Welcome to the live blog for the first day of competition at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials! We’re here in San Jose at the SAP Center and will be posting all updates as they happen during today’s competition. Refresh your browser every 3-5 minutes and the most recent updates will appear on the top. Have a question? Tweet us @thegymterdotnet!

8:06 pm. Running off to do interviews really quickly and then will be back to post today’s totals!

8:04 pm. Schild FX- Hit first pass and double arabian second pass. 1.5 through to 2.5. Good job.

8:01 pm. Douglas BB- Punch front pike with a little hop. Solid bhs loso. Great standing full. Punch front with her leg up. Fell on her L turn. Front aerial to jumps. Hit dismount.

7:59 pm. Nichols FX- Great double double, chest down on the landing but her feet are solid. Tucked full-in is good. Piked full-in also good. Double tuck. YAY. Awesome first floor routine back since her surgery.

7:58 pm. Gowey BB- Hit the beginning, then front aerial to jumps, full L turn to full pirouette though the connection there is a tad slow. Punch front, 2.5 with a hop. Good girl.

7:55 pm. Smith FX- Hit double layout opening pass, 1.5 through to triple with a small step. Double arabian into a kind of stag. Hey, she went for it. The crowd is trying to clap along to this but they’re so confused hahaha. Bless mass clapping.

7:53 pm. Hundley BB- Bhs loso loso right to the edge of the beam. Hit everything after that, including full Y turn, very nice. Great double pike. MEEEEEELS!!!!!

7:48 pm. Biles FX- HERE WE GOOOOO. Full-twisting double layout with a big bounce back. Kills it on the Biles. Double double with a big bounce. Tucked full-in is also a YAS. Guess what? Simone is fabulous. Were you confused about that?

7:46 pm. Dowell FX- Nails double front to stag, then lands the Dowell right in the corner. YAS BRENNA. 1.5 + front full with a tiny bounce at the end. Hit last pass. YAY.

I’m not sure what Aly didn’t get credited for on beam to only get a 6.0 D score. They’re being tough on her overall today. I was too far to notice every missed connection but I’m assuming the layout got devalued as always (and as it – and most – should).

7:43 pm. Aly gets a 59.95 after a 14.8 on beam and Laurie gets a 60.85 with a 15.3 on floor. Aly’s scores are super realistic tonight. Laurie’s scores are…not. At all. Which is confusing because she deserves to be on the team with or without crazy scoring?! Her bars got a 14.9 with a HUGE mistake, and she had probably the second weakest DTY here and the best DTY score. Just…not going to happen in Rio. It sets them up for major disappointment (ahem Jordyn Wieber in 2012, Aly last year) so I’ll never understand the reasoning.

Kocian BB- Nails standing arabian, front aerial + sheep jump, something between those two that I missed. Side aerial.

7:41 pm. Hernandez FX- SHOWTIME. Double layout with a hop back. Love the choreo bit right after and the crowd is cheering along. Sky high double arabian to stag. Front layout + front double full + punch front tuck, good job. Nice control. Double tuck with a bounce. Maggie looks happy. When I say Maggie I mean her coach, not Nichols, otherwise it’s going to come off like Maggie Nichols has a bizarre obsession with Laurie. I hope she does. I do.

Skinner’s beam got bumped up and her AA is now 59.25!!!!!

7:38 pm. Raisman BB- Punch front + wolf jump. “I’m up all night to get lucky” is playing in the arena so Party Raisman can LIVE. Hits bhs layout, switch to back tuck, good on both. Pike jump, did she do something before or after that? Feels very random on its own but I might have missed it. Side aerial, switch half, punch front, I hate being this far away because I can see literally nothing but I love being close to bars. Nails Patterson. BABY GIRL.

7:37 pm. Desiderio FX- Hit first pass, then 1.5 to double tuck with a hop. This music LOL. Oh Christina. Double layout a little short with a hop. Hit the rest. Good job to her, also a very good day!! Must feel so good to come into a major meet like this and own it.

Skinner gets a 59.05 AA!!!!!!! I’m literally BAWLING. SKINNER. ❤ BLESS YOU.

7:35 pm. Skinner BB- Hit the beginning well from what I saw, people were asking me questions. I think that included her tuck full combo. Switch + switch half + back tuck, great. Full L turn + full pirouette. Split + wolf jump. Hit full-in dismount. What a freaking FANTASTIC DAY FOR HER. I’m crying again.

