For two years, Shilese Jones could only watch the Olympic dream she once held so tightly move on without her. Now, the American gymnast is ready to chase it again.

Jones is “100% planning on coming back,” according to GymCastic, with her coach confirming that the 2027 World Championships are the target. After surgeries on her knee and shoulder kept her away from competition, Jones has committed to rebuilding herself for another shot at the biggest stage.

The road back, however, will not be easy. GymCastic reported that Jones remains committed despite the financial challenges that come with stepping away from the national team, pointing out that injured athletes in the United States do not receive the same long-term support found in some other countries. “If she were a Dutch gymnast, she would still be paid, and she could come back from her injuries even if it took two years,” the report noted.

Jones knows exactly how quickly an Olympic dream can disappear. On June 28, 2024, minutes before the U.S. Olympic Trials began, she landed awkwardly on vault and immediately knew something was wrong. She still walked over to the uneven bars and posted the highest score of the night before deciding she could not safely continue.

Doctors later confirmed a torn ACL and meniscus in her left knee. The first surgery had to wait until the swelling subsided, with another procedure following in early 2025. Then came another operation, this time to repair a torn rotator cuff in the right shoulder, an injury she had been competing through since 2022.

“It all happened so fast, right?” Jones recalled. “That last touch right before competing, it all was wild. I’m over here doing a Kerri Strug moment, pretty much.”

For someone who had trained since childhood, the sudden pause was unfamiliar territory. “This is the first break I’ve had since I started gymnastics at four,” Jones said.

But the time away eventually gave her something competition never could: perspective.

By June 2026, Jones was no longer talking about what the injury had taken away. Instead, she was showing people what she had rebuilt.

“I don’t look back at what I lost… I look at how far I’ve come,” she wrote on Instagram, alongside videos of herself training. The clips showed Jones attacking a double-twisting double back on rod floor and a double layout on competition floor.

Her shoulder has now become a particular source of encouragement. After years of pain, Jones said being able to work on the uneven bars without discomfort made her feel like “a whole different girl up there.”

The next target is competition in 2027. The bigger dream has remained unchanged since she first announced it in 2024: Los Angeles and the 2028 Olympics.

“I’m really enjoying my break right now and trying to stay strong,” Jones said in a previous interview. “But that will be my goal and will remain that goal until, obviously, it’s in my hands.”

Jones has also used her time away to stay connected to gymnastics. At Ascend Gymnastics near Seattle, she coaches younger athletes, spending long days helping them develop skills and experience the same joy that first pulled her into the sport.

“I love helping, developing, seeing the kids smile, right?” she said. “It’s everything I loved when I grew up.”

Her own comeback has also made her especially sensitive to other gymnasts fighting their way back. She pointed to Skye Blakely, another Paris Olympic hopeful whose campaign ended after she ruptured her Achilles two days before the 2024 Trials.

Jones remembered watching Blakely go down and struggling to hold back tears.
“To see her in her element and see her shine and truly still have some type of smile and leadership is awesome,” Jones said.

Jones is not the only major American name eyeing another chapter. Jade Carey has returned after believing her career had ended following Paris, while Suni Lee has resumed training with an eye toward competing again. However, Simone Biles has yet to confirm whether she will return to elite competition.

Shilese Jones draws inspiration from her rival Simone Biles

For Jones, though, the motivation comes from somewhere deeper than simply having a home Olympics on the horizon. “I’ve battled through so much, and there’s been so many injuries,” she said. “The story still continues. I just want to prove myself.”

That determination has always existed alongside her admiration for Biles. Even while emerging as one of the few Americans capable of challenging the sport’s greatest star, Jones has never treated their rivalry as anything but healthy competition.

In 2023, after sharing the podium with Biles at the World Championships in Antwerp, Jones described her teammate as an inspiration.

“Honestly, she is so inspiring,” Jones said. “To have The GOAT out there, as she calls herself, is just unreal to be up there on the podium with her.”

The respect runs deep. Jones once came close to upsetting Biles at the 2023 U.S. Championships, but Biles held on to win. Their rivalry later expanded beyond competition when the pair joined the Gold Over America Tour.

Now Jones has another opportunity to stand alongside, or perhaps challenge, Biles on the biggest stage.

Two years after the fall that changed everything, Jones summed up her journey in a message that sounded less like a farewell and more like a promise. “Some days change your life forever,” she wrote. “This was one of them. And I’m proud of the person I’ve become because I refused to let it be the end.”

Jones’ comeback is anchored to the 2027 World Championships, with the 2028 LA Olympics as her longer-term aspiration pending qualification. But her next chapter has now officially begun.