Qiu Qiyuan

A roundup of this week’s news, competitions, social media gossip, and more!

In the News

American Cup nominative roster announced. With the all-around world cup series disappearing in the wake of the Covid pandemic, there hasn’t been an American Cup in six years, but the competition is back for its 50th anniversary in a different format next month, where the focus will be on a mixed team competition, a brand-new medal event coming to the 2028 Olympic Games.

Seven nations – Brazil, China, Great Britain, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and the United States – will compete at this year’s American Cup, which will be held March 7 in Henderson, Nevada. Last week, USA Gymnastics released the nominative roster, which includes Olympic medalists Hashimoto Daiki of Japan and Qiu Qiyuan of China, and Olympians Diogo Soares and Caio Souza of Brazil, Zhang Yihan of China, Ruby Evans and Abigail Martin of Great Britain, Kishi Rina and Nakamura Haruka of Japan, Natalia Escalera of Mexico, and Alba Petisco of Spain.

China’s list is stacked, both in terms of who we’re expected to see and in terms of the reserves, which includes Olympic medalist Zhang Boheng. The U.S. didn’t release a nominative roster for its squad, but will name all athletes expected to compete following the Winter Cup in two weeks.

Laurie Hernandez will make Broadway debut in & Juliet. 2016 Olympic champion Laurie Hernandez is making a big next step in her performing career as she’ll step into the featured dance role of Charmion in the jukebox musical & Juliet on Broadway for a limited engagement beginning March 17. Hernandez, who has been studying acting at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts since 2023, said she’s “always been such a Broadway fan” and that making her Broadway debut is a “dream come true.” The role is the same that influencer Charli D’Amelio played for nearly a year.

First batch of Winter Cup registration is in. USA Gymnastics has announced the first batch of registered athletes for the Winter Cup, which begins in two weeks in Louisville, Kentucky. On the women’s side, the top senior competitors right now are 2024 Olympic champion Hezly Rivera and world cup champion Claire Pease, while the men’s field includes 2020 Olympians Yul Moldauer and Shane Wiskus, both of whom returned to competition last month following lengthy breaks, and 2024 Olympic medalist Fred Richard.

Competition Updates

Two juniors qualify elite at Next Era. At last weekend’s Next Era national qualifier in Seattle, two juniors – Cassie Tan and Sadie Drake – became the newest gymnasts to reach the elite level in the United States, with an additional four Hopes-level gymnasts also getting their scores. [Recap] [Results] [Elite Tracker]

Kovtun leads Franconville to victory at Top 12. In the first Top 12 match in France this season, Illia Kovtun kicked off his year on a high note, putting up the top score on every apparatus in his match to lead his team, Franconville, to a massive victory. Kovtun, who is in international limbo right now but remains a regular on the league circuit in Europe, also totaled an 82.898 in the all-around. [Recap] [Results]

Wiskus wins all-around in Houston. Shane Wiskus, who began his comeback journey at the Sam Mikulak Invitational in January, got a second meet under his belt in the elite session at the Houston National Invitational, where he earned an 80.100 in the all-around to take the title. It was a small field in Houston, but we saw additional notable performances from 2025 worlds competitors Kameron Nelson on floor, rings, and vault, and Donnell Whittenburg on rings. [Results]

Upcoming Meets

Elite Canada. The first Canadian meet of the year starts today in Calgary, where 2025 vault medalist Lia Monica Fontaine will make her season debut alongside worlds teammates Gabrielle Black, René Cournoyer, William Émard, Aidan Li, Jayson Rampersad, and Sam Zakutney. In addition to the domestic competition, we’ll also see a team match between Canada and Stanford University, with Olympic medalist Asher Hong leading the collegiate squad. Our coverage guide includes the complete roster, the full schedule, and how you can follow along via live streams and scores.

NCAA week 5. In addition to Stanford competing in Canada this weekend, the fifth week of MAG NCAA competition includes five meets on Saturday, with Michigan at Illinois, California and Simpson at Greenville, Army at Navy, Penn State at Nebraska, and Air Force and Ohio State at Oklahoma.

Must-See Content

Hwang Seohyun training beam. South Korea’s Hwang Seohyun, a beam superstar who missed the worlds final last year by a couple of tenths after falling in prelims, is training a back handspring to tuck full to Korbut series in this new video shared to Twitter yesterday. Simply gorgeous.

Article by Lauren Hopkins