Hezly Rivera rallied from fourth place after the first night of competition to win her second consecutive U.S. all-around gymnastics title on Sunday in Phoenix, capping one of the most dramatic comebacks in the history of the national championships.
Rivera finished with a two-day total of 111.950 points, edging training partner Claire Pease, who scored 110.800, by 1.15 points. According to NBC Sports, Rivera is the first competitor to finish fourth or lower after day one and still win the national all-around title since Courtney Kupets did it in 2003.
"I wasn't looking at the scoreboard; I was just focused on myself and my gymnastics and what I had to do."
Hezly Rivera, 2026 U.S. all-around gymnastics champion
The competition drew a strong field even without several of the biggest names from the Paris cycle; Simone Biles and Suni Lee did not compete, leaving the meet as a proving ground for the next generation of contenders vying for spots on the world championships roster. Pease, who trains alongside Rivera, put together the most consistent two-day total of anyone not named Rivera before falling just short in the all-around. Elsewhere, 2024 Olympian Jade Carey finished fifth in the all-around but won the vault title, while Skye Blakely, who had shared the day-one lead, fell three times on day two and dropped to seventh, salvaging silver on uneven bars. Reese Esponda won the floor exercise title.
Rivera, now 18, was the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic team in Paris in 2024, where she competed only in qualifying while veterans Biles, Lee, Carey and Jordan Chiles filled the team and event-final rosters. Her coach, Anna Liukin, said the difference two years on was evident: "She is a lot more mature and a lot more complete gymnast right now," Liukin said, per Forbes. The win keeps Rivera on track for the U.S. team that will be selected at a camp in Crossville, Tennessee, from September 29 to October 1, ahead of the world championships later in October.
