SAN JOSE, Calif— At the 2016 Olympic Team Trials, the confetti rained down over the floor mat as the five gymnasts (and three replacement athletes) who will represent the U.S. in Rio were announced. After a nail biting 30 minute wait, the selection committee, headed for the last time by Martha Karolyi, announced that Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Aly Raisman, and Madison Kocian will be competing at the Olympic Games.
Here's what you need to know about these five talented women.
Simone Biles
Age: 19
What you need to know about her: Biles is the three-time world champion, four-time national champion, greatest gymnast of all time, and every other superlative you can think of. Hyperbole falls short when it comes to this gymnast. She lives and trains in Spring, Texas.
What she'll bring to the team: In addition to helping the team win its second consecutive Olympic team title, Biles is expected to walk away with the all-around gold medal. In fact, she has the potential to pick up as many as five gold medals out of six available for the women— on vault, balance beam (where she is the two-time defending world champion), and on floor (where she is the three time defending world champion). This will definitely be the "Summer of Biles."
Here Biles is crushing one of the hardest vaults in the world.
Laurie Hernandez
Age: 16
What you need to know about her: Hernandez is the newcomer to this team. She's the only member without significant international experience—no world championships or Olympics under her belt— but the 16-year-old from New Jersey has been competing in 2016 with the "been there, done that" attitude of a pro. And the fans have embraced her: when she finished her competition at the Olympic Trials, the crowd started chanting appreciatively, "Laurie, Laurie!"
What she'll bring to the team: Hernandez, who is known for her ebullient floor routines, will be contributing valuable scores to the team total on the uneven bars and balance beam. (She's a serious medal threat on the latter event.)
Here is Hernandez flying high on the uneven bars at the 2016 National Championships.
Aly Raisman
Age: 22
What you need to know about her: The 2012 double gold medalist (team, floor exercise) took some well-deserved time off from the sport after the Olympics. During the year away, she toured the country with her teammates and competed on Dancing With The Stars where she placed fourth. After all the excitement died down, she went back to the gym and got into the best shape of her life.
What she'll bring to the team: While the "Hava Nagila" music is gone, all of her crazy tumbling—including that first pass that includes six elements—is back. And in a sport where athletes are considered over the hill at 18, she is 22 and looks better than she did back in 2012 when she won two gold medals as a teen. And, as in 2012, Raisman is back in the hunt for medals on balance beam, floor exercise, and in the all-around. As one of the only defending Olympians, she also brings leadership skills.
Here is Raisman is rocking her floor routine at the 2016 National Championships.
Gabby Douglas
Age: 20
What you need to know about her: Since Douglas won the all-around gold medal in London, she has danced onstage with Alicia Keys, published a memoir, and starred in a reality series, Douglas Family Gold. But Douglas felt the itch to do gymnastics again and got back to the gym in late 2014 to start training for her second Olympic Games.
What she brings to the team: In 2015, Douglas placed second behind the unbeatable Biles at the world championships. (And let's be real—in the Biles era of gymnastics, the silver is the best medal up for grabs.) In 2016, however, Douglas has struggled. After a strong start to the season with a win at the American Cup, she has turned in lackluster performances, finishing 5th at nationals and 7th at Trials, where she announced a coaching change.
Still, if Douglas can get her act together—and she has a remarkable track record of being ready for only the most important competitions and not a minute sooner—she can be a factor for the team on her best event, the uneven bars.
Madison Kocian
Age: 19
What you need to know about her: Kocian, hailing from Dallas, Texas, is the defending world champion on the uneven bars. (Actually, she is one of four world champions on the bars since the 2015 competition ended in a four-way tie for the top tier.)
What she brings to the team: Kocian is on the team on the strength of her bars because that event is an area where the U.S. is relatively weak. Kocian, however, is able to contribute usable scores on at least two other events— balance beam and floor exercise— should the team need her to step in on those apparatuses in preliminaries. She can also be expected to contend for an uneven bars medal in the event finals.
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