It didn’t take long for Arkansas’ strongest season in years to come crashing down. Jordyn Wieber resigned, Joscelyn Roberson announced her transfer, and the 20-year-old has been unsparing in her choices. So ruthless, in fact, that she turned down an opportunity with a 2026 NCAA Championship runner-up program because she felt their goals were not aligned. For a 2023 World Championship gold medalist with ambitions for LA 2028, that distinction made all the difference.

After all, Roberson was a star in the 2026 season. Not quite at the level of Faith Torrez, Kailin Chio, Jordan Chiles, and Co., but in her own right, a star. Thus, when it came time to pick her destination, she chose between LSU, UCLA, Florida, and Georgia. But LSU immediately dropped out of the running. 

“It’s not just like where elite can be done. I wanted it to be celebrated… encouraged. And I felt like the school that I [previously] mentioned that I didn’t visit didn’t really encourage it,” Roberson told Gymnastics Now. “I get it. I mean, obviously, [it’s] the NCAA – their main goal is to get a national championship. But my main goal is to get a national championship and then go to the Olympics.”

Another reason Roberson revealed was that things between her and LSU just “kind of fizzled out.” That is, even though she had been in talks about potentially joining the likes of Chio and Kaliya Lincoln to form a superstar team. In the end, however, Roberson rejected the offers after programs had been pursuing her for a long time.

That’s because Roberson had very specific requirements for her future program. The first one was that she “didn’t want to get to know a completely new staff.” It’s why the gymnast narrowed it down to Florida, Georgia, and UCLA because she had built a relationship with the coaches there.

That especially included Georgia, where Roberson eventually signed, as Cecile Canqueteau-Landi and Laurent Landi happened to be her former club coaches. The latter was announced earlier this month as the team’s associate head coach. Her second requirement was academics, as the 2026 All-American’s goal is to attend medical school.

However, while both Florida and UCLA offer med schools or have them on campus, Georgia is opening its school this year.

The third and final requirement was a school where she had close relationships with the women already on the gymnastics team. For Joscelyn Roberson, that was her most important goal, alongside a team and coaches capable of helping her return to Olympic level.

The 20-year-old was an alternate for the 2024 Paris Olympics, although she never got a chance to compete. She’s hoping to change that, with her goal over the next few months being to settle into her new environment and begin training. More importantly, Roberson wants to return to full fitness and resume training at an elite level, with the aim of LA 2028.

“The goal is to train elite this year but not to compete because I really want to get healthy,” she added. “One, because my ankles were an issue last year, and then my ankles are still an issue. Plus, my foot now. So I want to take a small break, and I decided that if there was a year to take a break, it would be this one.

“We’ll hit the ground heavy and running next year for Worlds and then the Olympics [in 2028]. But I’ll train elite [this year] – I just won’t compete in it.”

It does make Roberson a rare case in the world, since NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) has changed the course of collegiate sports. Yet, she isn’t the only one who attempted to focus on both elite gymnastics and collegiate gymnastics, with Konnor McClain doing the same. The 21-year-old initially planned on deferring her 2024 season but changed her mind and did both instead.

She would go on to help LSU win its first NCAA Gymnastics Championship and become a contender for the 2024 Olympic team. However, a torn Achilles tendon ended that dream. Yet for Joscelyn Roberson, the dream is not just alive but kicking, although her focus right now is getting fit and the 2027 NCAA season.

Joscelyn Roberson looks ahead to the 2027 season

In a landmark move, Joscelyn Roberson transferred to the University of Georgia, rejecting Florida and UCLA. It marks the end of the saga for one of the most coveted gymnasts in the NCAA, with goals of participating in LA 2028. Not just that, for Georgia, they’ve added a highly talented piece to a program that has already done extremely well.

They finished third in their semi-final bracket, edged out by LSU and Florida in the end. Yet it marked a remarkable return to the program, and they’ve only improved since. The university added Laurent Landi, reuniting him with his wife, Cécile Canqueteau-Landi. 

Not just that, Roberson reunites with the two coaches who led Simone Biles to 22 medals between 2018 and 2024, including six Olympic medals. Yet despite the coach’s and the team’s caliber, Roberson has set herself lofty goals for the 2027 season.

“My goal is to always do all-around, but I understand the caliber of Georgia gymnastics,” Roberson explained. “And it’s only going to get better. I feel like we have really, really good incoming freshmen, and not that many girls left, especially because last year, their team was so, so young.

“CaMarah [Williams], Nyla [Aquino], Kelise [Woolford], all of them. I feel like we’re going to be really, really good. So I understand if I don’t compete all-around.”

Now, Georgia gets a World Championship gold medalist. Roberson gets the coaches, the environment, and the clearest runway to LA 2028 she’s ever had.