Six-time world medallist Shilese Jones has withdrawn from the final day of competition at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for gymnastics after suffering an injury in the opening night of competition, USA Gymnastics announced Saturday (29 June).
"After being evaluated on Saturday, Shilese Jones will not continue competition at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Sunday," USA Gymnastics said in a tweet.
The 21-year-old grabbed at her knee Friday during the final moments of the pre-event warm-up. Jones was later announced to the crowd and the federation tweeted that she would compete.
After a jog down the vaulting runway, she scratched the vault but competed on the uneven bars in the second rotation. Jones posted a 14.675 on the event, the highest score on the apparatus all night.
It was her only performance of the trials.
Since missing the Tokyo 2020 team, Jones has established herself as a force on the international women’s gymnastics scene.
At her first World Championships in 2022, she helped Team USA to a sixth-straight world gold medal before finishing runner-up to Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade in the all-around. She also grabbed an uneven bars silver.
A year later, she was once again part of the United States’ gold medal squad, and individually, once again landed on the all-around podium, taking bronze behind Simone Biles and Andrade. Her final medal there was a bronze on the bars.
Everything seemed to be pointing straight to Paris 2024 for Jones.
It even seemed that way just some six weeks ago when the 21-year-old made her 2024 season debut in sparkling fashion, finishing runner-up to Biles at the U.S. Classic, as she scored a massive 15.250 with a daring and flashy new routine on the bars.
But a years old shoulder injury reared its ugly head after that Classics triumph, and she was forced out of the U.S. championships in late May.
It was the beginning of a string of bad luck for Jones, whose road to Paris 2024 ended with Friday's knee injury.
The U.S. will announce its squad for the Games following competition on Sunday (30 June).
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