Gymnastics Weekly News: Suni Lee says, "I wanna prove to myself that I can be able to do it."
Plus, Trinity Thomas isn't ruling out a return to elite gymnastics, the NCAA season gets underway Friday (6 January) and a look back at Yvonne Tousek from Atlanta 1996
Artistic Gymnastics
Tokyo 2020 Olympic all-around gold medallist Sunisa Lee of the United States is targeting more artistic gymnastics hardware at Paris 2024.
"I wanna go to Paris, and I wanna prove to myself that I can be able to do it, because I didn't think I would be able to do it and I didn't think I was going to win the Olympics [last time]," said Lee in an interview with Insider. "So this time I just wanna go a little more prepared.”
Lee has plenty of time – and her sophomore and final season at Auburn University – to prepare but, after 2020 and 2021, knows the climb she faces to make it back to the Olympic stage.
“Obviously I have to go through all of the steps to try and make the team again,” Lee said, “so that's the hope, to just even make the team this year."
In November, Lee announced her intention to train for the Paris Games and to end her career at Auburn after her second season.
She and her Tigers will start their 2023 campaign after a historic fourth place finish in 2022 at the Super 16 event in Las Vegas on Saturday (7 January).
With final Florida season in view, Trinity Thomas isn’t ruling out a return to elite gymnastics
A return to elite gymnastics for 2022 NCAA all-around champion Trinity Thomas isn’t beyond the realms of possibility, she says.
“[It] is still a maybe, but it’s definitely still being thought about,” Thomas told The Athletic.
Thomas, a fifth-year senior at the University of Florida, was a member of the U.S. national team from 2016-2020, pulling off what was once a rare balance of the collegiate and elite gymnastics demands.
Her career at Florida has been spectacular, to put it mildly. She’s won just about every title she can from SEC and NCAA titles to last year’s Honda Award.
But the one line missing on her resume, an NCAA team title, is what pushed her return for another season.
“I was devastated,” said Thomas of her team’s second place finish at the 2022 NCAAs. They finished a close second to the University of Oklahoma. “I really thought that that year was going to be it.
"I took a second and – there were some tears – but I was just so proud of my team and how hard they fought from the beginning to the end and what ana amazing, incredible season we had.”
Thomas calls her fifth year her finale and thinks a team title is within reach.
“I definitely think that it’s something that’s very realistic,” she said. “I wanted to come back to help us do it.”
She’ll have plenty of help including from 2017 world all-around champion Morgan Hurd and U.S. Olympic alternates Leanne Wong and Kayla DiCello, who finished second and third, respectively, in the all-around at the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
The Gators begin their season Friday (6 January) with a quad meet at home.
NCAA action starts tonight, Friday 6 January
After eight months of waiting, the NCAA women’s gymnastics season begins tonight - Friday 6 January - with an exciting top 10 matchup between No. 3 Utah and No. 6 LSU. Fans in the U.S. can catch the action live on ESPN2.
Five top 10-ranked teams will be in action at the Super 16 event in Las Vegas with No. 8 California facing Iowa, Arizona State and BYU on Saturday (7 January) afternoon, before No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Auburn and No. 10 UCLA square off in the event’s evening session. All four session of the Super 16 will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network in the United States.
Here's a look at other key events (all times Eastern):
- Friday, 6 January
- No. 12 Michigan State at No. 7 Alabama, 7 pm
- West Virginia, Ball State, Lindenwood at No. 2 Florida, 7 pm
- Saturday, 7 January
- No. 15 Arkansas at Nebraska, 4 pm
From the vault…
This week, we take a look back at Canadian trailblazer Yvonne Tousek’s performances from the all-around final at Atlanta 1996.
Known for her innovative style on the floor exercise, Tousek recorded her highest mark, a 9.625, on the event en route to a 26th place finish.
Tousek would go on to represent Team Canada at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games before having a decorated collegiate career at UCLA.