Five Things to Know About Plano Teen and Olympic Gymnast Hezly Rivera

Hezly Rivera, a 16-year-old from Plano, became the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic team at the gymnastics trials in Minneapolis, where it was announced Sunday night that she would join the five-woman squad.

Here are five things to know about Rivera:

Where does she train?

Originally from Oradell, New Jersey, Rivera trained under Maggie Haney, who is currently serving a five-year suspension from USA Gymnastics for verbal and emotional abuse of athletes. Haney coached Laurie Hernandez, a 2016 Olympic gymnast. Rivera and her family moved to Texas and she now trains at WOGA (World Olympics Gymnastics Academy) in Plano.

Notable former Olympic gymnasts such as Carly Patterson (2004 all-around gold medalist), Nastia Liukin (2008 all-around gold medalist), Madison Kocian, Hollie Vise and Ivana Hong have also trained at WOGA. Rivera is under the tutelage of Valeri Liukin, who coached her daughter Nastia.

Past achievements?

Over the past 18 months, Rivera has won two major first-place all-around titles as a junior. Most recently, in 2023, she won all-around gold at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in San Jose, California. She scored 52.000 in the finals.

At the 2023 Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky, she won another all-around title with a score of 53.350.

Who did Rivera train with?

Not only is Rivera’s coach the father and coach of Olympic gymnastics star Nastia Liukin, but Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas has been training with Liukin at WOGA for nearly a year and a half. Douglas won gold at the 2012 London Olympics, meaning Rivera is training with the best of the best.

When did she make her international debut?

In 2022, Rivera competed at the DTB Pokal Cup in Stuttgart, Germany. She helped the United States claim the top spot on the podium, ahead of Italy and Australia.

From Germany, she has competed in two international competitions. In 2023, she was part of the U.S. team that won silver at the World Junior Championships in Turkey. Earlier this year, she won team bronze at the Jesolo Trophy in Italy and narrowly missed a podium finish on uneven bars.

What are the best events in Rivera?

Rivera excels on the uneven bars and beam. On the bars, her difficulty rating of 6.1 allows her to score over 14.000 when she lands a clean routine. She can also score between 13 and 14 on the beam with a difficulty rating of just 6.0.

On Sunday at the Olympic trials, Rivera tied for first in both events with a score of 14.300 on bars and 14.275 on beam.

Rivera will join veteran gymnasts Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey in Paris later this month.

Find more Olympic coverage in the Dallas Morning News here.