USA gymnastics lineup: Why Hezly Rivera won't participate in 2024 Olympics team final

Hezly Rivera won the wide-open competition for the fifth spot on the USA's women's gymnastics team for the 2024 Olympics with a strong showing at the U.S. Olympic trials in June.

Rivera gave the Americans a well-rounded fifth for a star-studded team that featured reigning Olympic medalists Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chile and Jade Carey. Many believed the 16-year-old gymnast's solid scores on the bars and beam would give her a chance to contribute in either discipline during the women's team final.

Instead, Rivera seems poised to sit out the team final — barring a last-minute injury to one of the four gymnasts on the roster.

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Why Hezly Rivera won't participate in 2024 Olympics team final

USA Gymnastics announced its lineup Monday for each apparatus at the 2024 team competition. The team could put three of its five gymnasts in each event, but Rivera wasn't chosen as a participant in any of them.

Rivera only competed on two apparatuses during qualifying. She finished 20th or worse in each event.

Comparatively, Lee, Chiles and Biles all finished 14th or better in those two events. Team USA likely chose those three for the bars and beam because they had a significant edge over Rivera.

Carey was dealt a similar hand to Rivera. The 2021 Olympian will participate in just one event — the vault — after participating in two events during qualifying. She did well on the vault — ranking third among competitors — but finished with the second-lowest score on the floor despite being the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the floor exercises.

Of course, it's worth noting that Carey suffered a fall on the floor during qualifying that left her among the lowest scorers on the apparatus. She also admitted she hadn't been feeling well in the days leading up to qualifying, so perhaps the United States is just trying to lessen her workload for the event.

Either way, Rivera and Carey combining to participate in one event means that Team USA will be relying heavily on Biles, Chiles and Lee to carry it to victory. The trio earned three of the top four spots in all-around qualifying Sunday, so they should have a chance to return the USA to its gold standard.

MORE: Full gymnastics results from men's, women's team and individual finals

USA women's gymnastics team final lineup

Team USA will rely almost exclusively on Biles, Chiles and Lee during the 2024 Olympics' women's team competition. Biles and Chiles will perform on all four apparatuses while Lee will perform on three.

Here's a full look at their lineup and order for Tuesday's competition:

The U.S. is evidently planning to use its strongest competitor last on each apparatus. That's why Biles will go last on each event save for the uneven bars, which is Lee's specialty.

Chiles will mostly serve as Team USA's opener, but she will get a chance to go between Lee and Biles during her floor routine. Chiles qualified behind Lee in every event save for the floor exercises, so it seems like the United States based its lineup and order off Sunday's results.

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USA women's gymnastics qualifying results

The United States women's gymnastics team was the top qualifying team on Sunday. Three of their five gymnasts earned top-four all-around finishes thanks to strong, well-rounded performances on each apparatus.

The USA could only compete four gymnasts on each apparatus, so Carey and Rivera sat out their two weaker events.

Below is a look at the finishes of Team USA's five gymnasts in each event.

Simone Biles

Suni Lee

Jordan Chiles

Jade Carey

Hezly Rivera