Tiana Sumanasekera on training with Simone Biles: "She's just the most down to earth person."
Plus, a talented trio of U.S. gymnasts head to Paris and a look back at Argentina's Romina Plataroti at Barcelona 1992 in this edition of our weekly round-up.
Artistic Gymnastics
2023 Pan American Gymnastics Championships women's all-around winner Tiana Sumanasekera has been getting a first-hand look at exactly what it takes to be the best in the world.
The 15-year-old, who moved from California to Houston, Texas, to train at World Champions Centre with Laurent and Cecile Landi, says she's been inspired working side-by-side with seven-time Olympic medallist Simone Biles.
"She comes into the gym to train sometimes, and, you know, it's so cool training and being next to the best gymnast in the world, of course," said Sumanasekera during a USA Gymnastics media availability Thursday (8 June). "She's just the most down to earth person and she's so supportive, so sweet, always cheering for her team-mates and always saying hi to everybody. It's just so surreal. So, I love her. She's awesome."
Sumanasekera is no slouch herself, coming off a successful junior career with a win in her senior international debut at the Pan Ams.
"It was so much fun. I didn't really know what to expect because it was my first international meet as a senior," she said. "So I was just very excited to be named to the team and compete internationally, again. I just wanted to go out there and hit all my routines and that's what I did. So, I was just very happy with how I performed and the outcome."
Up next for Sumanasekera will be August's U.S. Classic in the Chicagoland area where she hopes to debut several upgraded elements including a double-double on the floor exercise.
"The double-double we're going to put in because I've had it for a long time," said Sumanasekera. "We were ready to put it in for Winter Cup. But, you know, getting injured was pretty, pretty hard. So I'm excited to put that in for Classics, and I'm ready to complete it."
Konnor McClain, Shilese Jones, and Jordan Chiles look ahead to Games in Paris
With just over a year to go until the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the top three finishers in the women’s all-around at last year’s U.S. Gymnastics Championships traveled to Paris to celebrate the coming Games with NBC’s Today Show.
U.S. champion Konnor McClain, 2022 World all-around silver medallist Shilese Jones, and Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist Jordan Chiles, who finished one, two, and three, at the 2022 U.S. nationals, appeared on the morning show to discuss their Olympic dreams.
“Honestly, it’s an amazing thing, just being able to be here and just feel the environment and everything like that,” Chiles, the lone Olympic veteran among the trio, told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie. “I’m beyond excited. I can’t wait to push towards a huge goal that all three of us have.”
For both McClain and Jones, Paris 2024 represents a chance at a dream for which they have long yearned.
“It feels like a milestone,” said McClain. “I’ve been training 17 years for this. I said on The Steve Harvey Show that I wanted to be here and I’m one year away, so I’m excited.”
20-year-old Jones narrowly missed out on the Tokyo Games, finishing 10th at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, one spot away from being an alternate to the U.S. squad.
“Coming back for the second go-round, just being one spot short, so many goals have passed, and this is just like my one big goal,” she said. “Hopefully, I can finally have it in my hands.”
From the vault…
This week, we take a look back at Argentina’s Romina Plataroti at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. The 1991 Pan Am Games all-around bronze medallist finished 59th in the all-around standings, highlighted by a 9.787 effort on the vault.