Where are they now: Gymnast Simone Biles looks strong in comeback from 2016 US Olympic team
Three years ago, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team dazzled worldwide audiences en route to nine Olympic medals. With the 2020 Games a year away, we catch up with two of the famous Final Five and two alternates:
Simone Biles: After making history in Rio, Biles took two years off from competition to experience life outside the gym. In the 712 days between the 2016 Olympics and the 2018 U.S. Classic, the most decorated American gymnast of all time stayed plenty busy. Biles wrote a memoir, finished fourth on the 24th season of Dancing with the Stars, performed with the Houston Texans cheerleaders, adopted a French bulldog puppy and traveled to picture-perfect beaches around the world.
When she returned to the gym in August 2017, Biles began with conditioning and basics, but a video USA Gymnastics posted to Youtube eight months later teased never-before-seen upgrades that topped what the 22-year-old performed in Rio.
At the U.S. Classic last July, she won the all-around, vault, floor and beam titles. A month later, she became the first American woman to win five national all-around titles and the first to sweep every event title since Dominique Dawes did the same in 1994. She rewrote the record books once again at the 2018 world championships by winning her fourth world all-around crown, golds in the team, floor and vault competitions, silver on the uneven bars and bronze on the beam. Biles’ grand total 14 world championship gold medals is the most in gymnastics history.
It’s safe to say that, barring serious injury, Biles is a lock for 2020. Now training under Laurent Landi, the coach who guided Madison Kocian to a silver on the uneven bars in 2016, Biles is a serious medal contender on all events. She continues to upgrade her skills ahead of Tokyo, as shown in videos posted on Instagram and her domination of the 2019 U.S. Classic this past weekend in Louisville. She seemingly has no ceiling.
As she said herself, comeback Biles is better than the 2016 Olympic champ.
MyKayla Skinner: Skinner wasn’t a member of the Final Five who stood atop the podium in Rio, but she served as an alternate and continued her gymnastics career at the collegiate level. Competing for the University of Utah, Skinner won two individual NCAA titles and completed 161 consecutive routines without a fall. On April 25, she announced she would return to training at the elite level with a goal of making the 2020 Olympic team.
She recently attended national team camp and started her comeback in the U.S. Classic last weekend. She will compete next month in the U.S. Championships in Kansas City.
Laurie Hernandez: The human emoji is back in the gym and eyeing 2020 after enjoying the whirlwind of opportunities that arise from winning Olympic medals. Hernandez is the latest of the 2016 squad to return to training, but she picked up some extra hardware in her time off. A few months after winning silver on the balance beam and a team gold medal, Hernandez conquered ballroom dancing on the 23rd season of Dancing With the Stars and added a mirror ball trophy to her collection. She also co-hosted American Ninja Warrior Junior and published a memoir.
Hernandez has moved to training at Gym-Max, the former home of Olympic, world and NCAA champion Kyla Ross, in Costa Mesa, California. It is unclear how serious the return plans are.
Ragan Smith: The youngest gymnast on the 2016 Olympic team and an alternate, Smith seemed poised to emerge as Team USA's leading all-arounder. Going into the 2017 world championships, she was a favorite to win medals in multiple events given her all-around titles at the American Cup and the nationals. But torn ligaments in her left ankle forced Smith to withdraw from worlds before the all-around final, and she struggled to bounce back from the injury. In 2018, she traveled to the world championships as an alternate.
On July 7, Smith announced on Instagram that she would be attending the University of Oklahoma this upcoming fall. She had been verbally committed to the Sooners' gymnastics team since 2015 and signed a letter of intent in December 2018.