SHE THANKED GOD FIRST WHEN SHE WAS NAMED TO THE U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM. THEN SHE SHARED THIS BIBLE VERSE

The first thing Hezly Rivera did publicly after being named to the five-woman U.S. Olympic gymnastics team was to thank God.

Standing on the floor inside the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sunday night, with streams of red, white and blue confetti all around, Rivera stood out from the rest of the group due to her age — she turned 16 on June 4 — and relative lack of experience.

A recent sea-change in the sport of gymnastics has made it less common for teens to compete at the Olympics. Veterans like Rivera’s teammates, namely 27-year-old Simone Biles, 24-year-old Jade Carey, 23-year-old Jordan Chiles and 21-year-old Suni Lee, now dominate the elite level of the sport.

Biles, Carey, Chiles and Lee are former Olympians, seasoned in dealing with outside pressures and expectations. Rivera, on the other hand, is in her first year in USA Gymnastics’ senior elite division, with no international experience at the level.

Going into the Olympic trials, Rivera was coming off a sixth place finish at the U.S. championships. An excellent showing to be sure, but one that left her — in nearly every projection — looking at maybe earning a spot as an alternate on Team USA. Her making the Olympic team outright would have been a major upset, if not for serious injuries that knocked Skye Blakely, Kayle DiCello and Shilese Jones out of contention.

Rivera’s youth and inexperience showed when she was interviewed by NBC. The New Jersey native was giddy, visibly nervous and definitely not used to such attention.

And yet the first words out of her mouth showed steadiness. When asked how she made the Olympic team as a teenager, Rivera said didn’t hesitate and loudly proclaimed, “God,” a declaration she followed with a nervous chuckle that showed her nerves.

Later, in an Instagram post, Rivera doubled down on her claim that God led her to become an Olympian. She shared the New Testament verse Philippians 4:13, which reads, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

With the injuries to Blakely, DiCello and Jones, Rivera was in a heated competition with Joscelyn Roberson, Leanne Wong and Tiana Sumanasekera throughout the Olympic trials for the fifth and final spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

The second day of competition was especially thrilling as all four gymnasts had strong performances that argued they should be Olympians.

Rivera was the best of the group, though, on two key events — balance beam and uneven bars — and afterward, Alicia Sacramone Quin, the women’s strategic lead for USA Gymnastics, told USA Today’s Tom Schad that Rivera was the only choice.

“Honestly, it was a pretty cut-and-dry, easy decision,” Quinn said. “Obviously emotions get tied in, and we all care about these athletes so much, and we’re invested. So that gets hard. But I think we went by team scenarios and what we saw in the numbers and it just made sense.”

Quin went on to say that Rivera’s performances on bars and beam made her the clear choice for the team, as those two events are weak spots among the foursome of Biles, Carey, Chiles and Lee.

“That fifth spot kind of came down to what we felt like we were lacking as a team, and that was bars and beam,” Quinn said. “Hezly really just delivered tonight, putting up two great scores. And we went back and compared her start value, her execution, and we felt like she’d be a good person to fill that last spot.”

Rivera, for her part, is well aware that bars and beam are where she can contribute the most to Team USA’s cause in Paris.

“Bars and beam are definitely what I think I can contribute to the team,” she told USA Today. “When I hit bars and beam, I kind of knew, yeah, I have a shot.”

She ended up having more than just a shot and is now an Olympian.

2024-07-02T19:14:38Z dg43tfdfdgfd