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Why Simone Biles, Suni Lee, and Gabby Douglas' Upcoming Gymnastics Competition Is a Must-See Event
The winner of the 2024 Core Hydration Classic All-Around event automatically earns a spot on Team USA.
The 2024 Olympics could see Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, and Suni Lee make history — but only if they make Team USA.
The gymnasts, all of whom have taken the gold in the All-Around event at past Olympic Games, will be competing at the 2024 Core Hydration Classic in Hartford, Connecticut. this weekend. This will be the first-ever competition to feature three All-Around gold medalists, according to NBC Sports, making it a must-see event.
Additional competitors include Olympians Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles, as well as Team USA contender Shilese Jones.
The results of the competition are pivotal, as the winner of the Classic's All-Around event will automatically earn a spot on Team USA and compete at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
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A Potentially Historic Team
With the 2024 Summer Games just around the corner, the pressure is mounting on the gymnasts to deliver — a fact that is not lost on Olympian Jordan Chiles, who took home the silver medal in the Team event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"This is gonna be the hardest anybody’s ever gonna make, having that much talent,” Chiles told Olympics.com. “Having, obviously, three Olympic all-arounders (Biles, Lee, and Douglas), World champions and an Olympic team coming back from college, it’s going to be a tough team to make."
If Biles, Lee, and Douglas all nab a spot on Team USA, they would make history since no Olympics team has featured more than one previous All-Around gold medalist. Having three on the same squad would be truly bonkers.
"I don’t think there’s anything that would ever compare to [all three making the team],” 2008 All-Around gold-medalist Nastia Lukin explained to Olympics.com.
The only team that could compare would be the 1992 Dream Team, which included NBA greats Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and Magic Johnson. However, Nastia said, "Sure, the [1992] Dream Team, it was the absolute greatest of greats. I think that is what this is, but what it makes it even more unique and different is that … it is only one person every four years."
"It would be one of those things where all the stars are just aligning because it’s hard enough for one person that is coming back four years later who was just on an Olympic team to make that next one, but to have three of them, if all three of them made it, that would be remarkable," added 2004 All-Around gold-medalist Carly Patterson.
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But even if this Dream Trio doesn't come to fruition, this year's Games could see the first all-Black team of gymnasts compete. There are currently 27 women on the U.S. Senior National Team and a third of them are Black, including Biles, Douglas, and Chiles. Though the odds of this happening are slim, athletes like Chiles acknowledge how big this would be for the sport.
"It would mean the world, it would mean that no matter where we go, there’s always gonna be history," Chiles said. "It would mean that not only has the culture of our sport changed, but it definitely will give a perspective of [that] the changes [are] coming even more."
Of course, there are still multiple hurdles to overcome, one of them being the Core Hydration Classic.
Where to Watch the Core Hydration Classic
To see who takes first place in the All-Around event, be sure to tune in to the Core Hydration Classic, airing on CNBC and Peacock May 18. A rerun of the session will be available to watch on NBC on May 19.
Schedule (Times are Eastern and subject to change):
Saturday, May 18th – Senior Women Session 2 – CNBC and Peacock LIVE – 7:00-9:00 p.m. ET
Sunday, May 19th – Senior Women Session 2 rerun – NBC (re-air) – 2:00-3:00 p.m ET
Be sure to watch live coverage of the Opening Ceremony on Friday, July 26, on NBC and Peacock beginning at 12 p.m. ET. Telemundo will provide Spanish-language coverage beginning at 1 p.m. ET. Primetime coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and Peacock.
