Olympic champion Jade Carey expects 'different and hard' 2024 season

Olympic artistic gymnastics gold medallist Jade Carey isn’t afraid to do things her own way.

The floor exercise champion's career has been marked by unconventionality. From being spotted at a Level 10 event months before winning her first global medals at the 2017 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships to securing her ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Games, Carey has forged her own path in the sport.

Now, with the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris fast approaching, she’ll trek through uncharted territory once again, hoping to become the first active NCAA women’s gymnast to make USA's gymnastics team for the Olympics.

“It has always been a passion of mine to represent the United States and the [Oregon State] Beavs,” wrote Carey in a social media post in May. “With that being said, I am excited to share that I will be remaining at Oregon State while pursuing my dreams of the 2024 Olympics.”

Carey and fellow Tokyo Olympians Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee and Grace McCallum went from Olympic glory to NCAA gymnastics in quick succession.

Chiles and Lee, like Carey, are targeting a second trip to the Games, but have stepped away from their respective universities, returning to their club gyms to focus on Paris 2024. McCallum has not declared a desire to return to elite competition.

Going against the grain, Carey has announced she will balance NCAA gymnastics and the demands of elite-level Olympic training simultaneously.

“It’s definitely going to be different and hard,” Carey told Olympics.com over the summer, noting that she expects to compete limited routines for Oregon State - a vast departure from her 2022 and 2023 seasons where she was one of the NCAA’s top all-around gymnasts.

“One meet, I didn’t do my floor routine last year because I had a double-meet weekend, and I was still trying to beg them to let me go because I just really like to compete," she said. “But I think it will be smart for me to not do what I’ve been doing, but still be able to enjoy the college experience and be out there with my team because I’ve had so much fun so far.”

An up and down year for Jade Carey

Carey’s 2023 NCAA season ended with her becoming the highest-ranked all-around athlete across the regular season, averaging a 39.765 score.

But as she turned to elite gymnastics, things didn’t go according to plan.

She struggled at August’s U.S. Classic where she only competed on the balance beam and then finished a surprising 15th in the all-around standings, down from a fifth-place finish in 2022.

“I think the past month or so has been pretty challenging for me,” Carey told Olympics.com between the two domestic competitions. “I was to the point where I had all my skills and everything was going great, but getting the final routines together has been a little bit of a struggle for me.”

Carey was invited to September’s selection event for the world championships and Pan American Games. Following her performance there, the gymnast was assigned to the Swiss Cup in November, which she won with partner Yul Moldauer.

"I think Yui was great. He came out here, did his routines, did a great job and it was just fun being by his side," Carey said after the win. "Having a partner just makes it even more fun. We had pressure, but we really just wanted to come out here and have fun."

Jade Carey turning the page

As Carey looks to build on the momentum of her Swiss Cup win and move on from the disappointment of missing a trip to the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, she’ll have good company by her side: her dad and coach Brian Carey.

For Jade Carey’s freshman and sophomore seasons, Brian Carey would periodically visit his daughter at Oregon State. But on the road to Paris 2024, he’ll be much closer, having accepted a position as assistant coach at the university over the summer.

“It kind of happened unexpectedly and fast,” Jade Carey said of her father's new role. “We weren’t really expecting anything to open up for him to take the job, but it did and it just made sense since he was already going to be up here helping me.”

Carey says there’s still something left to achieve in the sport – despite her Olympic and world titles – especially in the all-around.

“I want to get back [to the Olympics] and prove to myself that I can do it,” she said. “But also I’ve just seen myself improve so much, in the all-around especially, that I want to be able to go out there and show everyone that I’m not just vault and floor, that I can do everything and that I’ve worked so hard.”