Yet another blow has hit Americans before the 2025 Pan American Gymnastics Championships! In the absence of big names from the USA team roster, their winning chances ultimately came down to a handful of athletes. But things took a turn for the worse when one of them met an unfortunate fate recently. She went from being a heavy favorite at the event to finding herself partially sidelined — a complete 180 in her journey. Any guesses who she is?

We are talking about the non-traveling alternate for the Paris Olympics, Tiana Sumanasekera, who took to her Instagram stories to inform the world of a major mishap. She was supposed to start her redemptive chapter in Panama, competing alongside Hezly Rivera and Co. But while that is not entirely called off, there’s a serious switch in the way things will now be going forward.

On June 12, Tiana took to her Instagram story to make an announcement. She wrote, “Earlier this week, I had a short landing on floor that caused a minor ankle injury. I am very saddened by this, as I have been working so hard to compete fully again. But I am very fortunate that it is nothing bad.” While this rules out her all-around competition chances, she’s luckily not completely pulling out of the event.

Yes, that’s because Tiana informed her fans that she’ll still be competing on one apparatus. She wrote, “I will still be competing beam, and I am so grateful and excited to be doing so.” She even notified us that she is doing so without straining her leg too much. “I am resting it well so I can compete to the best of my ability.” However, this still remains a major shocker for Team USA ahead of a crucial competition.

That’s also because Tiana is a 4x U.S. National gymnastics team member. At the 2023 Pan Am Games, she was very much a part of the American team that came first in Chile. Similarly, for the 2022 Pan Am Championships in Brazil, she came first on the vault, the beam, and the floor, while being second all-around. Whereas, at the 2021 Junior Pan Am Games, too, she was on the gold-winning USA gymnastics team. Clearly, her track record is exceptional, especially at this event.

But sadly, she won’t be able to perform at peak capacity for now, atleast. However, looking at the bright side of things, she isn’t fully benched like Asher Hong, who was supposed to lead a 12-athlete delegation to the Pan Am gymnastics Champs, 2025.

Team USA gymnastics suffers another gut punch

Everything looked under control for Team USA gymnastics until it suddenly didn’t. In a shocking move, Asher Hong had to drop out of the Pan Am Championships 2025. That might have affected the strength of the team. And why not? Hong is an Olympic bronze medalist gymnast. Moreover, she is a standout who has dealt with high-pressure competitions before. But what happened out of the blue?

Well, on June 11, USA Gymnastics floated an update. And that was Hong will not compete at the Pan Am Champs “due to illness.” Yes, that’s correct. They also announced Jun Iwai as his replacement. But again, when a team suffers such last-minute withdrawals or injuries, a lot changes. The need to make decisions often forces coaches back to the drawing board, and a momentum break is a common fear. Hopefully, Team USA gets past this and puts up a decent show in Panama. What do you think? Let us know below!