Katelyn Ohashi

Katelyn Ohashi, once a top junior elite athlete in the United States who went on to be a viral performer on the collegiate stage while at UCLA, announced this week that she’s coming back to elite gymnastics, which was almost immediately followed by USA Gymnastics including her on their roster for this weekend’s American Classic.

This marks the first time Ohashi will have competed at the elite level since she made an appearance at her club’s WOGA Classic in 2015, where she’d already dropped to Level 10, but opted to compete a handful of watered-down routines in the elite session, winning gold on vault, silver on beam, and bronze on floor. This also marks her first national-level appearance since the American Cup in 2013, where she defeated fellow first-year senior Simone Biles for the title, making her one of only a handful of gymnasts who have outscored the 11-time Olympic medalist.

Now 29, Ohashi has resumed her training at Pacific Reign, home to current senior national team gymnasts Jayla Hang and Simone Rose. At the American Classic, held in Minneapolis on June 27, Ohashi’s primary goal will be getting her feet wet after being off the competition floor since she wrapped up her NCAA career in 2019. However, with this competition serving as the second of three national qualifiers for the 2026 season, she’s also definitely hoping to pick up a qualifying score to the U.S. Championships, which would be a 52.500 in the all-around, a 39.600 on three apparatuses, or a 26.800 on two apparatuses.

I assume that since Ohashi didn’t attend any elite qualifiers this season, she must have submitted a video to the program heads, and also assume that it must have been pretty solid if they opted to extend an invite to this level. Gabby Douglas was also allowed back into elite competition “behind the scenes” during her 2024 comeback, with that season’s American Classic also her comeback meet, and though she didn’t ultimately make it past the qualifier stage, she showed a lot of potential so I’d imagine Ohashi is in a similar position – at least on two apparatuses, if not all four – and I’m getting my hopes up for her return. Maybe not “she’s on my worlds team this year” hopes, but I’m guessing at least nationals could be in her near future.

The American Classic roster also includes three-time Olympic medalist Jade Carey in her first competition since the 2024 Games and Dulcy Caylor, who made her world championships debut last year, where she made the all-around, beam, and floor finals.

You can stream the competition live on FlipNow.tv and follow scores on the ScoreCat app. The action will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday, June 27 with the juniors going up at 10:45 am ET followed by the seniors at 2:30 pm. Held in conjunction with the American Classic is the Hopes Classic, where athletes who qualified to compete at the Hopes level this season will contend for spots at next month’s Hopes Championships. This stage of competition will take place on Friday, June 26 at 4:30 pm for the 11-12 age group and at 8:30 pm for the 13-14 age group.

A full list of athletes expected to compete is below.

*Not yet qualified to nationals

*Not yet qualified to nationals

Article by Lauren Hopkins