USA Gymnastics Announces Spring Assignments; Suni Lee Absent

Per a press release from USA Gymnastics:

U.S. men’s and women’s artistic programs announce spring international assignments

Following the 2024 Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky, USA Gymnastics on Tuesday announced the U.S. men’s and women’s artistic athletes selected for several international competitions this spring.

Baku World Cup/Doha World Cup

The U.S. roster for the FIG Baku Apparatus World Cup March 7-10 includes 2021 World gold medalist Stephen Nedoroscik and 2024 Winter Cup pommel horse champion Patrick Hoopes on the men’s side. 2023 Pan American Games competitor Katelyn Jong is joined in women’s competition by Reese Esponda, who is making her international debut.

Nedoroscik and 2023 Pan American Games team and parallel bars champion Curran Phillips will also represent the U.S. at the 2024 Doha World Cup April 17-20 in Doha, Qatar, in apparatus competition.

DTB Pokal Team Challenge and Mixed Cup

15 athletes will compete for the U.S. at the 2024 DTB Pokal Team Challenge and Mixed Cup March 15-17 in Stuttgart, Germany. Headlining the senior men are Olympians and 2024 Winter Cup all-around champion Yul Moldauer and silver medalist Shane Wiskus. Completing the team are 2024 Winter Cup all-around bronze medalist Riley Loos, 2023 Pan American Games team champion Cameron Bock, and Phillips.

The junior men’s team will feature 2024 Winter Cup floor exercise bronze medalist Sasha Bogonosiuk, still rings champion Adam Lakomy, all-around bronze medalist Kiran Mandava, 2024 Winter Cup parallel bars champion and all-around silver medalist Nathan Roman and Hasan Aydogdu.

Fuzzy Benas and Kai Uemura will represent the men in the Mixed Cup portion of the competition alongside women’s artistic athletes Dulcy Caylor, Addison Fatta and Nola Matthews.

International Gymnix

Four junior women’s gymnasts will be in Montreal, Canada, for the 2024 International Gymnix March 9-10, being held for the first time since 2020. 2023 Winter Cup junior all-around champion Claire Pease will lead a four-athlete roster that includes 2023 Winter Cup all-around silver medalist Lavi Crain and bronze medalists Addy Fulcher and Tyler Turner.

Athletes will vie for team all-around and event titles over two days of competition.

Spring 2024 USA Gymnastics International Assignments

Participants for the 2024 Pacific Rim Championships and the City of Jesolo Trophy will be named later in the season. All competing gymnasts are listed below by event.

Baku World Cup, March 7-10

• Reese Esponda — Missoula, Mon./Roots Gymnastics
• Patrick Hoopes — Lehi, Utah/U.S. Air Force Academy
• Katelyn Jong — Allen, Texas/Metroplex Gymnastics
• Stephen Nedoroscik — Worcester, Mass./EVO Gymnastics

International Gymnix, March 9-10

• Lavi Crain — Blue Springs, Mo./ Great American Gymnastics Express
• Addy Fulcher — Gastonia, N.C./Bull City Gymnastics
• Claire Pease — Sunnyvale, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics
• Tyler Turner — San Jose, Calif./Airborne Gymnastics Training Center

DTB Pokal Team Challenge and Mixed Cup, March 15-17

• Hasan Aydogdu — Carlstadt, N.J./Meadowlands Gymnastics Academy
• Fuzzy Benas — Richmond, Texas/University of Oklahoma
• Cameron Bock — Tustin, Calif./University of Michigan
• Sasha Bogonosiuk — Buffalo Grove, Ill./Gymkhana Gymnastics
• Dulcy Caylor — Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre
• Addison Fatta — Wrightsville, Pa./Prestige Gymnastics
• Adam Lakomy — Roselle Park, N.J./Sunburst Gymnastics Training Center
• Riley Loos — Folsom, Calif./Stanford University
• Kiran Mandava — Cypress, Texas/Cypress Academy
• Nola Matthews — Gilroy, Calif./Airborne Gymnastics Training Center
• Yul Moldauer — Arvada, Colo./5280 Gymnastics
• Curran Phillips — Naperville, Ill./EVO Gymnastics
• Nathan Roman — Poway, Calif./Agility
• Shane Wiskus — Spring Park, Minn./EVO Gymnastics
• Kai Uemura — Chicago, Ill./Lakeshore Academy of Art Gymnastics

Doha World Cup, April 17-20

• Stephen Nedoroscik — Worcester, Mass./EVO Gymnastics
• Curran Phillips — Naperville, Ill./EVO Gymnastics

Notably absent from the list is Olympic All-Around Champion Suni Lee, who had hoped to go to Baku for the chance to compete and have the full-twisting Jaeger named after her.

This was our take following Winter Cup:

 Even Olympic Champs Have Bad Days…

After all that 2020 Olympic Champ Suni Lee has endured over the last year, it’s remarkable that she’s even back on the competition floor and on a path to challenge for a spot on the 2024 Olympic team. After a kidney illness cut her NCAA season short at Auburn last year, Lee has been on a roller coaster of a ride. At one point, swelling from her illness was so bad that the uneven bars great couldn’t even get in her grips to chalk up. She also found herself battling not only the physical ailments of the illness, but the mental anguish that comes along with it that resulted in some depression. Just to make it back to a competitive level is an achievement. But Lee not only made it back, she learned new skills along the way, including a full twisting Jaeger release on uneven bars that will be named for her if she completes it in a World Cup or the Olympics.

In podium training at Winter Cup, Lee was looking confident and sharp as she landed skill after skill and did it with her typical polish and style. But in competition, she struggled. Two falls on uneven bars followed by another on beam left the Olympic Champ looking temporarily dismayed and audiences stunned. We wish everyone could have seen her in podium training to know just how sharp she actually looks and to know that the potential to make this 2024 Olympic team is absolutely, without a doubt, a real possibility.

But the day reminded us that even the greatest athletes in the world are, indeed, human. How she responds is the true mark of a champion and Lee is already putting the meet into perspective and moving forward.

“It obviously wasn’t what I wanted, but in all honesty, I think that it’s good that it happened here rather than somewhere else. Like, you can’t get anywhere without failing,” she said.

For athletes of all ages and levels, this is an important reminder. We all have bad days, even the defending Olympic Champion. But how we brush ourselves off and pick up the pieces is how we’ll make our mark – a sentiment echoed by her coach Jess Graba following the meet who noted even an Olympic Champion makes mistakes.

“It’s just a day. This is a day. I told her after she came off, ‘You’re not going to make this without making mistakes.’ … She’s doing stuff that nobody else has ever done, and so how do you expect to go out here and not make a mistake?”

With time, continued healing and a focus on her overall health, we have no doubt Lee will be back and a contender for this team. Count on it.

Beautiful full twisting Jaeger from Suni!!! #WinterCup pic.twitter.com/h3XM2CGX9U

— Inside Gymnastics (@InsideGym) February 23, 2024

Photos by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics 

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