DSJ Quick Take: Plano’s Hezly Rivera Repeats as U.S. All-Around Champion
Hezly Rivera, who trains at WOGA in Plano, won her second straight U.S. all-around title Sunday in Phoenix with a two-day total of 111.950, rallying from fourth place after a fall on uneven bars the first night.
- How did she win it? She opened Sunday on bars with a 13.850 and finished 1.15 points ahead of runner-up Claire Pease, taking the lead in the final rotation.
- Who led the rest of the field? Pease, her WOGA training partner from Sunnyvale, was second at 110.800 and won bars, while Frisco native Skye Blakely fell three times Sunday and finished seventh.
- Why does it matter? Rivera is the first American woman other than Simone Biles to repeat as national champion in 13 years, and the last gymnast to win from fourth after day one was Courtney Kupets in 2003.
- What’s next? The world championships selection competition runs Sept. 29 through Oct. 1 in Crossville, Tennessee, and the five-woman team for October’s worlds in Rotterdam is named after it.
PHOENIX — Hezly Rivera, who lives in Plano and trains at World Olympic Gymnastics Academy, won her second consecutive U.S. all-around title Sunday night at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, closing the two-day competition with 111.950 points.
Rivera finished 1.15 points ahead of Claire Pease, her WOGA training partner, who totaled 110.800. Pease lives in Sunnyvale and has committed to Utah. Rivera has committed to LSU.
Friday’s opening night left Rivera in fourth place after she missed a release on uneven bars and fell, dropping six tenths of a point behind the leaders. She began Sunday back on bars and scored 13.850 on a set that finished with a small step out of the dismount.
The last American woman to win the national all-around title from fourth place or lower entering the final day was Courtney Kupets in 2003, according to NBC Sports’ Nick Zaccardi. In 18 of the previous 20 editions of the meet, the gymnast who led after the first day went on to win it.
Hezly Rivera’s Second Day in Phoenix
Rivera also won the balance beam title with 28.700 across the two days. She finished second on floor exercise at 28.300, behind Reese Esponda.
Rivera said the second day showed she could come back from a mistake, and that the physical work was already in place before Sunday.
“I wasn’t looking at the scoreboard; I was just focused on myself and my gymnastics and what I had to do,” Rivera said. “It was actually, like, stress free. I took all the pressure I could off myself because it’s not fun when you’re stressed or nervous.”
Anna Liukin has coached Rivera at WOGA alongside Valeri Liukin since the family moved to North Texas.
“She is a lot more mature and a lot more complete gymnast right now,” Anna Liukin said.
Claire Pease, Skye Blakely and the Rest of the Field
Pease entered Sunday tied for the lead with Skye Blakely and still led with two rotations remaining. Her floor routine included one tumbling pass that finished out of bounds and another on which she held her right foot above the floor rather than set it down and take the penalty.
Pease finished 10th in the all-around at the 2025 championships in New Orleans. She won the U.S. junior all-around title in 2024. Sunday’s runner-up finish also came with the uneven bars title.
Blakely, a Frisco native who is now listed with the University of Florida, fell on her opening tumbling pass on floor and again on her last one, scoring 11.900 on the event. She fell twice on balance beam to close her night. Blakely finished seventh at 107.300 and placed second on bars.
Charleigh Bullock finished third at 110.550 in her first senior national championships. Esponda was fourth at 108.900 and won the floor title. Jade Carey, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was fifth at 108.750 and won the vault title in her first national championships since 2024. Carey competed in her hometown this weekend. Dulcy Caylor finished sixth at 107.350.
WOGA’s Place in the Results
Rivera was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, on June 4, 2008, and her family relocated to North Texas so she could train at WOGA, as she told NBC 5 DFW before the Paris Games. USA Gymnastics lists her current residence as Plano, her club as WOGA, and Valeri Liukin as her head coach. Pease carries the same club and head coach listing.
WOGA was founded in February 1994 by Valeri Liukin and Yevgeny Marchenko. The gym has produced 2004 Olympic all-around champion Carly Patterson, 2008 Olympic all-around champion Nastia Liukin, and 2016 Olympic champion Madison Kocian. Nastia Liukin is the daughter of Valeri and Anna Liukin.
Blakely trained at WOGA through the last Olympic cycle before enrolling at Florida.
Hezly Rivera’s Next Olympic Cycle
Rivera was 16 in Paris and was the youngest athlete on the entire U.S. Olympic team. She competed only in qualifying, with Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Carey, and Jordan Chiles taking the four spots in the team final. Biles, Lee, and Chiles were not in the field in Phoenix, and Rivera was the highest-finishing 2024 Olympian at these championships.
“I am comfortable with it,” Rivera explained. “Even though I am a vet — it’s kind of weird to say that I am a vet — I don’t think it when I’m competing.”
Rivera won the 2025 national all-around title in New Orleans as the only 2024 Olympian in the field. A sprained ankle then kept her out of the 2025 world championships, which included only individual events. She won the 2026 Winter Cup all-around title in Louisville in February.
Rivera said she has unfinished business with the Olympics, with a team medal, an all-around medal, and individual apparatus medals in mind for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
“Even right after the Olympics, I was like, ‘Well, a little break, and then I’m going to keep going,'” she said last week.
What Comes Next for the World Championships Team
The 2026 world championships run in October in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and will be the first global championship with a team competition since the Paris Olympics. No gymnast clinched a spot on the five-woman team in Phoenix.
Carey said making the world team matters to her in her first season back in elite competition.
“It’s important (to make the world team), but also for me being my first year back, we’re just really trying to build smartly and safely and get me to a place where I’m going to be healthy for the next two or three years,” Carey said.
Pease and Bullock are each in position to make a first world team. The selection competition runs Sept. 29 through Oct. 1 in Crossville, Tennessee, with the five-woman world team named afterward. Results from Phoenix factor into that selection. The senior women’s national team was named Sunday night at the conclusion of the championships.