Who qualifies: Four-member teams and one individual will be named for both men and women, along with Jade Carey, who has clinched an individual spot already.
It’s been five years since the last Olympic trials, and the pandemic caused quite a shuffle at the top of the sport.
Biles, by all measures, is a shoo-in for a spot, but several questions still loom ahead of the four-day meet.
The women will send a four-person team, as well as two individual athletes who are eligible to compete in all four events, but will not participate in the team competition.
This is the first Olympic cycle where qualifying outside of Olympic trials was an option, and the 21-year-old made a decision to take her Olympic future into her own hands rather than leave her fate to a selection committee.
Because she earned the spot for herself, if Carey finishes in the top two at trials and takes an automatic bid onto the team, the U.S.
As an individual in Tokyo, Carey is not eligible to compete in the team competition, but she is able to compete in all four events and qualify for the individual all-around and event finals.
Jordan Chiles, who trains with Biles at World Champions Centre in Houston, and Sunisa Lee, who performs one of the most difficult bar routines in the world, have emerged as the next two best all-arounders in the nation.
National team coordinator Tom Forster has indicated he hopes to name the top four all-around finishers to the team, so strong all-arounders like Emma Malabuyo, who finished just off the podium at nationals, Grace McCallum, who finished tied for seventh but has two world championship teams under her belt, or Leanne Wong, who finished fifth in Fort Worth, appear to be top contenders.
is the hands-down favorite for team gold in almost every situation, the selection committee might look past a specialist who is weak on a couple of events in favor of a gymnast equally strong on all four.
McCallum, Wong or Malabuyo could also take that second individual spot if they aren’t named to the four-person team, as all three are strong on multiple events.
But the star of nationals on the men’s side was Malone, the two-time reigning NCAA all-around champion and former rodeo competitor who led out of the gate and finished in the top spot overall.
Both of her eponymous floor skills — a double layout with a half twist and a triple twisting double tuck — are included in her floor routine.