On Monday, Kyla Ross announced via her Instagram and Twitter pages, that she will not try to make her second Olympic Team this summer. Ross was the youngest member of the "Fierce Five" the 2012 Olympic Team that won the first Olympic Team Gold Medal in Ross' lifetime. After qualifying to the elite level in 2009, she won USA Junior All Around Titles in 2009 and 2010, while winning silver to future UCLA teammate Katelyn Ohashi in 2011. Ross joined the senior ranks in 2012, and was considered a strong contender for the Olympic team right away. That summer, Ross finished fourth All Around and second on Bars at Nationals, before finishing fifth All Around and winning Bars at the Olympic Trials and being named to the Olympic Team. In London, Ross was the start-up gymnast on bars and beam in both the Qualifying Competition and Team Finals, helping the U.S. win it's first Team Gold Medal since 1996.
After the Olympics, Ross took no time off, winning the Silver Medal in the All Around at her first World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. The next year, Ross followed that silver medal up with a Bronze in the All Around, while winning another Team Gold with the United States. Early in 2015, Ross announced her commitment to the University of California, Los Angeles, which she deferred admissions until after the 2016 Olympic Games. However, the 2015 competitive season was a rough one for Ross, as she stumbled both days on bars, and fell on floor on Night 1, while having subpar performances on almost every event at the 2015 P&G National Championships in Indianapolis. She was later not named to the World Championships Team.
Ross' retirement from elite competition was slightly unexpected, as she attended a National Team Training Camp less than a month before the announcement. However, Ross declared after that camp that her heart wasn't in it the same way it had been.
Mckayla Maroney Moves On
On February 29, it was announced that Amelia Hundley from Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy would replace the injured Nia Dennis at the Stuttgart World Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, held from March 8-10. Hundley, who will replace Dennis after the later tore her achilles tendon last week, has been on the National Team since 2011 and has been a fan-favorite for almost as long. Hundley became a senior in 2014, and after a strong Pan American Championships and National Championships last summer, had to withdraw from the Worlds Selection Camp with a knee injury. We are excited to see Hundley compete in Stuttgart, where she should be in competition with Ellie Downie for the gold.
March American Assignments Handed Out
USA Gymnastics announced that 4 junior gymnasts, Jordan Chiles, Emma Malabuyo, Gabby Perea, and Deanne Soza, were selected to represent the United States at the Gymnix Invitational in Montreal, Canada this weekend. Chiles is the only gymnast with international experience of the group, having competed in Jesolo, Italy in 2014. Malabuyo and Soza were added to the National Team specifically for this meet, and Perea was added to the National Team in August after finishing seventh in the All Around. Chiles and Soza are set to become seniors next season, with Malabuyo and Perea will be forced to wait until 2018 to become seniors.
Also confirmed were the assignments of Gabby Douglas and Maggie Nichols, who will compete in Newark this weekend at the 2016 American Cup, MyKayla Skinner, who will compete at the Glasgow World Cup, and Amelia Hundley will compete in Stuttgart.
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