In a year, Hezly Rivera has gone from the youngest U.S. Olympian across all sports in Paris to the all-around national champion.
Rivera totaled 112 points in two nights of competition in New Orleans, prevailing by eight tenths over Leanne Wong, a two-time Olympic alternate. Joscelyn Roberson, another Paris Olympic alternate, was third.
Rivera led Wong by two tenths going into the last rotation, then delivered the best floor exercise score (14.2) by anyone on either night.
“I was aware it was pretty close, right before I went on the floor, probably a minute or two,” she said on NBC Sports. “It’s a little bit nerve-racking, but I just tried to trust the process and trust God and just let my body do what it knows how to do.”
GYMNASTICS: Results
While the rest of her Paris gold-medal