[TECH AND FINANCIAL]
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – FEBRUARY 24: Jayla Hang competes in the Beam during the Senior Women … More
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U.S. gymnast Jayla Hang won all-around gold at Friday’s Pan American Gymnastics Championships in Panama City, Panama. Canadian challenger Lia Fontaine won silver, and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Hezly Rivera claimed bronze.
A second-year senior on the U.S. National Team, Hang’s win prolongs a stellar start to the 2025 season. In addition to winning silver at the U.S. Winter Cup in February, the 17-year-old claimed gold on floor exercise, silver on beam, and bronze on vault at the 2025 Osijek World Cup.
Hang put together an impressive effort during Friday’s joint-team qualification and all-around final. The future Florida Gator delivered the top scores on uneven bars and floor exercise, helping Team USA qualify in first for Saturday’s team final and qualifying for all four individual event finals.
Her total score marks the highest score at a continental championships in 2025. With her result at today’s meet, Hang is in contention for a spot on the team headed to the 2025 World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia.
While the Washington native ran away with the all-around title, many expected 2024 Olympic team gold medalist Hezly Rivera to challenge for the win.
Though Rivera was strong on balance beam and floor, posting the highest mark on beam and the third-best on floor, a disastrous bar routine took the Olympian out of the gold medal race.
Rivera incurred two falls on her routine, resulting in an automatic two-point deduction. Despite the disappointing bar routine, Rivera claimed bronze in the all-around and will compete for gold in the balance beam final.
U.S. teammate Dulcy Caylor was just behind Rivera in the all-around, finishing fourth before the two-per-country rule. Caylor, a finalist at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, posted the highest U.S. score on vault, but will not participate in the apparatus final due to not competing a second vault.
First-year senior Gabrielle Hardie delivered a nearly error-free effort across her three events on Friday. The 2024 U.S. junior silver medalist impressed with superior execution, qualifying for the event finals on balance beam and floor.
After tweaking her ankle in training, 2024 Olympic alternate Tiana Sumanasekera was limited only to beam in Panama City. Though she missed the event final due to the two-per-country rule, Sumanasekera delivered a strong performance to finish third on the event in qualifying.
Next Up: Team Finals
The U.S. men and women enter Saturday’s team finals as the top qualifiers. On Thursday, former Penn State gymnast Joshua Karnes clinched silver in the men’s all-around behind Canadian Olympian Félix Dolci.
The men will take to the floor at 9:30 a.m. ET, and the women later at 2:30 p.m. The Panam Sports Channel will live-stream all events.
[NEWS]
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