7:30 pm. After Rotation Three

1. Simone Biles 46.15
2. Laurie Hernandez 45.55
3. Aly Raisman 45.15
4. Gabby Douglas 44.85
5. MyKayla Skinner 44.6
6. Ragan Smith 44.2
7. Madison Kocian 43.9
— Amelia Hundley 43.9
9. Brenna Dowell 43.35
— Maggie Nichols 43.35
11. Rachel Gowey 42.2
— Christina Desiderio 42.2
13. Emily Schild 41.6
14. Ashton Locklear 29.95

7:28 pm. Nichols BB- 2.5 wolf turn, double wolf turn, Maggie GETTIN DAT D, you smooth criminal. Front aerial + sissone + split jump, side somi, punch front, side aerial, falls. UGH MAGGIEEEEE WHY. Hits double pike.

7:25 pm. Smith BB- Hits double wolf turn, lovely bhs layout, standing full with a little bobble, hit double pike dismount, aww. I miss the Patterson but I guess it’s better here to play it safe. At least she tried.

7:24 pm. Gowey UB- Weiler half to toe full to Maloney to giant full, Ricna to pak, just slight leg separation. Van Leeuwen with some form issues, big double layout with a tiny bounce.

7:21 pm. Locklear BB- Double wolf turn. Fell on flight series. Punch front to sissone. Full turn. Double tuck with a step. Good recovery.

Just noticed Madison and Ashton got the exact same bars scores ONCE AGAIN. Ashton with the slightly better form, Madison with the slightly bigger D.

7:19 pm. Hundley UB- Weiler half to Maloney, Ricna to pak, good. I want everything good in the world for Amelia. Van Leeuwen, toe on to giant full, stuck full-in. AMELIAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! I think MLT wiped away a tear. Or I’m imagining that because I’m wiping away a tear. #Projection

7:18 pm. Biles BB- Wolf turn issues. She’s not going to be thrilled. Hits jumps and barani. Nails bhs loso loso. Amelia’s blocking me. Switch + switch half + back pike. Great full-in dismount. Not thrilled but not yelling at herself either.

7:17 pm. GOOD Amelia is back on the podium and chalking up. PHEW. I almost set myself on fire.

7:16 pm. Kocian UB- Inbar full to Komova II to pak to Chow half, lovely. Great handstand before inbar half to Jaeger, feet looked less flexed from this angle. Stalder full to full-in stuck COLD. OMG MADISON.

7:15 pm. Amelia just came off the bars podium looking to be in a little pain…elbow maybe? PLEASE GYM GODS DO NOT DO THIS TO ME.

7:11 pm. Dowell BB- Her punch front pike mount gets applause and ooohs. Full-twisting back handspring also gets oohs. Bhs loso is solid. A little short on switch half. Double pike with her chest slightly down and a hop back.

7:8 pm. Hernandez BB- Front aerial + sissone + split jump, bhs loso loso looked way off but she pulled it together. Sheep jump. Great punch front + wolf jump, nails double pike. Great work aside from that teeny tiny series blooper.

7:06 pm. Raisman UB- Omg her abs. YAS. Toe full with some leg form break to Maloney to Tkachev, great for her. Jaeger looks a little crooked, toe on to bail to toe full to Ray, toe half with some ankle sep to double front with a tiny hop.

7:04 pm. Desiderio BB- Hit flight series. Now Aly’s bun is blocking me. Switch half. Double pike a bit low but hit.

703 pm. Skinner UB- Weiler half to Maloney to pak (leg sep), Van Leeuwen (leg sep), toe full to Tkachev (huge), Ray with great toe point, full-in with barely a hop. Great work for her and she looks thrilled. Her little fan section is behind me and she fist pumps to them with a big smile.

7:02 pm. Schild BB- Fell early on, I didn’t see on what because one of MyKayla’s coaches is in front of me. Switch to switch half, way short on split. Front aerial + pike jump, good double pike.

7:00 pm. Douglas UB- Nice slow first handstand before inbar full to huge piked Tkachev to pak, smooth. Inbar half to Endo half to Chow half, good. A little archy but made it through. Double layout with a step.

