Jordan Chiles brings experience to Olympic season

Jordan Chiles has been here before.

Like in 2021 when Chiles soared to the Tokyo 2020 Games, the U.S. gymnast finds herself entering an Olympic year as something of an underdog, having just missed out on the American squad for the most recent Worlds.

But this time, she’s older and wiser, experienced and ready to use what she learned last time around as she goes for a return trip to the Olympic Games.

“I really pushed myself to a limit where I was just drained at the end,” Chiles told Olympics.com during an interview last October at the Pan American Games. “I think that’s something that I don’t think I would ever do [again], really push myself to that extreme… I will able to take, ‘Okay, I did it in ’21, it should be an easier way for ’24.’”

In 2023, Chiles made a late start to her elite season. The 22-year-old admitted to Olympics.com that she wavered on whether she could leave her close-knit UCLA gymnastics teammates and return to her Texas training base to focus on another Olympic bid.

“[I was] kind of just trying to figure out where this path is going to take to me,” Chiles reflected. “I just really wanted to take time to myself to make sure I was ready and mentally prepared going into this next cycle of my life.”

A year of transition for Jordan Chiles

The opportunities that came with an Olympic medal, Chiles’ exuberant personality and relaxed NCAA name, image and likeness rules, opened doors of possibility for the Tokyo silver medallist, world gold medallist and NCAA champion.

“There was a lot of things that was going through my brain. At first, I was like, 'Do I want to do this? Do I not.' Only because I'd such an amazing NCAA season, I didn't want to leave my team. I didn't want to leave something behind that maybe I could have kept with me,” explained Chiles. “But at the same time, you know, I had a lot of people telling me, like, 'You got this.' Like, 'Go for it.' Even [UCLA head coach] Janelle [McDonald] was telling me, she's like, 'No, you got this. We're going to be cheering you on. Your team is always going to be here.'”

With just weeks to prepare, Chiles competed on the uneven bars and balance beam at the U.S. Classic in early August, then rallied to a fifth place finish in the all-around at the U.S. Championships weeks later.

Though she missed the Worlds squad, she was selected for the Pan American Games where she won team gold, vault silver and all-around bronze.

'You never know what can happen.'

In Santiago, Chiles had a clear mindset – no matter the outcome – for the road ahead to the U.S. Olympic trials and ultimately, Paris.

“It’s just going to be training and really focusing on getting my consistency back. I was always known for that and I want to be able to bring that back and just have the seven months of my life, honestly, because you never know what can happen,” said Chiles.

“Really just being able to take every moment, every memory,” she continued, “that I have with each and every person and really be like, ‘Okay, I can, whenever I leave this sport, say I did everything I could. That’s how I want to feel.”