As the Paris 2024 Olympic Games begins soon in July, there’s obvious talk and attention over the newly announced squads from each countries. One such event that has gotten a lot attention is the gymnastics event.
There were also some crowd favourites and Olympic medallists who unfortunately did not make it to gymnastic squads of their countries due to multiple reasons.
We take a look at the top female gymnasts who will miss out on the Paris edition of the Olympics.
MyKayla Skinner
Before retiring after her maiden Olympic appearance in 2021, Skinner won a silver medal in the vault event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
More of a team player, Skinner was a part of the USA team that won gold medals at the 2014, 2015, and 2019 World Championships. She won an individual bronze at the 2014 Nanning World Championships in vault.
Besides, the 27-year-old has had a few memorable outings at the Pan American Championships, the FIG World Cup, and the NCAA Championships.
Oksana Chusovitina
Oksana Chusovitina will miss what could have been her ninth Olympic appearance due to an injury. Chusovitina is the only gymnast to compete in eight Olympic Games. Across her decades-long career, Chusovitina represented the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, Germany, and Uzbekistan.
The Uzbek has two Olympic medals, a gold and a silver medal, to her name. She won an individual silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a team gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
Besides, the 48-year-old also has 11 World Championship medals, two World Cup medals, eight Asian Games medals, and five Asian Championships medals.
Shilese Jones
The 21-year-old athlete from Seattle, one of the main contenders for a spot in the five-member U.S. Gymnastics team, injured her knee while warming up just before the start of her U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials. Official announcement soon came stating that, after evaluation, Jones would not be continuing through to the final day of trials, thereby ending her hopes of making the Paris Olympic squad.
Jones also withdrew last month from the U.S. Gymnastics Championships as she struggled with a shoulder injury. Later, she filed a petition with USA Gymnastics to compete at the Olympic trials, which was approved. This is the third US gymnast who will miss out on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games due to injury.
Kayla DiCello
Kayla DiCello, a reserve gymnastics athlete for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic squad, was one of the crowd favourites to make it to the five-member squad for the Paris Games ahead of the US Olympic Trials. She had won the Winter Cup at the beginning of the year and secured a third position in the all-around competition of the US Gymnastics.
Unfortunately, an Achilles injury she sustained during her vault exercise brought her Olympic journey to an end. She had to be carried off by a wheelchair. Soon enough, the official announcement was made by the federation that DiCello had withdrawn from the U.S. Olympic team trials.
Gabby Douglas
Gabby Douglas, USA’s two-time Olympian and three-time gold medallist, will unfortunately miss out on her second consecutive Olympic Games due to an ankle injury. She withdrew from the US Gymnastics Championship in May, ending all her chances to enter the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
If she had qualified, she would have become the oldest US athlete to participate in gymnastics since 1952. Despite not being able to make it, Douglas told the media that she was proud of the effort she put through her 18-month comeback.
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