She grew up watching Simone Biles -- and now New Jersey's Hezly Rivera is competing alongside her in Paris.
The 16-year-old athlete, the youngest Team USA member across all sports in the 2024 Paris Olympics, competed Sunday in two of the events for all-around gymnastics qualifying, helping the U.S. women notch the top overall score to advance.
She landed a 13.900 in the uneven bars, good enough to tie for 13th behind China and not too far behind Team USA's Suni Lee and Biles, who both scored above a 14.000 in that event. Rivera earned a 12.633 in beam, coming in at 26th place. Biles (14.733) and Lee (14.033) came in second and third behind China's Yaqin Zhou (14.866).
The relative newcomer may be competing for Olympic medals for the first time on the world stage, but she's no stranger to winning. She recently competed in the 2024 Winter Cup, where she placed third all-around and clinched gold on the balance beam.
“I am so grateful to be here and to be selected on this Olympic team. I have made so many sacrifices to get here so I want to thank God, my coaches, family, my friends and my teammates. I just can’t believe that I am here,” Rivera told NBC DFW after making the team.
Here's how to watch Rivera and the rest of the Team USA women's gymnastics events.
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