Gymnastics Weekly News: Olympic medallists Suni Lee, Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles set to open NCAA season in Vegas

Tokyo 2020 Olympic all-around gold medallist Sunisa Lee, Olympic floor champion Jade Carey and Olympic team silver medallist Jordan Chiles are heading to Las Vegas.

The trio of Olympians will begin their 2023 NCAA gymnastics seasons at the Super 16 in Las Vegas, scheduled for 6-7 January.

Along with Lee’s Auburn Tigers, Carey’s Oregon State Beavers and Chiles’ UCLA Bruins, the competition will feature teams from Arizona State University, Brigham Young University, Fisk University, Rutgers University, Southern Utah University, Stanford University, University of California – Berkeley, University of Georgia, University of Iowa, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Oklahoma and University of Washington.

Oklahoma, Michigan and UCLA have won the past six NCAA collegiate titles.

Carey and Chiles are coming off a whirlwind 2022 where they went from successful freshman collegiate campaigns to helping Team USA take a sixth-straight team title at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in November.

Lee recently confirmed that the 2023 season would be her last at Auburn before returning to elite training ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Fisk University will be making its program debut at the event. The squad will be the first gymnastics team from a historically Black college and university (HBCU).

• Olympic champion Sunisa Lee confirms Paris 2024 ambitions: 'I know what I have to do to get there'

Daniel Ribeiro named permanent men’s head coach at University of Illinois

Daniel Ribeiro has signed a five-year contract as the men’s gymnastics head coach at the University of Illinois, according to announcement from the university.

He was previously serving as interim head coach after the departure of 2008 Olympic bronze medallist Justin Spring, who is now an assistant women’s coach at the University of Alabama.

Ribeiro is the program’s 13th head coach and has been with the program in a coaching role for 11 seasons.

"I am extremely humbled and privileged to have been given the opportunity to lead this incredible group of young men," Ribeiro said, according to the release.

"My passion for Illinois is only exceeded by my love for my athletes and a burning desire to win. I cannot thank Josh Whitman and Sara Burton enough for their mentorship and confidence in me, to not only lead this program, but to bring championship success back to Champaign.

"My staff and I are committed to developing champions in every single one of our student-athletes that will lead to incredible academic, athletic, and personal growth and success. We will not rest until the National Championship Trophy is back with the Illini Family."

ICYMI: Zou Jingyuan, Rebeca Andrade Olympics.com exclusive interviews

In case you missed it, Olympics.com has featured exclusive chats with Olympic champions Zou Jingyuan of the People’s Republic of China and Rebeca Andrade of Brazil this week. Both took gold medals at the recent Worlds in Liverpool and have dreams of more as Paris 2024 approaches.

Check them out here:

• Rebeca Andrade: "If you want to make it happen, you can do it"

• China's Olympic champion gymnast Zou Jingyuan: "Success is built on previous failures"

From the vault…

This week, we look back at every Olympic uneven bars routine from Dominique Dawes, who competed at Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. Though comparing scores between Games is impossible, Dawes never fell on a routine on the apparatus and scored a 9.850 in the Atlanta team final where she and her Magnificent Seven teammates won gold.