Charleigh Bullock of Team USA reacts after competing in the Women's balance beam. (Photo by Mark Fredesjed Cristino/Getty Images)
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Despite their depleted squad, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team continued their reign on Wednesday, winning the nation’s second consecutive Pan American Championship.
Team USA clinched gold in Rio de Janeiro, posting a score of 161.628 to defeat host nation Brazil (157.796) and Canada (156.997), which finished with silver and bronze, respectively.
Led by the top-three all-around results from Charleigh Bullock, Claire Pease, and Simone Rose, the Americans triumphed after an untimely exit from 2024 Olympic gold medalist and team veteran Hezly Rivera.
Rivera competed only on vault, scoring a strong 13.400 before withdrawing due to hamstring aggravation. Rookie Lila Richardson also withdrew from the competition with an injury, allowing traveling alternate Alessia Rosa to contribute to Team USA’s victory.
ForbesOlympic Champion Hezly Rivera Withdraws From Pan American Championships
With their win, the American delegation officially qualified a full team to the 2026 World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, this October. The result also qualifies the team to the upcoming Pan American Games in 2027.
With the team final serving as an individual qualifying event, this week’s competition is far from over for Team USA. After successful efforts on Wednesday, Bullock, Pease, and Rose all qualified for multiple individual event finals.
Bullock, the top qualifier in the women’s all-around, will compete for the overall title and appear in the beam and floor event finals. Qualifying in second all-around just behind her teammate, Claire Pease will compete in the individual all-around and in the vault, floor, and beam finals.
Despite securing the third-highest all-around total on Wednesday, Simone Rose will miss the individual all-around final due to the two-per-country rule. Nonetheless, Rose’s schedule in Rio is still booked, with the 18-year-old qualifying for the vault, bars, and beam finals.
After withdrawing from the team competition, Rivera’s individual aspirations ended, as she was unable to compete in the qualifying events.
Even in the Olympic champion’s absence, the U.S. women delivered. With a full slate of event finals this weekend, the women could leave Brazil with as many as 10 medals. The junior women will look to replicate their teammates’ successes on Thursday in the junior team final and qualifying round.
While the women cruised to victory, the American men’s path to the podium encountered significant turbulence. Needing to qualify within the top four to qualify for the world championships, the U.S. men snuck onto the podium for bronze after numerous costly errors.
The result marks the lowest finish for the American men since the championships first began in 1997.
The men secured their medal with a 235.961, placing behind a surprise silver from Colombia (241.594) and a historic gold medal from Canada (243.026).
Fans and experts were quick to note that Team USA’s errors could have put them at risk of unprecedented disaster: failure to qualify for the world championships. Though the crisis was averted, Wednesday’s competition stood in stark contrast to the 2024 Olympic and 2023 world medal-winning performances.
ForbesRebeca Andrade To Begin Olympic Comeback At This Week’s Pan American ChampionshipsBy Caroline PriceFollowing the medal ceremony, team leader Yul Moldauer adamantly defended his squad from harsh online critics. Regardless of medal color, Moldauer argued that the team’s objective had been reached.
“We qualified as a Team to world championships…we got the job done,” the Olympic veteran said. “Considering how many people we had try out for [Pan American Championships] and compete says a lot about this group of guys. Give them props for fighting until the end.”
The U.S. men will also be well-represented in this weekend’s individual competitions. In his first season since serving a USADA suspension, Moldauer led the way for Team USA, qualifying for five of seven men’s event finals.
Moldauer and Kameron Nelson will both appear in Sunday’s vault finals. Riley Loos qualified for the rings and floor finals, Taylor Burkhart for high bar and parallel bars, and world bronze medalist Patrick Hoopes for the pommel horse final – his specialty.
Fans can catch the action live on the Pan American Gymnastics YouTube page.
Only senior elite competitions listed. Full schedule can be found here.
Friday, June 19
8:00 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. ET: Women's All-Around Final
2:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET: Men's All-Around Final
Sunday, June 21
8:35 a.m. – 9:05 a.m. ET: Men's Floor Exercise Final
9:10 a.m. – 9:40 a.m. ET: Men's Pommel Horse & Women's Vault Finals
9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. ET: Men's Still Rings & Women's Uneven Bars Finals
10:20 a.m. – 10:50 a.m. ET: Men's Vault Final
10:55 a.m. – 11:25 a.m. ET: Men's Parallel Bars & Women's Balance Beam Finals
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET: Men’s High Bar & Women's Floor Exercise Finals
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