PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 28: Hezly Rivera of Team United States looks on during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Qualification on day two of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 28, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
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Olympic gold medalist Hezly Rivera will miss the U.S. Classic competition, USA Gymnastics confirms. Scheduled for Saturday, July 18, in Hartford, Conn, the event serves as a final qualifying competition for August’s U.S. Championships.
While Rivera has already qualified for the championships and heads into August as the defending U.S. Champion, her absence is notable given recent injury struggles. In May, the 18-year-old represented the United States at the 2026 Pan American Championships, but withdrew from competition due to a sore hamstring.
Though USA Gymnastics quelled concerns by confirming the decision was precautionary, Rivera’s withdrawal extended a history of injury struggles.
2025 Season Ends in Injury
In 2025, Rivera triumphantly returned to the senior elite scene after earning Olympic gold, winning her first U.S. title and dominating the individual events, taking home gold medals on bars (tie), beam, and floor exercise.
With her all-around title, Rivera became the first person to win the title at both the junior and senior level since 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Wieber.
Cemented as a top contender for the 2025 World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, Rivera’s elite season ended shortly after claiming the national crown. Just days before attending the 2025 World Championship Team Selection event, Rivera withdrew from contention, citing an ankle injury.
“It just happened at such a bad time,” she told Olympics.com in June. “That’s really what I was looking forward to the whole year,” she added. Rivera’s training partner at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA), Claire Pease, also withdrew due to injury.
Located in Plano, Texas, the club is among the most successful in the nation and has produced four Olympic gold medalists: Carly Patterson (2004), Nastia Liukin (2008), Madison Kocian (2016), and Rivera (2024).
In Rivera’s absence, a depleted Team USA went on to win just two medals (one silver, one bronze) in Jakarta at the world championships, marking the lowest medal count for the women’s contingent since 2001.
Returns to Winning Ways in 2026
Months after her injury, Rivera began the 2026 elite season where she left off the previous season – atop the podium. She dominated the 2026 Winter Cup competition in February, winning gold in the all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise.
In March, she helped Team USA to silver in the mixed-team format at the American Cup. While Rivera’s early departure from the Pan American Championships raised concerns among fans, her omission from the U.S. Classic roster could point to improved pacing from her team – but it also raises concerns.
Rivera’s coaches at WOGA, Valeri and Anna Liukin, did not respond to Forbes’ requests for comment.
With WOGA’s focus placed squarely on the U.S. Championships in early August, both Rivera and Pease look to contend for national titles while staying healthy for the World Championship Selection event.
Despite her 2024 Olympic success, Rivera has not yet competed at a world championship. After the heartbreaking timing of her 2025 injury, she set out to redeem the disappointment in 2026.
“My focus is on recovery and coming back stronger in 2026,” Rivera wrote in October. This August, she will go for back-to-back U.S. national titles.
If Rivera can accomplish the goal, she would join elite company. Only Team USA’s top stars have won multiple senior national titles, including Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, Shawn Johnson, and fellow WOGA athletes Nastia Liukin and Carly Patterson.