Jade Carey battled through illness to compete in Sunday's qualifying session - exclusive
Winning an Olympic gymnastics gold medal takes more than just skill: there's a certain bit of luck to it.
U.S. gymnast Jade Carey knows better than almost anyone, having soared to the floor exercise gold at the Olympic Games three years ago in Tokyo.
But this week at the Olympics Games Paris 2024, luck hasn't been on Carey's side.
"I just have not been feeling well the past few days and haven't been able to eat or anything," Carey told Olympics.com exclusively, following Sunday's opening day of women's competition. The 24-year-old, who was the only member of Team USA to speak to press, wanted to assure her fans that it wasn't simply nerves affecting her.
"I had, like, no energy today and didn't really have a sense of what was going on in my head. So, I just kind of wanted people to know that so, they know that there's actually something wrong."
Carey's father had previously missed Team USA's July 25 official practice.
"Coach Brian Carey is not feeling well today and will miss Women’s Podium Training. He will return to the team soon," the federation said on Twitter.
"One of the hardest things about sports is that no matter how much you prepare you, sometimes the morning that you wake up for a meet, you might not be feeling well. You might be jet lagged, you may not have slept well, and fluke things can happen. It's just so devastating to hear that she hasn't been feeling well," three-time Olympic champion Aly Raisman told us. "I hope that she knows that she did an unbelievable job.
"She should be so proud of herself," continued Raisman. "Gymnastics is already hard enough when you're feeling your peak, at your best. So the fact that she said she hasn't eaten in a few days and has been sick and was able to perform at that level, is truly remarkable."
Despite a struggle on her final tumbling pass, Carey currently sits second in the vaulting standings having successfully executed a Cheng vault and a double-twisting Yurchenko for a 14.433 average. She will almost certainly advance to the apparatus final there.
Simone Biles led the Americans in a standout effort, the squad tallying a 172.296, well in the clear of the rest of the field through two (of five) sub-divisions.