6:58 pm. After Rotation Two

1. Simone Biles 30.95
2. Aly Raisman 30.7
3. MyKayla Skinner 30.3
4. Laurie Hernandez 30.05
5. Gabby Douglas 29.75
— Brenna Dowell 29.75
7. Maggie Nichols 29.65
8. Ragan Smith 29.3
9. Amelia Hundley 29.2
10. Emily Schild 28.85
11. Madison Kocian 28.15
12. Christina Desiderio 27.8
13. Rachel Gowey 27.3
14. Ashton Locklear 15.75

6:54 pm. Smith UB- Inbar half to Tkachev, Chris liked it. Stalder to Ricna, good inbar full to pak, toe shoot, stalder full to full-in. Four beads for you, Ragan Smith. You go Ragan Smith.

6:52 pm. Locklear UB- Inbar full to Komova II to pak to Maloney to bail to Ray. It’s gonna be brutal if this likely gets left at home. Inbar half to huge Jaeger, stuck full-in. Ugh she is TOO good.

6:50 pm. Hundley VT- Good DTY, small hop back.

6:49 pm. Biles UB- Someone just yelled “GO SEA-MONEY!” Weiler half with some leg break, to Maloney, good. Toe full to Tkachev, Church to pak, toe shoot, toe on to full-in stuck! YAY.

6:48 pm. Kocian VT- Big clean FTY. I guess she did decide to vault even though Martha was like “nah.”

6:46 pm. Raisman VT- Amanar, GREAT. ALYYYY. Slight step back. Great rotation from what I could see. Same leg stuff.

Dowell UB- Toe full to Maloney to big Tkachev, GET IT. Hop change to Jaeger, nice. Church to pak with some leg sep. Van Leeuwen caught a little awkwardly from my angle. Nails full-twisting double layout. SHE IS SO HAPPY!!! So is Armine.

6:43 pm. Kate Foster, the girl who lost her leg to leukemia is here to do a demo. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

6:41 pm. Hernandez UB- Stalder full to Chow to huge Tkachev with the craziest hip rotation ever. Huge Downie, huge Ricna to pak, YES. She fell on a relase in training. UGH arches over on her Endo half and has to extra swing a million times. Maggie is having 17 heart attacks on the side. Sticks full-in. Maggie gestures to her “it’s okay.” At least she didn’t come off.

6:39 pm. Desiderio UB- Weiler half, Maloney is a bit messy, toe full to Tkachev, I think I’m her spot because we keep meeting eyes when she spots hahaha. Bail to toe shoot, full-in. YAY Christina!!! She looks SO happy about that and Mr Strauss is so proud.

6:39 pm. Skinner VT- Just goes to the DTY for the second vault and it’s a good one. After the trouble she had with her amanar today that was a wise decision.

6:38 pm. Skinner VT- Cheng, very low block as usual but lands it about as well as she usually does. The crowd actually gasped on her block hahaha.

6:36 pm. Schild UB- Inbar full, gets a little archy on the handstand before her Komova II to pak, Maloney to bail to toe shoot with just tiny form issues, leg form breaks on inbar half into her Jaeger, straight and clean double layout with a big step forward.

6:35 pm. Douglas VT- DTY, hop back, same as it’s been all summer.

6:34 pm. Nichols UB- Toe full to Maloney to pak caught close to van Leeuwen which was a mess but she caught. Toe on to toe half to Jaeger (flexed feet), double layout basically stuck. I can’t see handstand angles at all from my point of view but that aside this was like…kinda meh form-wise but still hit.

6:31 pm. Gowey VT- DTY landed in a fully piked position basically.

6:29 pm. After Rotation One

1. Simone Biles 16.0
2. Aly Raisman 15.45
3. Laurie Hernandez 15.15
4. Maggie Nichols 15.1
5. Emily Schild 14.95
6. Brenna Dowell 14.85
7. MyKayla Skinner 14.8
8. Ragan Smith 14.7
9. Gabby Douglas 14.65
10. Christina Desiderio 14.3
11. Madison Kocian 14.25
— Amelia Hundley 14.25
13. Rachel Gowey 12.9
14. Ashton Locklear 0.0

6:25 pm. Kocian FX- Double arabian to stag, connection probably a little slow because there was a tiny skid. 1.5 to front full with a large step forward. Double tuck with a little bounce. Double pike with a step.

6:24 pm. Biles VT- Second vault is the Cheng, which is actually a little low and she has to hop. But she’d still easily win Olympic gold for that combo. No worries there.

6:22 pm. Biles VT- Crowd goes wild when she walks up onto the podium. Amanar, great in the air as usual, just a step forward. Better landing in warm-ups. PLEASE stick it for me on Sunday and get dat 10.

