US NCAA gymnasts returning to Elite

[RedBirdie]

Jordan Chiles already announced her intention, and now so has Jade Carey.



Let’s put all these announcements and speculation in this topic.

 

[irichluck21]

Not sure if official Twitter or Instagram posts are out for Leeanne, but it’s confirmed based on Bart and Kathy commentary at one of the Florida meets, stating that she was aiming for 2022 Worlds. Kathy would never lie/share rumors about something like that. So Wong told them what she was planning.

 

[irichluck21]

https://olympics.com/en/news/jordan-chiles-paris-2024-elite-gymnastics-worlds-2022

 

[ucrgirl]

Great news. I know Jade isn’t a favorite but I would like to see more from her. It would be great to get the Carey in the COP.

 

[Hatsumomo]

This is really interesting. Usually going to NCAA means the end of their elite careers, especially the ones who have an Olympics under their belt. A few have gone back to elite AFTER finishing NCAA, but not doing both at the same time. The last one was Alicia Sacramone and that lasted like a year.

I wonder if this is an aftereffect of the post-Marta era.

 

[ucrgirl]

These athletes lost some competition time due to COVID and an athlete like Jade has a tremendous opportunity with Simone (presumably) sitting out 2022 Worlds and Russian athletes (presumably) also sitting out this season. Wong and Chiles only had one big meet last quad so I understand them not feeling finished with elite.

 

[irichluck21]

With NIL, athletes can now do both NCAA and elite as they can take sponsorships and deals.
I would wager that is part of the reason in addition to other elite ambitions.
Also continuing with elite gives more endorsement opportunities.

 

[irichluck21]

A few have gone back to elite AFTER finishing NCAA, but not doing both at the same time. The last one was Alicia Sacramone and that lasted like a year.

Technically Dowell would be the last as she did NCAA took time off to go for 2016 and then resumed Oklahoma.
Possibly Skinner, since she was at Utah and then deferred to go after 2020 and was unsure about returning to Utah, but with COVID delays, she ultimately decided against it.
Interesting. I wonder if Skinner regrets the decision, even if she went back for this year she could have just done vault and floor for Utah and contributed to those two event significantly.

I am not sure Sacramone counts as she left Brown and never returned to NCAA.
Perhaps Zamarippa could be considered as she was doing NCAA and then did elite that summer, with an ACL injury that ended up halting her elite ambitions.

 

[irichluck21]

I also wonder if a factor like not having much senior depth partially due to juniors kinda of getting shafted during Covid is in consideration.
US definitely is lacking depth for the first time in maybe 30 years. There are at least a dozen or more seniors but not as many series contenders for international teams.

 

[RedBirdie]

The US Elite committee has also made it easier on NCAA athletes, allowing them to skip national team camps after worlds until the end of their NCAA season. Codifying that, not having to get attendance waived for every came during NCAA season, makes it much more appealing.

 

[MaryClare]

It’s looking very likely that the US team for worlds will not have any first year seniors

 

[irichluck21]

It’s looking very likely that the US team for worlds will not have any first year seniors

Wouldn’t be hilarious if the 2022 World team was made up of all Olympians.
Wong, Chiles, Biles, Carey, Lee

I know she hasn’t made anything official but Biles said she isn’t done with gymnastics yet and with Chiles returning after this semester ends to train elite this summer, you know that will ignite something in Biles. I would wager money she’ll be back by Nationals, even if it is not in the all around yet.

Hey it isn’t like any of the current senior team members are the most consistent athletes.

 

[RedBirdie]

Melanie de Jesus dos Santos (who is now training at WCC!) made some comment in the last day or two that made it sound like Simone is not training right now and doesn’t intend to start any time soon.

 

[MaryClare]

I said this months ago! That Melanie has been wanting to based herself in the US for a couple of years, but the French federation kept saying no.

 

[MaryClare]

Are Jordan and Simone really that close? Simone’s social media is all holidays and you can be sure that she is in full wedding planing mode too!

 

[RedBirdie]

Well they’ve apparently relented. Melanie arrived in Texas this week, and it appears to be a permanent move.

 

[makam]

I hope it works for her. Now that Rebeca Andrade realized her potential, MDJDS is next on my awesome-but-not-quite-there list.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

And with that in mind, I doubt we’re going to see Simone this year. She’s cutting it fine, clearly has lots of other priorities and also there’s no particular reason for her to want to come back now. If she does like the idea of a third Olympics, she’d probably be better served having a proper break, including the wedding, and then starting to train more seriously next year.

 

[Sasha]

Yes!! One of my biggest wishes for this quad is for MDJDS to go lights out in the AA in a major competition. She needs a medal.

 

[JaJa]

The US Elite committee has also made it easier on NCAA athletes, allowing them to skip national team camps after worlds until the end of their NCAA season. Codifying that, not having to get attendance waived for every came during NCAA season, makes it much more appealing.

Does anyone know why the Elite Cmte is being more lenient with this? Does it have anything to do with the new NCAA rules re: name image and likeness?