her recovery!" the organization posted on Facebook.

Skye Blakely, Kayla DiCello, Hezly Rivera Skye Blakely (silver) Kayla DiCello (gold) and Hezly Rivera (bronze) at the 2024 USA Gymnastics Winter Cup.Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Her WOGA training mate Hezly Rivera has an outside shot. The New Jersey native, who now calls Plano home, surprised the Fort Worth arena by finishing sixth in the Nationals all-around competition - right behind 2020 Olympic medalists Suni Lee (fourth) and Jordan Chiles (fifth) and one place ahead of Jade Carey (seventh). Given that Rivera is just 16 years old, she'll be a serious contender for the 2028 Olympics if she stays healthy.

Another WOGA gymnast in the conversation is Kaliya Lincoln. The California native, a current Frisco resident, is known for her powerful tumbling and high-flying flips on floor exercise. Lincoln pulled out of Nationals in Fort Worth due to injury, but if fully recovered at Trials, the 18-year-old could soar to a spot on the team, or as an alternate.

Also in the hunt is Plano/Frisco native Zoey Molomo. Now living in McKinney, she trains at Metroplex Gymnastics and finished just outside the top 10 in all-around in Fort Worth, landing at No. 11. The 15-year-old (she'll turn 16 on July 11) will do doubt be in the conversation for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Zoey Molomo during training at Olympic Team Trials in Minneapolis.Facebook/USA Gymnastics

On the men's side, Plano native (and current Houston-area resident) Asher Hong is gunning for a spot on the Olympic team. He'll be up against a deep field that includes national champion Brody Malone, along with Frederick Richard, Yul Moldauer, Shane Wiskus, Colt Walker, Khoi Young, and Donnell Whittenberg.

All the gymnasts vying for a spot on the Olympic team are:

Women

Simone Biles — Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre
Skye Blakely — Frisco, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics
Jade Carey — Phoenix, Ariz./Oregon State University
Dulcy Caylor — Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre
Jordan Chiles — Vancouver, Wash./World Champions Centre
Kayla DiCello — Boyds, Md./Hill’s Gymnastics
Shilese Jones — Auburn, Wash./Ascend Gymnastics Center
Suni Lee — St. Paul, Minn./Midwest Gymnastics Center
Kaliya Lincoln — Frisco, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics
Eveylynn Lowe — Blue Springs, Mo./Great American Gymnastics Express
Zoey Molomo — Frisco, Texas/Metroplex Gymnastics
Hezly Rivera — Oradell, N.J./WOGA Gymnastics
Joscelyn Roberson — Texarkana, Texas/World Champions Centre
Simone Rose — Sammamish, Wash./Pacific Reign Gymnastics
Tiana Sumanasekera — Pleasanton, Calif./World Champions Centre
Leanne Wong — Overland Park, Kan./University of Florida

Men

Fuzzy Benas — Richmond, Texas/University of Oklahoma
Jeremy Bischoff — Santa Clarita, Calif./Stanford University
Cameron Bock — Tustin, Calif./University of Michigan
Tate Costa — Narragansett, R.I./University of Illinois
Alex Diab — Hinsdale, Ill./EVO Gymnastics
Asher Hong — Tomball, Texas/Stanford University
Patrick Hoopes — Lehi, Utah/U.S. Air Force Academy
Paul Juda — Deerfield, Ill./University of Michigan
Josh Karnes — Erie, Pa./Penn State University
Brody Malone — Aragon, Ga. /EVO Gymnastics
Kiran Mandava — Cypress, Texas/Cypress Academy of Gymnastics
Yul Moldauer — Arvada, Colo./5280 Gymnastics
Stephen Nedoroscik — Worcester, Mass./EVO Gymnastics
Curran Phillips — Naperville, Ill./EVO Gymnastics
Frederick Richard — Stoughton, Mass./University of Michigan
Kai Uemura — Chicago, Ill./Lakeshore Academy
Colt Walker — Cedar Park, Texas/Stanford University
Donnell Whittenburg — Baltimore, Md./Salto Gymnastics
Shane Wiskus — Spring Park, Minn./EVO Gymnastics
Khoi Young — Bowie, Md./Stanford University

Local fans will get a chance to see Biles and other top athletes on the post-Olympics Gold Over America Tour coming to Fort Worth in October. Tickets are now on sale.

