After missing out on last year’s World Championships, U.S. gymnast Hezly Rivera has reset.
“I’ve been feeling a lot more confident in my gymnastics recently,” the Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist told GymCastic last week as she made her return to international competition at the 2026 American Cup in Henderson, Nevada. “[After the injury] I think mentally was the biggest part. I felt really confident in my routines coming back because I was just really focusing on basics and little details in my technique.
“Now, going into competitions, I take things one skill at a time and just go from there and not get overwhelmed in my head before my routine,” she concluded.
Last August, the 17-year-old won her first U.S. all-around title and, as the only member of that Paris squad currently competing, marked herself as the leader of a U.S. team that has dominated the sport for nearly two decades.
But just days before the U.S. was about to select its squad for the World Championships, Rivera announced that an ankle injury would rule her out of the global event.
Undeterred, she returned to competition last month, winning the Winter Cup all-around title.
That performance was enough to earn her a spot at the American Cup, which featured a new mixed team event that will debut at the Olympic Games LA28 in just over two years’ time.
Rivera, alongside fellow Olympic medallist Asher Hong, helped the U.S. to silver there, hitting a 13.400 on the balance beam and a 13.600 on the floor exercise.
More than her competitive performance, however, the gymnast enjoyed the new event format.
“It’s very different competing with the boys,” she told reporters afterward. “But I think it’s something that’s really fun and I’m looking forward to it [in the future].”