A big move pays off for U.S. gymnast Joscelyn Roberson

Last September, U.S. gymnast Joscelyn Roberson was preparing for a big change.

She had just finished her first year competing as a senior elite gymnast with mixed results. Roberson had taken second on the vault at the U.S. nationals, behind Olympic gold medallist Jade Carey, but finished eighteenth in the all-around rankings. 

The 16-year-old found herself very much on the outside looking in for the U.S. team at the World Championships.

Beyond the gym, Roberson’s mom, Ashley, had a new job in Houston, Texas, a five-hour drive from her hometown of Texarkana where she’d trained at Northeast Texas Elite for years.

Roberson was set to go with her mom to Houston and begin training at the gymnastics facility owned by four-time Olympic champion Simone Biles’ family, World Champions Centre and with coaches Laurent and Cecile Landi, who were recently inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

She wasn’t exactly looking forward to it.

“I was so scared,” admitted Roberson during a media availability at the recent U.S. Gymnastics Championships in San Jose, California. “At that point, I didn’t really want to go because it was kind of like my mom’s decision. She was moving for her job, so she was like, ‘Okay, you’re gonna come with me.’”

A turnaround in 2023

What a difference a year can make.

In 2023, Roberson finished third all-around at the U.S. Classic and then climbed all the way to 7th all-around at the U.S. Championships in August.

Her uncertainty about the change was long gone.

“If I could just tell her something,” Roberson began when asked what she’d tell herself a year ago, “it would just be, ‘It’s okay. It’s going to be for the better. You’re gonna have an amazing ride this year, so just have fun.”

More than the fun, Roberson transformed, saying her confidence has soared under the Landis.

“Just knowing Hall of Fame coaches believe in me, I think that a huge confidence booster,” she said. “I feel like confidence is the biggest thing they’ve instilled in me.”

In addition to her impressive finishes last month, she’s also been one of the most successful U.S. gymnasts internationally in 2023 after winning team and vault gold at the DTB Team Challenge, vault and floor golds and beam silver at the Cairo World Cup, and team and floor golds at the Pan Am Championships.

Added to three domestic competitive appearances (Winter Cup, U.S. Classic and the U.S. Championships), Roberson has seen more competition this year than any of her competitors.

That’s by design.

“Especially since how not well last year went for me, I wanted to get out there and prove myself as many times as I could, as well as staying healthy and not tiring out,” explained Roberson. “I feel like getting those extra assignments, it was really good for me in my season. It was a conscious decision.”

Full circle with Biles

The move has also provided Roberson with something of a full circle moment as she trains alongside an idol in Biles.

Eight years ago, Biles posted a viral Vine video of a young Roberson doing a standing back flip with a full twist to her Twitter.

“I’m in awe!” said Biles of the video in 2015. “Someone help me find this cutie. I wanna meet her, so she could teach me a thing or two.”

As Roberson got to know Biles as a training mate, she resisted the urge to ask if she’d remembered the post.

“When I first moved to WCC, I didn’t if she would remember it so I never brought it up,” said Roberson. “When it [resurfaced], she was like, ‘Oh, I remember this!’”

The post made a mark on Roberson, who says it’s the reason for most of her online following to date.

But now, she finds herself peers with Biles and other Olympic gold medallists like Carey – something that might have been hard to imagine all those years ago.

“It’s so surreal because last quad, I was watching them and wanting to be like them, and then, now, I’m competing against them and getting to say hi to them and become friends with them,” Roberson said. “It’s really a surreal feeling.”