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All About 24-Year-Old Gymnast Jade Carey and Her Journey to the Olympics
The powerhouse gymnast and Tokyo 2020 gold medalist is back in action for Paris 2024.
Jade Carey, the dynamic force in American gymnastics, is again turning heads as she vaults towards new heights at Paris 2024.
At 24, the Olympian made a name for herself by earning a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Known for her powerhouse performances and determination, Carey isn't just aiming for gold — she's redefining what it means to be a champion.
A small amount of gymnasts begin competing at the highest levels as early as 12. But Carey started competing at a high level when she was 17. In 2017, her first year competing at the senior elite level, Carey went from being almost unknown to earning two silver medals at the world championships, per NBC Olympics.
According to OregonLive, Carey is the sixth-most decorated U.S. female gymnast. She is a two-time world medalist and a four-time national silver medalist. In the vault, Carey clinched the 2022 World Championship. She has defied traditional expectations by competing in college gymnastics for Oregon State while continuing to excel in elite international competitions.
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Her Stats
At 5'2", Carey is small but mighty on the vault, a testament to her years of dedication and training. The gold medalist started gymnastics in 2001, a natural progression given her parents owned a gym where she spent much of her childhood playing on the equipment.
Carey, whose parents are Danielle Greenberg and Brian Carey, committed to Oregon State University at 14 and was drawn to the family-like feeling she sensed when she stepped on campus. Later that year, in July 2023, Brian Carey was employed as an assistant coach at Oregon State University after often dropping by to support Jade in her preparation for premier events, per NBC Olympics.
Carey was voted Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year in 2022 and 2023 and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2022. The Olympian also became a Honda Award finalist three years in a row (2022, 2023, and 2024). She earned gold medals in vault and floor exercises for the American team and individually at the 2018 Pan American Championships.
Carey finished second in the all-around and floor exercises at the 2024 NCAA Championships and third on the balance beam. She won three medals in the 2022 World Championships: gold with the American team, gold on vault, and bronze in floor exercise. Carey won the American Classic all-around title shortly after the NCAA season finished in 2024.
Despite having only three days to train after returning from the NCAA Championships, she performed admirably, earning the highest all-around score (55.000) and the highest marks on vault (14.200) and floor (13.750).
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Her Accomplishments
According to NBC Olympics, Carey is among the few females to have attempted a triple-double.
Among the elite few is Simone Biles, who became an Olympic legend when she did a tucked triple-double — two flips with three twists in a tucked position — on the floor for the first time at the 2019 U.S. Championships. Carey joined Biles in attempting the feat during her podium preparation for the 2021 U.S. Championships, demonstrating an even more challenging version of the trick, raising the bar again.
While she never did the tucked triple-double in competition, her training efforts were nevertheless well admired. Moreover, in the Level 10 Code of Points, which is just below elite, there is a skill named for Carey — a tucked Kasamatsu full-on vault.
During her NCAA career, Carey completed the coveted ‘Gym Slam’ by earning perfect 10s in all four gymnastics disciplines. She scored two 10s on vault, two on uneven bars, one on balancing beam, and six on floor exercise. Carey is just the 13th gymnast in NCAA history to get a perfect 10 in all events, according to NBC Olympics.
Carey's experience in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was both tough and triumphant. Carey stayed committed despite a setback in the vault final, when she slid on her first attempt, jeopardizing her chances of winning gold. Hours later, she recovered with passion and accuracy to win the gold medal in the floor exercise.
“I often look back and remember that moment because it reminds me how strong I am and that nothing really defines you,” Carey told ELLE during an interview ahead of the Summer Games. “You can have a bad day, a bad year, a bad few weeks, but you can still bounce back and be who you are. It’s just reminding myself that I never left, and I’m still here, and that I can be as good as I was.”
Looking forward to the upcoming challenges, Carey expressed her aspirations for team success at Paris 2024 to ELLE.
“Winning team gold would mean a lot to us girls who do make the team, because we want to show that we’re stronger than we were before.”
