When Hezly Rivera was just 16, she made the U.S. Olympic team for Paris 2024, only months after moving into the senior ranks. At an age when many gymnasts are still finding their place, Rivera was already preparing for the biggest competition of her young career. Two years later, she has come a long way, winning the 2025 U.S. all-around title and the 2026 Winter Cup all-around crown. Yet one goal remained for Rivera this year: making the U.S. World Championships team. Now, she has finally earned that opportunity and is set to make her Worlds debut in Rotterdam.
USA Gymnastics announced its 2026 women’s World Championships team on October 1, with Rivera joining Skye Blakely, Charleigh Bullock, Reese Esponda and Claire Pease for the championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from October 17-25. Dulcy Caylor was named the traveling replacement athlete, while Jade Carey will serve as the non-traveling replacement.
For Rivera, the selection closes a chapter that began with disappointment last year. After winning the 2025 U.S. all-around title, she was forced to miss the World Championships selection process because of an ankle injury. This time, she stayed healthy, returned to the top of the national standings and put herself in position to fight for the Worlds team. “I’m looking forward to competing and being back on the world stage,” Rivera said.
But the question arises: how did the five gymnasts earn their places? This selection wasn’t simply to determine who the top 5 competitors in one competition were. Pease and Bullock won the top two positions automatically, with 60 percent of their World Team Selection Event Day 1 results and 40 percent of the combined two-day all-around results from the 2026 U.S. Championships.
The remaining three places were determined by the Athlete Selection Committee. The committee took into account performances from all the 2026 season and the selection event, difficulty and execution scores, consistency, the team’s medal potential, current health and readiness, and each gymnast’s ability to meet the requirements of the training plan needed for the event. In the end, that’s how Rivera got the opportunity that he had been looking for.
The Rotterdam championships also carry added importance because they mark the first opportunity for countries to qualify teams for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The top three teams at these World Championships will earn team qualification spots for LA28.
Rivera believes this young U.S. team has what it takes. “We’re all so strong mentally. All these girls are capable of so much,” Rivera said. “We’re all in very good spots, and this team could be very strong.” Interestingly, Blakely is the only gymnast on the five-member team with previous World Championships experience. She will make her fourth Worlds appearance, while Bullock, Esponda, Pease and Rivera will all compete at the championships for the first time.
That gives this U.S. team a different look from the groups that have dominated the event for more than a decade. The American women have won seven straight World Championships team titles dating back to 2011. The U.S. women have set a high standard at the World Championships, but this year’s team will have a different challenge. With Simone Biles and several familiar faces no longer part of the lineup, a younger group will have to step up against a field that includes the return of Russian gymnasts.
Hezly Rivera and Young U.S. team face tough test
The last World Championships to feature a women’s team competition were held in 2023 in Antwerp, where the United States captured the team gold with a score of 167.729. Brazil was in second place with 165.530, followed by France with 164.064. The U.S. team in that final included Simone Biles, Skye Blakely, Shilese Jones, Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong. The win marked the seventh World team title for the Americans in a row, following World team titles in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2022.
This time, however, the U.S. will face a different test. The 2026 World Championships mark the return of Russian men’s and women’s teams to the event for the first time since 2019. The Russian women will compete as neutral athletes, and they arrived after winning the European team title in August. Interestingly, Russia is also the only team to have beaten the U.S. women at an Olympics or World Championships in the past 15 years, doing so at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
The Americans also have another streak to protect. At every Olympics and World Championships since 2003, the U.S. has had at least one woman finish on the individual all-around podium. None of the five gymnasts selected for Rotterdam has previously achieved that feat at a World Championships or Olympics. That leaves Rivera, Claire Pease and Charleigh Bullock among the young Americans looking to keep the run going.