Hezly Rivera has positioned herself as the standard-bearer for the next generation of American women's gymnasts, walking away from Matchup Mortgage Arena in Phoenix on Sunday with her second consecutive national championship in hand.
Starting the final day in fourth place, Rivera delivered four strong routines to finish with a two-day combined score of 111.950 — more than a full point ahead of second-place finisher Claire Pease. The margin made Rivera the first American woman other than Simone Biles to win back-to-back national titles since Jordyn Wieber, a former world and Olympic champion, accomplished the feat in 2010 and 2011.
The victory was far from assured heading into Sunday's competition. Rivera had tumbled onto the mat during Thursday's session after losing her grip on a release move on uneven bars, putting her repeat bid in serious jeopardy. She answered on Sunday by returning to that same apparatus first. Working through a brief hesitation late in the routine, she completed her dismount with a small step, drawing a light-hearted shrug toward her coach before the judges posted a 13.850 — workmanlike but enough to build momentum through the rest of the session.
Rivera had described herself as the "underdog" going into the Paris Olympics, where she was the youngest member of a seasoned squad that captured the Americans' third team gold in four Games. Several of her teammates from that squad, most notably Biles and Suni Lee, have since stepped back from competition, though Lee announced last month that training for a return has begun. Rivera, by contrast, has kept competing without interruption.
Pease and fellow first-day co-leader Skye Blakely were unable to match Rivera's final-day output. Pease held the lead with two rotations remaining, but errors on floor — including a tumbling pass that carried her out of bounds and a second pass where she held one foot just above the mat to avoid a stepping penalty — allowed Rivera to overtake her. Even so, the runner-up result represented a dramatic turnaround for Pease, who had entered last year's nationals riding a U.S. Classic victory only to finish tenth. Her showing this time puts her in strong contention for a spot on the U.S. team bound for the world championships in the Netherlands in October.
The composition of the U.S. roster for October's world championships in the Netherlands has not yet been announced.