Jade Carey's Flawless Floor Routine Wins Gold at Tokyo

Jade Carey is officially an Olympic gold medalist!

After nailing her floor routine and earning a score of 14.366, Carey clinched first place. Italy's Vanessa Ferrari received silver and Angelina Melnikova of the Russian Olympic Committee earned bronze. "This is all we've ever dreamed of," Carey, who's coached by her dad, Brian, told reporters. "It's really special to be able to get this medal with him out there by my side."

The 21-year-old's success comes after she was tasked with taking the place of Simone Biles in the floor individual all-around event. Biles withdrew from the competition in Tokyo due to mental health issues. However, she's set to return on August 3 in the beam exercise.

"Olympic Gold Medalist," Carey wrote in an Instagram caption. "Words can’t even begin to describe how I am feeling right now. Dreams do come true🌟 I am proud of myself for bouncing back and giving it my all. Thank you so much for the love and support."

Other Team USA gymnastics accolades include MyKayla Skinner's silver medal in vault and Suni Lee's bronze in uneven bars and gold in the individual all-around. She is the first Hmong American gymnast to compete at the Games. As a whole, the gymnastics team also earned a silver medal.

Though the team was favored to win gold for the third time in a row, Biles's unexpected withdrawal from the competition set the group back. Biles only competed in vault, earning a 13.766 and putting them one point behind the Russian team. Jordan Chiles took the GOAT's place for the remaining bar and balance beam routines. Lee would go on to earn a career high score of 15.4 on bars.

In the end, with a total score of 166.096, Team USA came in second. The Russian Olympic Committee took home the gold, with Great Britain earning bronze.

For years, the U.S. has developed an impressive athletic roster, with the women's gymnastics team earning gold at the last two Games and gold in the last four all-around events. The team's Olympic journey kicked off on July 23, when after being unable to participate in the Opening Ceremony, they created their own at the Olympic village. While answering fan questions on her Instagram stories, Biles revealed why they stayed back.

"1) COVID... 2) The amount of standing is crazy. USA is usually at the end as well because alphabetical 3) We start the following day so it wouldn't be smart 4)We've actually never attended opening I believe," she wrote.

However, she did add that the team threw their own ceremonies back where they're staying at the Olympic village. In a sweet clip of the moment, men's team member Sam Mikulak is seen leading the crew as the unofficial flag bearer.

Keeping Biles's first point in mind, on July 19, USA Gymnastics announced that alternate Kara Eaker tested positive for COVID-19 while at the Olympic training camp in Japan—the first American athlete to test positive for the coronavirus since arriving in Tokyo. The New York Times reports that Eaker was vaccinated before contacting the virus. A second alternate, Leanne Wong, was placed in isolation due to contact tracing. Wong previously revealed that she did not get the vaccine. Both were quarantined for 10-14 days.

The women's U.S. team has two other alternates: Emma Malabuyo and Kayla DiCello. "Accordingly, on Monday, the Olympic athletes moved to separate lodging accommodations and a separate training facility, as originally planned, and will continue their preparation for the Games," the USAG said in a statement. "The entire delegation continues to be vigilant and will maintain strict protocols while they are in Tokyo."

No other star qualifying team members like Lee or Jordan Chiles have tested positive. Below, learn more about the athletes competing in the team and individual events. And to keep you in the know, we've also included a schedule of when you can watch these powerhouses on NBC in the coming weeks.

Olympic Women's Gymnastics Schedule

Tuesday, August 3

• 4:00 a.m. EST - Women's Event Finals, Beam

The 2020 USA Women's Gymnastics Team

Jade Carey

Age: 21

Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona

Instagram: @jadecareyy

After Carey's scores at April 2020's World Cup series earned her an offer on the Olympic gymnastics teams as an individual, the athlete finally accepted the position in June. Carey is a four-time world championship gymnast, with her best events being in floor and vault. She's currently a freshman at Oregon State University.

Simone Biles

Age: 24

Hometown: Spring, Texas

Instagram: @simonebiles

Tokyo marks Biles's second Olympics after she took home five medals in Rio, including gold in women's all-around and the team competition. Now, as she returns to the games to lead the women's team, she has 25 world medals and a record-breaking seven all-around national titles to her name. All eyes will be on the GOAT when it comes to her anticipated double-twisting double flip dismount off beam.

Biles trains under coaches Cecile and Laurent Landi at Texas's World Champions Centre, a gym owned by her parents. She's currently dating Houstan Texans safety, Jonathan Owens.

Sunisa "Suni" Lee

Age: 18

Hometown: St. Paul, Minnesota

Instagram: @sunisalee

After Lee placed silver at the Olympic trials, guaranteeing her a spot on the women's team, she officially became the first Hmong American gymnast to represent the U.S. (Lee's parents emigrated from Laos.)

Her strongest event is uneven bars, while the beam is her favorite. However Lee, who's headed to Auburn University this fall, overcame e a number of personal struggles leading up to the Olympics. In 2019, just days before competing in the national championships, her father fell from a ladder and became paralyzed from the chest down. Lee still competed and earned second place behind Biles.

And in 2020, the gymnast not only suffered an ankle injury, but lost her aunt and uncle within two weeks of each other to COVID-19. “Her abilities as a gymnast, especially her bar routine, are incredible,” former Olympic gymnast, Nastia Liukin, said about Lee. “But it’s the unparalleled mental strength that she has shown during the most difficult time of her life that make her the person she is.”

Jordan Chiles

Age: 20

Hometown: Spring, Texas

Instagram: @jordanchiles

Originally from Washington State, Chiles's gymnastics career hit its peak when she earned silver in the national championships all-around competition. But after not being selected to compete in the world championships that year, and later placing 11th at the 2018 nationals, Chiles nearly quit the sport. Until Simone Biles came in. The fellow gymnast invited Chiles to join her team in Texas.

“Laurent and Cecile brought back the love of the sport for me–because it was gone,” she told NBC Sports when talking about her new coaches. “They’ve given me so much encouragement. I didn’t get that too much in the past. I just thank them all the time.”

Chiles, who has four siblings and is headed to UCLA as a freshman this fall, will experience her first-ever Olympics. Keep an eye out for her vault and floor routines.

Grace McCallum

Age: 18

Hometown: Isanti, Minnesota

Instagram: @grace.mccallum

Despite breaking her hand and undergoing surgery in January, the USA Gymnastics's official Olympic selection committee report claimed that McCallum's "consistency and resilience" earned her the fourth and final spot on the U.S. women's team. McCallum was on the World Championship team in both 2018 and 2019, and will be attending the University of Utah in the fall.

MyKayla Skinner

Age: 24

Hometown: Gilbert, Arizona

Instagram: @mykaylaskinner2016

After serving as an alternate during the 2016 Rio games, Skinner returned to the Olympics. But this time, she competed as an individual, marking the first time the games has allowed both team and solo athletes to represent them at the Olympics.

Skinner was a star college gymnast at the University of Utah, earning two NCAA titles. In July she announced she'd be going pro and retiring from collegiate gymnastics after Tokyo, though she will return to finish her senior year. She married her husband, Jonas Harmer, in November 2019.

Alternates

The following gymnasts traveled to Tokyo in the event one of the existing U.S. Women's team members is unable to compete: Leanne Wong, 17; Kara Eaker, 18; Emma Malabuyo, 18; Kayla DiCello, 17.

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