Olympic champion Hezly Rivera eyes 2025 Worlds, LA 2028 Olympic Games
The 16-year-old had a breakout year, making the U.S. team for Paris 2024 and winning gold there. She hopes that will just be the beginning.
At the U.S. gymnastics national team camp earlier this month, Paris 2024 gold medallist Hezly Rivera was suddenly the veteran.
The 16-year-old was the youngest member of the American squad that captured gold in France this summer.
Now, with her more experienced teammates taking breaks from the sport or returning to NCAA competition, Rivera could be the squad’s leader.
That hasn’t quite sunk in yet, she says.
“I didn’t feel different. It just felt like a normal, working camp for me,” Rivera told Olympics.com Friday (13 December) in an exclusive interview. “It was just cool to see all the girls again because I hadn’t seen them in so long.
“I actually didn’t even think about being like a veteran at camp,” she continued, “but it was definitely cool to be back. I was really happy, and I enjoyed it.”
No matter her role, the New Jersey native, who trains in Texas, has big goals, including the 2025 World Championships and a return trip to the Olympic Games at LA 2028.
“My goals are the 2025 Worlds, and ’26, ’27, and then the Olympics in 2028. Those are my long-term goals,” Rivera says. “But, obviously, I have little goals to worry about each and every day. I just set tiny goals, not just every day, but like every month, and just take it one step at a time and see where it takes me.”
Competitively, that could mean being back on the floor (or bars or beam or vault) at February’s Winter Cup or, more likely, the U.S. Classic in mid-July.
“I don’t know yet,” she says of her 2025 schedule. “You’ll probably see me at Classics… or Winter Cup. We’ll see how prepared I am or what I feel like, so we’re just taking that very slow, one step at a time.”
She's committed to compete in the NCAA for reigning national champions Louisiana State University as part of the 2026 incoming class. Rivera says she's not quite sure how she'll handle balancing elite and college gymnastics just yet.
Though, she knows who to ask for advice.
"I might ask [my Olympic teammates] Jade [Carey] and Jordan [Chiles] about it, though, because they've been through the same things," said Rivera.
Her immediate future includes some rest and relaxation over the holidays after taking just two weeks off following Paris before a busy schedule of school, training, and weekend appearances at Simone Biles’ Gold Over America tour.
“For Christmas, my family and I are going to the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana,” Rivera says with a wide smile. “I’ve actually never been. This is my first time going, and both my parents are from the Dominican Republic.
“I’m going to see some family that I’ve never seen before and see where my parents grew up and just see the beauty of it because it’s so beautiful,” she continues, “and I’m so excited to just go there and have some fun.”