Shilese Jones will qualify for the Paris Olympics. Despite her setback in the US Championships a month back, Jones’ coach seems optimistic. A 2x World Champion, Jones is looking to book her maiden Olympic berth in Paris. And as the US trials are nearing, the excitement and concern regarding Jones keeps escalating. 

Shilese Jones had a spectacular start to the Olympic season. Competing at the US Classics, Jones finished second in the all-around discipline. Her impressive score of 15.250 on the uneven bars bolstered her confidence significantly. Unfortunately, things went downhill soon after that. Jones had to pull out of the US Championships with an old shoulder injury flaring up. 

Fortunately for Jones’ fans, coach Sarah Korngold has some good news to share. Korngold said, “We rested for another week, pretty much after nationals, and then we’ve slowly been building back up into routines. She’s been doing her full routines…obviously, we don’t have as many repetitions as maybe we would like, but her body’s feeling good and so, we still feel like we made the right decision. We have a couple more workouts here to keep going. So that’s where we’re at.”

Certainly, such an update coming from Korngold makes things better for Shilese Jones. While the US gymnastics realm has thus far hailed Simone Biles, Jones is also expected to catch up behind her very soon. Displaying immaculate consistency, Shilese Jones is making a strong case for herself to ascend to the pinnacle of gymnastics greatness. 

Shilese Jones striving towards greatness

At only 21 years of age, Shilese Jones has become the second most decorated gymnast in the US since 2021. Jones’ international career peaked in 2022 when she won consecutive US Championships. Jones’s initial two major performances were clinical in guiding Team USA to world glory. But Jones is not done yet. The 21-year-old from Seattle wants to fulfill a long-perceived dream of winning the Olympic All-around title. 

Speaking with International Gymnast, Jones expressed her zeal to learn more artistic components. Jones mentioned that according to her, artistry is an element that she “strives for… It’s not just the difficulty but also how clean you can make it.” And building up to Paris, Jones now has double reasons to fuel up. Firstly, she would like to wipe off her failure to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Secondly, she lost her father due to kidney complications back in 2021. Thus, with Jones having every reason to get herself motivated for Paris, it will be interesting to see how the trials pan out.