Skye Blakely is back on the world stage.
Fifteen months after a torn Achilles ended her hopes of competing at the Paris Olympics, Blakely made the U.S. women’s team for the world gymnastics championships later this month. Blakely was named to the team Wednesday along with Paris alternates Josc Roberson and Leanne Wong.
Dulcy Caylor automatically qualified for the four-woman team by posting the highest score in the all-around Tuesday at the selection camp.
The world championships are Oct. 19-25 in Jakarta, Indonesia. There is no team competition at these worlds, only all-around and event titles at stake.
Here’s what we learned from the selection camp:
Skye Blakely still has it
Blakely had the two top non-vault scores during the two-day selection camp, posting a 14.450 on uneven bars and a 14.05 on balance beam Wednesday. The only other score above 14 on an event other than vault was Sullivan’s 14.0 on uneven bars, also Wednesday.
(Vault scores are always higher because there is only one element to judge.)
A member of both the 2022 and 2023 teams that won gold at the world championships, Blakely was considered a shoo-in for Paris after finishing second, aka first in the non-Simone division, at the U.S. championships last year. But she tore her Achilles during training the day before the Olympic trials began.
Blakely had surgery shortly after, and was healthy enough to do NCAA gymnastics in mid-January.
She’s been intentional with her comeback, sticking to uneven bars and balance beam in both NCAA and elite competition. Blakely’s first elite-level meet was the national championships in August, where she tied for the highest score on uneven bars and finished second on balance beam.
Now she’s headed back to the world championships.
U.S. sending veteran team to world championships
Of the four team members, Dulcy Caylor is the only one who hasn’t already been to a world championships.
Wong is the most veteran of the group, a member of three previous world teams. She and Blakely were both on the 2022 and 2023 squads that won gold, and Wong also was on the world team in 2021, the last time when only individual events were contested. Wong was second in the all-around in 2021 and won a bronze medal on floor exercise.
Josc Roberson won gold with the U.S. team in 2023. She’d qualified for the vault final, but was unable to compete after injuring her ankle during warmups ahead of the team competition.
Dulcy Caylor a surprise all-around winner
Caylor probably figured her best shot at making the world team was as an event specialist.
After all, she was eighth in the all-around at the U.S. championships in August. But injuries to Paris Olympian Hezly Rivera and 2024 U.S. junior champion Claire Pease gave Caylor an opportunity and she took it.
Caylor had the highest score in the all-around Tuesday, earning her the automatic spot on the four-woman world team. Her score of 55.250 edged Wong (55.05) and Roberson (54.9).
‘I don’t know if I can put it into words,’ a tearful Caylor said afterward, according to Olympics.com. ‘I had absolutely no clue, and I am just so grateful. This is a dream come true, really.’
