With Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, and other familiar names absent from the 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, the U.S. women’s team entered the competition with a younger lineup. Still, hopes were high for Hezly Rivera, the Paris 2024 Olympic team gold medalist, but she was forced to withdraw on October 17 because of a left ankle injury. Despite the setback, the Americans delivered a strong qualifying performance, led by Skye Blakely, who later shared an emotional message about the hardships she had overcome to reach this moment.

“It truly means the world to me. I’m not going to cry; I already cried,” Blakely said after her performance, as shared by Gymnastics Now on October 18.

The 21-year-old led the U.S. women in the all-around, scoring 55.465 points across four apparatuses. She recorded 14.000 on vault, 14.333 on uneven bars, 14.166 on balance beam, and 12.966 on floor exercise. Her performance helped the American team post a combined score of 164.529, putting them provisionally ahead of Italy by 2.099 points, with Japan another 0.800 points behind Italy at that stage of qualifying.

But for Blakely, the numbers only told part of the story.  “It just means the world to me, knowing how much I’ve been through. Two major surgeries, a lot of hardships, ups and downs,” she said. And those two surgeries came at the peak of her career.

Her first major setback came in 2021, when she tore the ulnar collateral ligament in her left elbow while warming up for vault at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She underwent Tommy John surgery in July and spent around seven months recovering, missing the chance to compete at the Tokyo Olympics.

Just when she was working toward another Olympic opportunity, Blakely suffered another devastating injury. In June 2024, she ruptured her right Achilles tendon during floor exercise training, only two days before the U.S. Olympic Trials. The injury required surgery and ended her hopes of competing at the Paris Olympics. It came after she had finished second behind Simone Biles in the all-around at the 2024 U.S. Championships.

Blakely eventually returned to competition with the University of Florida in January 2025, less than seven months after her Achilles injury. Now, looking back on the opportunity to compete again, Blakely made it clear how much the moment meant to her.

“It just makes me so grateful that the Lord has given me this opportunity to just even be here at all,” she said. “So to be able to come out here and compete all around, and to do as well as I did, I’m just full of joy.” She also thanked the people who stood by her through the toughest moments, especially on the days when she struggled to believe in herself. After years of setbacks, when Blakely finally made it back to the World Championships, the emotions came rushing out, and she became tearful after finishing her performance.

Interestingly, Blakely was not the only American to deliver a strong performance. Claire Pease followed Blakely as the team’s second-highest all-around scorer with 54.432 points, while Charleigh Bullock finished with 53.499. Reese Esponda contributed scores of 13.633 on floor exercise and 13.866 on vault, and Dulcy Caylor, who stepped into the lineup after Hezly Rivera’s withdrawal, scored 13.300 on balance beam.

But amid the team’s strong start, Blakely’s emotional reaction offered a glimpse of the personal journey behind her performance. Asked about her tears, she explained, “Yes, just so full of joy that the day went well overall and just competing all around. I’ve pushed through so much, so much has been seen online, but there’s also so many things behind the scenes that people don’t know and haven’t seen.”

While Blakely finally had a moment to celebrate how far she had come, Rivera was left facing another painful disappointment.

Hezly Rivera suffers second straight World Championships setback 

Rivera’s withdrawal was a major setback after the 18-year-old had worked hard to earn another opportunity to compete on the international stage. The Paris 2024 Olympic gold medalist was preparing to make her World Championships debut in Rotterdam, but an injury to her left ankle forced her out of the competition for the second consecutive year.

The disappointment was especially difficult given what had happened in 2025. Shortly after winning her first U.S. all-around title, Rivera rolled the same ankle and had to withdraw from the World Championships selection camp. She returned stronger the following year, winning her second consecutive national all-around title and securing another place on the U.S. team. However, the ankle problem resurfaced during podium training in Rotterdam on October 15.

Rivera initially remained hopeful, saying she was taking things day by day and modifying her training to give the ankle time to heal. But with the injury limiting her work on several apparatuses, she was medically withdrawn on October 17, just one day before the U.S. women began qualifying.

The setback came after another difficult moment earlier in the year, when Rivera withdrew from the Pan American Championships in June because of a sore hamstring aggravated during vault. For a gymnast who had helped the United States win Olympic gold in Paris and established herself as a two-time national all-around champion, it was another frustrating interruption to her progress.