The Tokyo Olympics are less than a month away, and the United States will solidify its team for one of the most popular sports on Sunday.
Simone Biles and the rest of the women's gymnastics field will close out the U.S. Olympic team trials at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis with their second day of competition. The event will conclude with naming the 2021 women's Olympic team.
The men's team was announced Saturday. Brody Malone, Yul Moldauer, Shane Wiskus, Sam Mikulak and Alec Yoder will represent the U.S. in Tokyo.
A fierce Day 1 competition means there are still a lot of unknowns for the women's team outside of Biles. Several gymnasts could reasonably claim any of the four spots available behind Biles' lead.
Here's everything you need to know going into the final day of the U.S. gymnastic trials:
Day 1 standings
Unsurprisingly, Biles led the pack during the first day of competition Friday, finishing the first four rotations with an all-around score of 60.565. She scored over 15 on vault, beam and floor, and earned a 14.6 on uneven bars. Biles is nearly three points ahead of her nearest competitor.
The competition is tight through the next five gymnasts, though. Sunisa Lee heads into Day 2 in second place separated from Jordan Chiles in third place by just over half a point. Behind Lee and Chiles in the rankings are MyKala Skinner, Grace McCallum and Kayla DiCello, who are all separated by 0.200 or less.
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Lee and Chiles were both near the bottom of the pack in floor exercise Friday, finishing 12th and eighth respectively. Chiles incurred a penalty for stepping partially out of bounds on one of her passes. McCallum took second behind Biles in the event.
How a gymnast can make the team
The U.S. will send six female gymnasts to Tokyo: a four-person team, and two individual competitors.
The first-place finisher at trials — very likely Biles — will automatically secure a spot on the Olympic team. Whoever ends up in second place can do the same if she also finishes top three in three other events, but none of the gymnasts currently meet that qualification. All three remaining team spots would then be chosen by the selection committee.
Jade Carey already earned one of the individual spots thanks to her top performances on floor and vault in the individual event World Cup series. The other remaining individual spot will be awarded by the selection committee.
Where and when to watch
The Olympic Channel will air the first 30 minutes of the women's competition starting at 8 p.m. ET. Coverage will then switch to NBC at 8:30 p.m. ET, where the remainder of the event and team-naming ceremony will be aired live. Viewers can also stream the event on NBCOlympics.com or NBC Peacock, the network's streaming platform.
Contact Emily Leiker at [email protected] or on Twitter @emleiker.
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