Olympian Hezly Rivera wins at U.S. gymnastics championships - ESPN

NEW ORLEANS — Hezly Rivera met the moment.

The 17-year-old Olympic gold medalist pulled away for a victory at the U.S. gymnastics championships Sunday, looking more than ready to be the standard-bearer for the women's program in the early stages of the run-up to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

Rivera, the youngest member of the five-woman team that finished atop the podium in Paris a year ago, posted a two-day total of 112.000, just eight-tenths (0.8) clear of runner-up Leanne Wong.

Three weeks after a shaky meet at the U.S. Classic, where she finished 12th, Rivera responded with the kind of polished performance that all but assured her of a spot on the four-woman world championship team that will head to Jakarta, Indonesia, in October.

Rivera locked up a spot in the world championship selection camp next month. So did Wong, a four-time world championship medalist. Third-place finisher Joscelyn Roberson, an Olympic alternate last summer, also figures to be at the selection camp as the three veterans put significant distance between themselves and the rest of a remarkably young field.

Unlike Asher Hong's easy win in the men's competition Saturday, things did not come easily for Rivera. She was pushed through four rotations by Wong, a pre-med student at Florida and a budding entrepreneur who has been remarkably consistent over the past four-plus years.

Wong put pressure on Rivera from the start and didn't relent for two hours. Rivera responded each time — she posted the top scores on three of the four events — but it wasn't until she walked off the podium after her floor routine with victory in hand that she could relax.

Roberson looked ready to make it a three-woman race until she tweaked her ankle on the floor exercise