World all-around silver medallist Leanne Wong will make 2022 elite debut at U.S. Classic
The final qualifier for the U.S. championships will feature Olympians, world medallists
Artistic Gymnastics
With many of U.S. gymnastics’ biggest stars – including the last two women to win all-around gold Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee – taking a break from elite competition (at least for the time being), the 2022 U.S. Classic will help bring into focus the athletes that are set to make an impact in two years time at Paris 2024.
The competition, scheduled for 28-31 July in the Salt Lake City area, will feature a mix of rising stars and seasoned veterans including three men’s Olympians and 2021 world medallists.
Below is everything you need to know about the event, including stars to watch, the event schedule and television and streaming information.
Stars to watch: USA Gymnastics U.S. Classic – Women’s competition
Reigning world all-around silver medallist Leanne Wong will be the athlete with the most attention on her in Salt Lake. The 18-year-old completed her freshman campaign as a member of the University of Florida women’s gymnastics team, helping them to a second place finish at the NCAAs, before heading straight to the U.S. national team camp in April.
Despite Wong’s extensive collegiate competition schedule, she has not competed in elite gymnastics since the 2021 worlds where she won floor exercise bronze, in addition to her all-around silver. At her best, Wong should easily be among the U.S.’s strongest gymnasts, but she has, at times including the U.S. Olympic trials, stumbled during big moments. However, at last year’s worlds, she seemed to have newfound confidence, hitting nearly every routine of the event.
Wong has yet to declare her intentions regarding the Paris 2024 Olympics, just under two years away but said last season it was on her mind.
“The Olympics is a couple of years away, so that's in the back of my mind, but I haven't made any decisions yet,” she said.
Another contender will be Shilese Jones. Jones has looked strong in training videos posted on her social media and recently posted a video performing a laidout stalder Tkatchev. It's an element that, if successfully performed at an International Gymnastics Federation competition, could be named after her.
Addison Fatta, a U.S. Olympic trials competitor a year ago, as well as first-year seniors Charlotte Booth, Katelyn Jong, the reigning U.S. junior champion, Levi Jung-Ruivivar, Nola Mathews, and Joscelyn Roberson are also ones to keep an eye on at the U.S. Classic.
Konnor McClain, who made the balance beam final at last year’s worlds and won both the Winter Cup and Jesolo Trophy all-around crowns in 2022, and world all-around bronze medallist Kayla DiCello were on an original roster for this competition, but have since scratched the event.
Stars to watch: USA Gymnastics U.S. Classic – Men’s competition
Three men who competed for Team USA at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, held in the summer of 2021, will take part in the first-ever U.S. Classic men’s competition: Brody Malone, Yul Moldauer and Shane Wiskus.
Malone is the reigning U.S. champion and won bronze on the horizontal bar at last year’s worlds. Moldauer is also a world bronze medallist, having taken third on the floor exercise in 2017. He also finished just out of the medals in the all-around final at last year’s worlds in fourth.
2021 world pommel horse champion Stephen Nedoroscik is schedule for his first competition since taking the global title on his specialty event.
Others to watch out for include 2022 NCAA champion Paul Juda, world medallist Donnell Whittenburg and 2018 world team member Colin Van Wicklen.
Vitaliy Guimaraes, who won February’s Winter Cup Challenge title, is not on the event roster.
How to watch: USA Gymnastics U.S. Classic
Fans in the United States can catch three sessions of competition live on CNBC. NBC will air an hour-long highlight show of the U.S. Classic on 6 August at 4 p.m. Eastern time.
The complete broadcast schedule is below. All times Eastern U.S.
Saturday, 30 July
- Junior Women (Session 2), 2:30-4:30pm, CNBC
- Senior Women, 7-9pm, CNBC
Sunday, 31 July
- Senior Men, 3-5:30pm, CNBC
Saturday, 6 August
- Highlights Show, 4-5pm, NBC
Other sessions will be live-streamed on USA Gymnastics’ streaming platform FlipNow and the USA Gymnastics YouTube channel. Click here for a complete schedule.