What Jordan Chiles said after Jade Carey was named Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year
The competition for Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year was fierce this season, particularly between Olympians Jade Carey of Oregon State and Jordan Chiles of UCLA.
Carey and Chiles were arguably the two best all-around gymnasts in the country during the just-concluded 2023 regular season, as the national qualifying score system has Carey as the top all-around gymnast in the NCAA, while Chiles comes in at No. 2.
Chiles does have the highest single meet all-around score this season, though, a 39.900 (Carey’s season high isn’t far off at 39.875).
On Tuesday, the Pac-12 announced its all-conference honors and annual awards, and for the second consecutive season Carey was named Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year.
Chiles wasted little time congratulating Carey, whom she competed alongside at the Tokyo Olympics (Chiles won a silver medal with the four-woman U.S. team, while Carey won an individual gold medal on floor).
Chiles wrote on Twitter: “To everyone that said I should have gotten PAC-12 Gymnast of the Year, I thank you but no one can control what happens. I am beyond proud of (Jade Carey), because she deserves this award, and I would like to say continue to shine big and always be great.”
Chiles has announced that she will not be returning to UCLA for the 2024 season and will instead take a year to train explicitly for the Paris Olympic Games.
Carey has yet to make any decision public yet, but she trained with USA Gymnastics last summer alongside Chiles and Florida’s Leanne Wong.
Auburn’s Suni Lee announced in November that the current 2023 NCAA season will be her final collegiate one (like Chiles, she will train on her own with the intention of competing at the Paris Olympics in 2024).
Chiles and Lee will both be competing for their teams next week at the Los Angeles NCAA Regional, while Carey and Oregon State will be competing at the Denver Regional.
