Hezly Rivera had nothing to lose and everything to gain when competing for a spot on the 2024 United States Olympics gymnastics team.
“I think I’m the underdog,” Rivera told reporters recently when asked about the pressures at the Olympic trials. “I thought of it as any other meet.”
In competitions, interviews and a new Netflix docuseries, Simone Biles has shown that simply returning to the Olympics after her Tokyo ‘twisties’ is a momentous achievement.
Now, the New Jersey tumbler will be competing at the 2024 Paris Games as the only newcomer on a team — joining veterans Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey — that won the all-around silver medal at theTokyo Olympics in 2021.
“I can’t believe that I’m part of this team,” said Rivera. “The roster’s amazing.”
The Dominican American athlete is only the fifth Latina to represent the U.S. in gymnastics, following the legacy of Laurie Hernandez, Kyla Ross, Annia Hatch and Tracee Talavera.
“I just want to help the community grow,” Rivera told Remezcla. “I just want Latinas to be able to look up to me and be like, ‘I want to be like her when I grow up.’ ”
Rivera is also the youngest athlete on Team USA, having turned 16 in June.
Rivera was better positioned for the 2028 Olympics because of her age and the team’s depth, but injuries to three top contenders — Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello — opened her path to Paris. With the roster suddenly thin on uneven bars and balance beam, Rivera earned the fifth spot with strong routines on both of her top events at the U.S. trials.
“Bars and beam are definitely what I can contribute to the team so when I hit [them], I kind of knew, ‘Yeah, I have a shot,’ ” Rivera said.
Alicia Sacramone Quinn, the strategic lead of U.S. women’s gymnastics who is on the selection committee, said the fifth spot came down to what the team was lacking, but she was always keeping an eye on Rivera, who won gold on balance beam at the 2024 Winter Cup.
“Hezly really just delivered,” Sacramone Quinn said. “We felt like she’d be a good person to fill that last spot.”
In securing her place on the team, Rivera became the sixth gymnast in USA Gymnastics history to make the Olympics team in her first year as a senior elite gymnast.
“It was definitely a little bit nerve-wracking, especially when they were calling out the names,” Rivera said. “Even if I [didn’t] make the team I did my best that I could and that’s all I can do.”
Rivera has been waiting for this moment since she was 8, she told reporters.
“I never would have thought this would happen,” Rivera said. “I’m just very grateful for all the experiences and all these moments that come along with it too.”
Rivera began her training at the age of 5 after attending her best friend’s birthday party at a local gym.
“The coaches said that I had potential so they were like, ‘You should enroll her in classes’ to my parents,” Rivera said of the birthday party. “I went and I just never left.”
In 2021, Rivera and her family moved to Texas so that she could train at the World Olympics Gymnastics Academy training under renowned coach Valeri Liukin, father of five-time Olympic medalist Nastia Liukin. Rivera calls him “a great coach” despite allegations of verbal and mental abuse.
“Valeri had a great way of preparing her by giving her a ton of difficulty to work,” Sacramone Quinn said. “She has a great coach who can navigate her and keep her on that path, and she’s surrounded by teammates who are experienced.”
Rivera’s family have been supporting her during her journey. A viral clip of her dad, Henry Rivera, captured him closing his eyes, peeking only in moments as his daughter performed the balance beam at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.
“He’s been with me since the beginning,” Rivera said. “He always pushes me to be my best, but he’s also comforting when things get rough.”
As she prepares for her first Olympics, Rivera said she puts her trust in God. Shortly after trials were over she recited her favorite Scripture to reporters, Jeremiah 29:11.
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,’ ” Rivera said.
Times staff writer Thuc Nhi Nguyen contributed to this report.
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