Competition schedule and how to watch
The 2024 Gymnastics Olympic Team Trials will run June 27-30 in Minneapolis, with men's events taking place Thursday and Saturday, and women's events on Friday and Sunday. Courtesy of USA Gymnastics, the full schedule will be:

Thursday, June 27 – 5:45-8 pm CT – Men’s Day 1 (USA Network, Peacock)
Friday, Jun 28 – 6:40-9 pm CT – Women’s Day 1 (NBC, Peacock)
Saturday, June 29 – 2:15-5 pm CT – Men’s Day 2, Men’s Olympic Team named (NBC, Peacock)
Sunday, June 30 – 7:10-10 pm CT – Women’s Day 2, Women’s Olympic Team named (NBC, Peacock)

For more information on broadcast and streaming schedule, visit the NBC site and check local listings and providers.

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The story contains material from Associated Press and USA Gymnastics. It was updated with the news of Skye Blakely's injury on June 27.

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World Cup match recap

Japan and Sweden play to 1-1 draw in World Cup match at Dallas Stadium

Japan v Sweden: Group F - FIFA World Cup 2026

Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Daizen Maeda gave Japan the lead and Anthony Elanga took it away six minutes later, helping Sweden to a 1-1 draw Thursday night, June 25 that sent both teams to the knockout round of the World Cup.

Elanga’s impressive left-footed strike from just outside the right corner of the box in the 62nd minute was his second goal of this year’s tournament. Elanga has scored only three goals in 49 games for Newcastle, but zero in 32 Premier League matches.

Six minutes earlier, Maeda settled a nifty pass from Ritsu Doan with his left foot in the penalty area and easily beat Jacob Widell Zetterstrom with his right foot.

It was Japan’s seventh goal of the tournament, the country’s most for an entire World Cup. That topped the six the Japanese scored while reaching the round of 16 in Russia eight years ago.

Japan is advancing out of the group stage for the third consecutive World Cup and fifth time in seven tries since first reaching the round of 16 as co-hosts in 2002. The Japanese team finished second in Group F behind the Netherlands and will play Brazil in Houston on Monday.

“For the good of football in Japan, I think it would be a very good experience,” coach Hajime Moriyasu said through a translator of his 16th-ranked team facing No. 5 Brazil. “We do believe there's a chance for us to win. And then we hope that we will be able to move one step further move on to the next stage.”

The Swedes have advanced to the knockout round the past four times they’ve qualified for the World Cup going back to 1994 — when they reached the semifinals the last time the U.S. hosted soccer’s biggest event.

Sweden will have to wait to find out its opponent in the round of 32 next week.

“We have to probably recover the players first and make sure that physically we’re in a good place for whoever we play,” coach Graham Potter said. “We’ve got to be on our toes in terms of logistics. I would say if you had said to me when we first came that would be the challenge we’d face, I would have absolutely taken it.”

Elanga had another chance to score in injury time, with his right-footed attempted forcing goalkeeper Zion Suzuki to make a diving deflection.

On the ensuing corner kick, Suzuki deflected Alexander Isak’s header off the crossbar and into the air, eventually ending the scoring chance with a leaping grab in a crowd of players.

The Blue Samurai's bag-waving, chanting fans among 70,137 at the sold-out home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys were persistent as a scoreless game dragged into the second half. Japan seemed content to sit back and play for a draw that would have guaranteed the same spot in the knockout round as a win.

Just like that, things changed when Doan put Maeda in perfect position to score.

Elanga wasn't anywhere near scoring range, but Suzuki appeared screened and reacted late as the shot beat him to the far post.

Just three minutes later, Isak was inside the penalty area with a great scoring chance, but Suzuki deflected it wide and over the end line, angrily gesturing toward some of his teammates as Sweden lined up for another corner kick. The Swedes had eight corner kicks to only two for Japan.

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