Gymnastics events have been staged at the Olympic Games since 1896, [1] but women's events first appeared in 1928. American female gymnasts have participated in every Olympic Games since 1936, except for 1980. [2] A total of 90 female gymnasts have represented the United States. American women have won 62 medals at the Olympics – 11 in team all-around, 11 in individual all-around, 7 in vault, 10 in uneven bars, 11 in balance beam, and 12 in floor exercise. The medals include 19 golds. The U.S. has medaled in the team all-around in every Summer Olympics since 1992, winning golds in 1996, 2012, 2016, and 2024.
Eight American female gymnasts have won at least four medals at the Olympic Games the most of which was Simone Biles's tally of eleven total medal (including seven gold medals). Other top medalists include: Shannon Miller (seven), Sunisa Lee (six), Aly Raisman (six), Nastia Liukin (five), Mary Lou Retton (five), Dominique Dawes (four), and Shawn Johnson (four). [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
In 1984, Mary Lou Retton became the first American female gymnast to win the individual all-around gold medal at the Olympics. [8] She won five total medals that year in the only Olympic Games she participated in. [5]
Shannon Miller, who competed at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, won seven total Olympic medals, which was the most of any American female gymnast before the 2021 Olympics in which Simone Biles tied for the number of Olympic medals won. Miller won five medals in 1992 and added two more in 1996. [9] [3] Dominique Dawes competed at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympics, winning four medals. [6] Miller and Dawes were both members of the "Magnificent Seven", the 1996 team that became the first American squad to win the team all-around gold medal at the Olympics. The competition was highlighted by Kerri Strug sticking a vault while injured to ensure the U.S. victory. [10]
Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson won five and four medals, respectively, in 2008, the only Olympics that either one participated in. Liukin won the individual all-around gold medal, and Johnson won the balance beam gold medal. [4] [7]
In 2012, the U.S. won the team all-around for the second time. This team, which was nicknamed the "Fierce Five", featured five gymnasts who were all making their first appearance at the Olympics. [11] That year, Gabby Douglas won the gold medal in individual all-around, and Aly Raisman won the gold medal in floor exercise. [12] [13]
In 2016, the U.S. won the team all-around gold medal for the second consecutive Olympics, and the third title overall. The team was nicknamed "The Final Five" (as the team members were the last 5 who competed under Marta Karolyi) and featured the return of 2012 Olympic gold medalists Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman. It also featured newcomers Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and three-time reigning world all-around champion Simone Biles. Biles won the individual all-around, vault, and floor exercise gold medals, and also took bronze in the balance beam final. Raisman won silver medals in the all-around and floor exercise. Hernandez took the silver on the balance beam while Kocian, the reigning uneven bars world co-champion would win silver in that event. The 2016 Olympics were the most successful games to date for the United States in women's gymnastics, with four golds, four silvers, and one bronze medal overall.
For the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021 due to COVID-19), the U.S. women's team earned the team all-around silver medal. Simone Biles was the only gymnast from the previous Olympics to return to the team, but withdrew during team finals due to the twisties. Sunisa Lee became the individual all-around champion, the sixth women in the U.S. to do so and the fifth in a row. Lee also won the bronze on uneven bars, Biles a bronze on balance beam, MyKayla Skinner a silver on Vault, and Jade Carey the gold on floor.
Four U.S. Olympic gymnasts returned to the 2024 Olympics - Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Sunisa Lee. In addition, 16 year old Hezly Rivera was chosen for the team. The five won the team all-around gold medal, while Biles and Lee won the gold and bronze individual all-around medals, respectively. Biles went on to win the gold in vault and the silver in floor, while Lee won the bronze in bars, Carey the bronze on vault, and Chiles the bronze on floor finals.
Mary Lou Retton is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals.
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the Code of Points used to score performances and regulates all aspects of elite international competition. Within individual countries, gymnastics is regulated by national federations such as British Gymnastics and USA Gymnastics. Artistic gymnastics is a popular spectator sport at many competitions, including the Summer Olympic Games.
The Magnificent Seven was the 1996 United States Olympic women's gymnastics team that won the first-ever gold medal for the United States in the women's team competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The seven members of the team were Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug, Amy Chow, Jaycie Phelps, and team captain Amanda Borden. Miller, Chow, and Dawes also won an individual gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively in Atlanta. The team is perhaps best known for Strug sticking the landing of a vault to clinch the gold medal while injured.
Chellsie Marie Memmel is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2005 world all-around champion and the 2003 world champion on the uneven bars. She was a member of the United States women's gymnastics team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.