6:20 pm. Raisman FX- Oh my god I’m crying BEFORE the routine this time. DON’T EVEN WORRY ABOUT IT. 1.5 through to double arabian to front layout which she FLOATS THROUGH!!!!! Like she barely looks like she’s trying. SKY high Dos Santos to stag. Double layout is fabulous. Kills the double pike. GAHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

6:19 pm. Dowell VT- DTY, GREAT, just a hop back.

6:17 pm. Skinner FX- Double double layout is PERFECTION. Seriously one of the best she’s ever done, SO stretched!!! Double double with a great landing and her chest slightly down. Tucked full-in with a little step. 1.5 through to 2.5 with a little step. YAS MYKAYLA!!!!!!

6:16 pm. Hernandez VT- Came really early onto the table for her DTY but from my angle it looks okay in the air…not a good deal of height/distance really at all but decent landing all things considered.

6:13 pm. Desiderio VT- DTY, meh, better than training I think? Steps OOB.

6:10 pm. Douglas FX- Hit double arabian with a step, and hit second pass which I couldn’t see because sometimes people like to stand in front of me. Tucked full-in probably? Couldn’t see if she did the back tuck out of it though. Double pike with a hop. Double tuck is good.

6:09 pm. Schild VT- DTY, clean and with a little bounce in place. 

6:08 pm. Nichols VT- DTY, a little form issue-y in the air but an awesome landing.

Gowey FX- Triple full with some iffy leg form and a little underrotated. Hit double pike second pass. Tripped after a leap or something?! And fell forward and had to roll out of it. Oof. Double tuck with a super low landing.

6:03 pm. Hundley FX- Nails double layout. I saw MLT backstage before they did the walk-out and she was sitting calmly in a chair like “sometimes this is the best way to deal with everything” and I was like get it MLT. Great piked full-in as well. Little shimmy before her third pass is golden. 1.5 through to double tuck is excellent. I’m crying about Amelia being here SO HARD. Little skid on her double pike but she’s all smiles and MLT is like WOOOOOO I LOVE YOU.

6:02 pm. Smith VT- DTY, a little wild in the legs at first but hit landing well.

6:00 pm. Kyla is doing an interview with Sam Peszek as an in-house commentator which is kind of awesome. Kyla is super stressed about everyone competing.

5:58 pm. Warm-ups for the first rotation are getting underway now.

5:53 pm. Athletes are coming in one by one running through smoke with the lights all awesome, reminiscent of NCAA gym intros. Love it.

5:52 pm. Walk-in is about to start!

5:38 pm. Two updates for you…they just played the video of Aly at Olympic Trials in 2008 which makes me sob like a baby so naturally I cried for that. And I missed dinner because I was watching warmups, the only food left was a basket of rolls, so I grabbed two and then naturally walked past Shannon Miller holding a gigantic plate of carbs.

5:26 pm. Okay, that’s going to wrap things up for now! I think they get started in a half hour so I don’t know what the next thirty minutes will entail here…obviously the walk-in and the whole pre-show madness and everything. And probably Macready. Always Macready. Check back in 10 or 15 minutes and I’ll let you know what’s happening!

5:24 pm. One last timer from Christina onto a big mat, and Brenna does another DTY, which she sticks but a little messy.

5:20 pm. Christina Desiderio’s DTYs are a little scary tbh but they always are? She must be doing her plyos because she never gets hurt. Laurie up on vault now…DTY, looks much better than nationals. Decent one from Brenna…I think the girls on floor are done.

5:17 pm. Good tumbling from Aly on floor. Nearly stuck Amanar from Simone gets huge applause, just a tiny step back. I am all for Simone getting a 10 on this vault if she sticks this weekend. It won’t matter – she’s making the team, she’s gonna win – might as well just let her have it. She’s made history everywhere else, why not give her the first “perfect” 10 in execution here?! I’M HERE FOR IT.

5:13 pm. Sorry, had an internet issue for a second…in the fourth rotation warmup! Timers right now on vault and floor.

5:03 pm. So everything I saw from beam looked good. No major disasters. I literally can’t even tell who is on right now…a human in pink with hair. Maybe Gowey? Hit a 2.5 dismount. Gabby’s up now…nails punch front, solid bhs loso, hit dismount with chest down and a small hop.

4:58 pm. Lovely 1.5 though to triple from Ragan on floor. Laurie nails front double full to punch front after running out of it a few minutes earlier. Someone asked if Skinner looks shakier than usual on beam but she hasn’t really done any full sets yet…just nailed her full-in dismount, though.

