Grace McCallum

Tonight, the U.S. Olympic Trials begin with the first day of men’s competition at The Dome in St. Louis, Missouri. Below, find everything you need to follow the competition, from the list of athletes and what you should be looking out for, to the schedule and links to coverage.

The Athletes

A total of 20 men and 18 women will compete for spots on the U.S. Olympic team.

MAG	WAG
Cameron Bock Allan Bower Brandon Briones Alex Diab Gage Dyer Vitaliy Guimaraes Ian Gunther Paul Juda Riley Loos Brody Malone Sam Mikulak Akash Modi Yul Moldauer Stephen Nedoroscik Robert Neff Colin Van Wicklen Matt Wenske Donnell Whittenburg Shane Wiskus Alec Yoder	Simone Biles Skye Blakely Jade Carey* Jordan Chiles Kayla DiCello Amari Drayton Kara Eaker Addison Fatta Shilese Jones Emily Lee Sunisa Lee Emma Malabuyo Grace McCallum Riley McCusker Zoe Miller Ava Siegfeldt MyKayla Skinner Leanne Wong

*Already qualified individually via apparatus world cups

Naming the Teams

USA Gymnastics confirmed that the men’s all-around champion following two days of competition at trials will automatically be named to the team, while the second-place finisher will also get an automatic spot if he also finishes in the top three on at least three events. The remaining team and individual spots will be chosen by the selection committee. The men’s program will name a total of five reserve athletes (four for the team, and one individual).

On the women’s side, the top two all-arounders following two days of competition will automatically make the team, while the selection committee will choose the remaining team spots and the individual berth based on who can best contribute. Up to five reserve athletes will be named to the women’s team as well.

Both complete teams and all reserve athletes will be named at the conclusion of each discipline’s second day of competition. The selection committees have 30 minutes to make their decisions, and the teams will be announced live in the arena.

What to Watch

For the men’s team, veteran Sam Mikulak and newcomer Brody Malone should be the top contenders, with Yul Moldauer and Shane Wiskus the other two who make the most sense based on their competitive history. There’s also this quad’s consistent standouts in Allan Bower and Akash Modi, as well as some young talents with big potential, like the super clean and solid Brandon Briones, as well as Pan Ams silver medalist Paul Juda and Winter Cup champion Cameron Bock.

The top contenders for the individual spot are Stephen Nedoroscik and Alec Yoder for pommel horse, Gage Dyer for vault and floor, and Alex Diab for rings. Donnell Whittenburg, a rings and vault standout, could also be a great option for the individual spot, as he could swing onto the team as an all-arounder if needed at the last minute.

Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, and Jordan Chiles are the three obvious top choices for the women, with that fourth spot wide open. Grace McCallum, MyKayla Skinner, Leanne Wong, and Kayla DiCello are especially strong options, my dark horse favorite is Shilese Jones thanks to her impressive vault and bars (though she might be a bit too far behind on the other two events to legitimately factor in), and if Emma Malabuyo can repeat her nationals performance here, she should also be right in that mix.

An individual spot would also be an option for Malabuyo, who excels on beam, with Riley McCusker (bars and beam) and Kara Eaker (beam) likely her biggest challengers.

How to Follow Along

The full schedule of events is below, with information and links so you won’t miss a thing.

DATE	TIME	EVENT	HOW TO WATCH
Thursday June 24	6:30 pm ET	Men’s Competition Day 1	NBCSN
Friday June 25	7:30 pm ET	Women’s Competition Day 2	NBC
Saturday June 26	3:00 pm ET	Men’s Competition Day 2	Olympic Channel + NBC
Sunday June 27	8:00 pm ET	Women’s Competition Day 2	NBC

Note that on Saturday, the first hour of the men’s competition will air on the Olympic Channel, and then will pick up at 4 pm ET on NBC. The Olympic Channel will also stream the first half hour of both women’s competitions.

All four competitions will also stream on the NBC Olympics website, as well as on Peacock. Live results will be available via MyUSAGym, and we’ll be live blogging all of the action directly from the arena.

Article by Lauren Hopkins