Olympic champions Simone Biles, Jade Carey set to compete at 2023 U.S. women’s World Selection Event

The stars of U.S. women’s gymnastics including Olympic gold medallists medallist Simone Biles and Jade Carey are assembling this week in Katy, Texas, outside Houston, for the 2023 U.S. Women’s World Selection Event, 19-20 September 2023.

The two-day competition will be used to determine the squad that will go for a record-extending seventh global title next month at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.

On the first day of competition, the athletes will compete on all four apparatus with the winner – likely Biles, who has won all three days of all-around competition she’s entered in 2023 – locking her spot to Team USA.

After the U.S. championships in San Jose, California, last month, the picture of the U.S. team, which will be heavy favourites to win team gold in Antwerp, was still hazy.

Biles is, of course, considered a lock should she remain healthy. National all-around silver medallist Shilese Jones, who finished second in the all-around last year at the Worlds, is a near certainty, as well.

But beyond Biles and Jones, there are many candidates to round out the team.

At the Worlds, the team competition will see five athletes on a team, with four competing in the qualifying rounds and the top three scores counting. In the team medal round, the format switches to three athletes up on each apparatus with all scores counting.

Leanne Wong finished a surprising third in the all-around at the nationals with solid performances across the board but without a top three finish on any apparatus.

On the other hand, Skye Blakely, who finished in fourth, three-and-a-half tenths behind Wong at the U.S. Championships, took three second place finishes on the vault, uneven bars, and balance beam, increasing her likelihood of selection.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic team silver medallist and 2022 World team champion Jordan Chiles can’t be counted out. She finished fifth in the all-around nationally this year with just five weeks to prepare. Chiles will look for the three additional weeks of training she’s had to pay off with big scores at the selection event.

Others to watch include Carey and Joscelyn Roberson. Roberson has had a busy – and successful – year in 2023 and recently won the national vault title. But she and Carey scored nearly the same on their first vault – the only one that will count in the team event – setting up a face off this week in Texas.

Absent from the camp is reigning Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee, who was invited but declined, according to USA Gymnastics.

Lee has been dealing with a kidney-related health issue since March.

“I have been in and out of the gym just because there’s just so many doctor’s appointments, and I’m taking a lot of medication, so it kind of varies every day,” Lee told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview last month. “I could wake up very swollen some days and not be able to put my fingers inside my grips. It’s really difficult to kind of work through, but on the days that I can do stuff and I am feeling good, I try and take advantage of that and just get everything done.”

2023 U.S. women’s World Selection Event – Complete schedule

The U.S. women’s World Selection Event includes two days of gymnastics competition. On day one, the athletes will compete in the all-around with the highest scorer locking her spot on the U.S. squad.

The second and final day of competition will see gymnasts compete on at least one apparatus selected by the Athlete Selection Committee.

Below is the complete schedule. All times are Central U.S. local.

Tuesday, 19 September

• 17:50 - 20:00 - Competition, day 1

Wednesday, 20 September

• 17:15 - TBD – Competition, day 2

2023 U.S. women’s World Selection Event – How to watch live

USA Gymnastics will stream the event live on its pay-per-view service, Flip Now, for $14.99.