4:54 pm. Shifted rotations again…slowly getting into floor with some timers.  Skinner on beam for a dismount timer. Aly’s simple split leap mount was just pretty freaking gorgeous. Looks good on her layout. Double back from Laurie.

4:47 pm. I can barely tell anyone apart on beam because of hot pink nation but Ashton just sat her dismount. She and Ragan are the only ones really over there right now and I can only tell them apat because of the height difference. I think there’s a foot difference between them. Ragan bends her knees on her layout landing, tiny stumble on the standing full (which I literally can’t tell if it’s piked or tucked), good aerial to jump connection.

KO just asked if the official term is “reserve athletes.” For the Olympics, USA Gym typically refers to the alternates as “reserves” and I remember in 2012 when someone in the media said alternates, it was a no-no. I think “reserve” is more all-encompassing, like…they’re being held in a reserves pool with no one at a greater standing than the other. Not sure what the semantic difference is but that’s what I remember from 2012.

4:42 pm. Miss Laurie Hernandez just nailed her bhs loso loso series. Aly’s doing werk on bars, sticks double front. Rachel’s Weiler half is good. MyKayla just fully stared right into my eyes as I was watching Rachel so I stared right back and shot a thousand laser beams of positive energy into her. Hit routine just now but with messy form, not shocking.

4:41 pm. Gabby on bars…inbar full to huge pkecd Tkachev to pak, good. Labored handstand before inbar half to endo half to Chow half, which looks a little off. Clean super stuck double layout though. The crowd is just starting to come in and she got some WOOs for that. MyKayla off on her Weiler half and makes a not impressed face.

4:38 pm. Madison Kocian back up…great inbar full to Komova II to pak to Chow half, only slight ankle sep on the pak. Inbar half to HUGE Jaeger. Pirouettes right on the bar and sticks the full-in. MMMM YES.

To answer another question, whenever I say “omg I’m literally crying” I usually actually do have tears welling in my eyes. NO JOKE. Aly brings them out in me. I can’t wait until we ugly cry together on Sunday. By “together” I mean Aly on the podium celebrating her second Olympic team and me on the floor nearby pretending Aly and I are BFFs.

4:35 pm. Back to basics. I don’t have a good view of beam at all but I’ll try to keep my eyes open for falls or anything fishy. Madison Kocian is owning it right now on bars…she’s exempt from vault today to save her fragile bird bones from potential disaster.

4:32 pm. Shifting rotations now. Gabby Douglas is only here with coach Christian. I’m not sure what happened to Kittia, but I heard from other members of the press that she was here on Thursday. One of my media pals said she will ask about it at interviews later so hopefully we’ll get some answers about that tonight.

4:30 pm. To answer a question that just came in, YES, they’re naming all five on Sunday, plus three reserve athletes.

4:28 pm. Simone up on bars…leg break on the high bar, I think on a pirouette. No biggie for her to get it back quickly. Ashton time…just the dismount, full-in with a small step. I think they’re getting ready to change rotations because Aly’s hanging out by bars now. Ragan “I LOVE BEADS” Smith with a big Jaeger and even bigger Ricna, loses herself on her inbar full though.

4:27 pm. A couple of crashes in a row from Skinner…it’s almost like she’s trying to get more power than she needs? And is stopping herself by flying forward/sideways to her hands. Brenna just killed the Church to pak combo, a better DTY from Gabby, and Brenna sticks her dismount again.

4:24 pm. Lovely DTY from Amelia. Maggie was just so clean on bars just now, I literally thought she was Ashton. WOW. DTY from Gabby with a big bounce back. GORGEOUS Amanar from Aly, seriously her FORM gahhhh please do it like that in competition. Just a small step forward. Oh my goodness I’m literally already starting to cry a little.

4:22 pm. Brenna looks very strong on bars at the moment. HUGE Church but knees are a little bent in the pak. Aimee on the side saying “come on Bren.” Sticks full twisting double layout. Yay Brenna! DTY timer from Skinner who gets so much height she more than rotates it around with room to spare on an 8 inch mat!

4:17 pm. Mostly basics at this point. Ashton’s looking gorgeous. TOE POINT. Vault is just timers at the moment. Now Laurie’s on bars stalder queening it up. Beautiful form on everything. Endo half a little muscly but she is good at getting it back. Basically whipped out a full routine.

4:13 pm. General stretch is just about to end with the athletes getting ready to train with one group on vault and the other on bars. We’ll be back shortly with event training updates!

Article by Lauren Hopkins