Simone Biles, Suni Lee lead deep group of gymnasts at U.S. Olympic trials in Minneapolis

As the gymnastics world turns its attention to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, which get underway this weekend at Target Center, here’s a look at what fans can anticipate.

The U.S. women’s national team is preparing to extend its run as the most successful team in international gymnastics. The American women have won seven straight team titles in international competition. With the breadth and depth of talent competing for spots at Target Center, expectations are strong that the team that will represent the U.S. in the upcoming Olympics in Paris will make it eight in row.

The women’s competition begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday (NBC, Peacock) and concludes Sunday night, starting at 7 p.m. Both nights will be aired live on NBC and streamed on Peacock. The gymnast with the top cumulative score after the two-day competition automatically qualifies for Paris. The other four members of the team, as well as alternates, will be chosen by a selection committee and announced Sunday night about a half-hour after the competition ends.

Suni Lee: One of four gymnasts competing who are back from the 2021 Tokyo team, Lee is also a local favorite. A Hmong American, she grew up in St. Paul and graduated from South St. Paul High School. Three years ago, she won the Olympic all-around gold medal at 18. She has spent much of the past two years dealing with and recovering from kidney ailments that, for a brief period, derailed her career. After an up-and-down year, she finished fourth in the all-around and second on the team at the U.S. championships about a month ago.

While setbacks have marred Lee’s gymnastics career, from family misfortune to her own health concerns, expectations from the community that have accompanied her past successes, such as competing in the shadow of her backyard, could add a measure of stress.

“There are unforeseen challenges for a home event,” said her longtime coach Jess Graba. “More family, a lot more people around, a lot more tickets. A little more stress, too. But this is what you work for and every kid knows it.”

Graba said he and Lee have been working on some changes to her routines, including a new floor routine with different music they have finally had time to implement.

“For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been trying to upgrade her bar routine,” Graba said. “And we’re playing around with a new floor routine. That’s kind of fun for her.”

Graba, who owns and runs Midwest Gymnastics in Little Canada with his wife, Alison Lim, said that despite the myriad life experiences Lee has encountered in the time since she won Olympic gold, he believes she’s feeling confident going into this weekend.

“I don’t have much of a lack of confidence in her,” he said. “Whenever things get tough, she usually gets tougher.”

Simone Biles: Who else? This 27-year-old Texan considered by many to be the greatest gymnast in history appears to be back to her explosive excellence. The unexpected can happen in highly-competitive situations — who anticipated Biles’ withdrawal from the team competition at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021? But Biles is back at the top of her game and is seeking her third Olympics. She’s the most decorated gymnast in history: seven Olympic medals, including four golds; 30 world championships medals, including 23 gold; and 32 U.S. Championship medals, punctuated by nine all-around championships, including this year’s.

Watch for the Biles 2. It’s a Yurchenko double pike vault now named after her. It’s rarely seen in gymnastics, featuring a roundoff back handspring onto the vaulting table followed by two backflips, both executed with legs in the pike position.

Shilese Jones: The 21-year-old from Seattle finished second to Simone Biles in the all-around at the U.S. Classic in Hartford in May, and is looked upon as a superstar-in-waiting, medalling in the all-around and uneven bars at the last two world championships. Jones sat out the recent U.S. Championships with the goal of giving her injured shoulder more time to heal. Her coach, Sarah Korngold, said so far the decision seems like the right move.

“She hadn’t had the repetitions as maybe we would like, but her body is feeling good,” Korngold said Wednesday.

Skye Blakely: Blakeley, 19 and member of the last two world team champions, was coming off a stellar U.S. Championships, finishing second in the all-around and vault and third in uneven bars and balance beam. But she had to be taken off the floor in a wheelchair on Wednesday afternoon after sustaining an apparent leg injury at the end of a tumbling pass during training in the floor exercise. Blakely had to withdraw from Olympic trials three years ago after suffering an elbow injury during warmups on the vault.

Jordan Chiles: Another member of the 2021 Olympic team, Chiles, 23, is a versatile gymnast who has accumulated numerous medals on various apparatuses in national and international competition.

Jade Carey: The gold medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in floor exercise, Carey, 24, has a reputation for her creative, explosive routines and is also considered a top-notch vaulter.