Anastasia "Nastia" Valeryevna Liukin OLY is an American former artistic gymnast. She is the 2008 Olympic all-around champion, a five-time Olympic medalist, the 2005 and 2007 World champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World champion on the uneven bars. She is also a four-time all-around U.S. national champion, winning twice as a junior and twice as a senior. With nine World Championships medals, seven of them individual, Liukin is tied with Shannon Miller for the third-highest tally of World Championship medals among U.S. gymnasts. Liukin also tied Miller's record as the American gymnast having won the most medals in a single non-boycotted Olympic Games. In October 2011, Liukin announced that she was returning to gymnastics with the hopes of making a second Olympic team. Liukin did not make the 2012 Olympic team and retired from the sport on July 2, 2012.
Kyla Briana Ross is a retired American artistic gymnast and current assistant coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team. She is the first female gymnast to win NCAA, World, and Olympic championship titles.
Alexandra Rose Raisman is an American retired artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian. She was captain of both the 2012 "Fierce Five" and 2016 "Final Five" U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics teams, which won their respective team competitions.
Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2012 Olympic all-around champion and the 2015 World all-around silver medalist. She was a member of the gold-winning teams at both the 2012 and the 2016 Summer Olympics, dubbed the "Fierce Five" and the "Final Five" by the media, respectively. She was also a member of the gold-winning American teams at the 2011 and the 2015 World Championships.
The USA Gymnastics National Championships is the annual artistic gymnastics national competition held in the United States for elite-level competition. It is currently organized by USA Gymnastics, the governing body for gymnastics in the United States. The national championships have been held since 1963.
The City of Jesolo Trophy is an annual women's gymnastics competition held in Jesolo, Italy. There are competitions for the senior division and junior division. The United States won the senior team competition from 2008, 2010 to 2017, 2019 and 2022.
MyKayla Brooke Skinner Harmer is an American former artistic gymnast. She was the 2020 Olympic vault silver medalist, competing as an individual, and was an alternate for the 2016 Olympic team. Skinner competed at the 2014 World Championships, where she contributed to the U.S. team's gold medal, also winning an individual bronze medal on vault. She won 11 total medals at the USA National Championships during her senior career. She also competed for the University of Utah's gymnastics team and was a two-time NCAA champion while also setting Pac-12 records for conference honors.
Simone Arianne Biles Owens is an American artistic gymnast. Her 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals make her the most decorated gymnast in history, and she is widely considered the greatest gymnast of all time. With 11 Olympic medals, she is tied with Věra Čáslavská as the second-most decorated female Olympic gymnast, and has the most Olympic medals earned by a U.S. gymnast.
Bailie Jaye Key is a retired American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the gold-medal-winning team at the 2014 Pacific Rim Championships and was the 2013 U.S. Junior National Champion.
Lauren Zoe Hernandez is an American retired artistic gymnast. During her debut year as a senior gymnast, she competed as a member of the U.S. women's gymnastics team dubbed the "Final Five" at the 2016 Summer Olympics that won the team gold medal. Individually, Hernandez earned the silver medal on the balance beam. She returned to training in late 2018 and expressed interest in making a comeback to earn a spot on the U.S. women's gymnastic team for the 2020 Summer Olympics, but she did not qualify for the Olympic Trials.
Jordan Lucella Elizabeth Chiles is an American artistic gymnast. She won a bronze medal in the Women’s Artistic Individual Floor and gold medal in the Women's Artistic Team All-Around at the 2024 Paris Olympics, having previously won a silver medal in the same event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She was a member of the team that won gold at the 2022 World Championships. Individually, she is 2022 World vault silver medalist and floor silver medalist. She has been a member of the United States women's national gymnastics team since 2013. In NCAA Gymnastics, Chiles competes for the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team, where she has won two Pac-12 titles and two NCAA championships.
The United States women's national artistic gymnastics team represents the United States in FIG international competitions.
The Final Five was the United States women's team in artistic gymnastics that won the team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. It was the United States' third gold medal in the event after 2012 and 1996. The five members of the team were Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman, with MyKayla Skinner, Ragan Smith, and Ashton Locklear serving as the three alternates. After the team event, Biles won a gold medal in the individual all-around event, the vault, and on floor exercise and won a bronze on the balance beam, while Raisman won silver medals in the individual all-around, and on the floor exercise, where she was the defending champion, Hernandez won silver on the balance beam, and Kocian won a silver in the uneven bars. As of 2024, the Final Five is the most decorated American Olympic gymnastics team with nine medals total.
Jade Ashtyn Carey is an American artistic gymnast. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics as an individual, and at the 2024 Summer Olympics as a member of the U.S. women's team, nicknamed the "Golden Girls".
Sunisa "Suni" Lee is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic all-around gold medalist and uneven bars bronze medalist and the 2024 Olympic all-around and uneven bars bronze medalist. She was the 2019 World Championship silver medalist on the floor and bronze medalist on uneven bars. Lee was a part of the "Golden Girls" that won gold at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She was also a member of the teams that won gold at the 2019 World Championships and silver at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is also a two-time U.S. national champion on the uneven bars. In NCAA Gymnastics, she competed for the Auburn Tigers gymnastics team, winning a SEC title on uneven bars and an NCAA championship on balance beam.