As NCAA season nears conclusion, U.S. gymnast Jade Carey looks toward Olympic redemption

Despite having ended the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games by winning the floor title, U.S. gymnast Jade Carey says she's fuelled by two mistakes she made last summer as she targets a return trip to the Games at Paris 2024.

“Two things that really did it for me,” Carey said in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com, “finishing eighth in all-around finals with a fall on beam. After that moment, I was like, ‘Wow, I feel like I could be so much better than I was’ and then because I improved so much on bars and beam in such a short amount of time, and now I have a little extra time to get even better.

“And right after vault finals, when I messed up, I looked at my dad and I was like, ‘We're coming back here and we're doing this again,’” she said, referencing a mishap with her steps on her first attempt in the final. “So that would be my main reason, was vault. I just feel like… obviously, that mess up was devastating for me, and so I kind of just want that chance to redo that.”

That chance will have to wait, of course, with the Paris 2024 Games still two years away, but the 21-year-old is resolute that another turn on the Olympic podium is the goal.

“That’s definitely what I’m going to be aiming towards," said Carey.

Carey in NCAA: no routines below 9.850

The Olympic floor exercise champion has spent the last four months taking a star turn in her freshman season at Oregon State University. Carey ended the regular season as the top-ranked all-around gymnast and will be among the favourites to capture the all-around crown at this week’s NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas.

She’s part of an impressive freshman class that includes fellow 2020 Olympians Sunisa Lee, Grace McCallum and Jordan Chiles, all of whom have had standout seasons, making what can be a difficult transition from Olympic level gymnastics to the weekly grind of a college season.

“In elite, we compete three times a year and this is every weekend. It's been a little bit hard,” Carey admitted. “My body gets a little bit tired sometimes, but nothing too bad. I think it's just something that I had to get used to because it was only difficult towards the middle of the season, and I think that's just because I haven't been used to this.”

It's hard to tell.

Carey has competed all-around in all 11 of Oregon State’s competitions this season, a total of 44 routines. None scored below 9.85, while three routines earned perfect 10.0 marks.

“The transition definitely wasn't easy. I feel like, yeah, my gymnastics skills are easier, but I'm now focused on more of the perfection aspect of my routines,” she explained. “Every time I go out there, I want to do so well for my team so that they can put out the best scores as possible. So, I think really just focusing on my team and really just having a lot of fun has let me be so successful.

“I'm not trying to put a whole bunch of pressure on myself,” she continued, “and just going out there and doing what I know how to do.”

NCAA Championships, national team camp ahead for Carey in April

Something else Carey knows how to do: big tricks, many of which she’s maintained in her college routines including a double-twisting Yurchenko vault and double-double opening tumbling pass.

In an Instagram post announcing her intentions to return to elite competition, Carey included a video that showed her working many more of her most difficult elements from the Tokyo Games, including an element never competed by a woman: a triple-twisting, double layout.

As the season comes to its conclusion, Carey has begun to think about her return to elite-level competition, announcing last week that she would pursue opportunities with Team USA and representing Oregon State simultaneously.

Those plans are, Carey admits, still a work in progress.

“Right now, I'm still training here at OSU, and we're still trying to figure out some of those details,” she said. “I will go home to Arizona, but not all the time. There are ways that my dad [and coach Brian Carey] will be able to come up here and help me train, and so that would be nice.

“I'm planning to go to camps starting in April, so that would be exciting just to get back there and see everyone,” continued Carey. “Then, we're planning on championships for sure, unless we feel like I'm not ready. We'll kind of see about Worlds once we get further down the road.”

Next up though is another reunion – one with Lee, McCallum and Chiles at the NCAAs.

“I'm really excited for all of us to be back together. We haven't been together, all four of us, since the Olympics,” she said. “It’s been really cool to see all of us just going out there and having a lot of fun, so I'm excited to see them again and catch up.”