ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Reese Esponda has the ultimate hype woman.
The messages when she’s at competitions are frequent. Some tell her she’s good enough and to trust her talent. Others remind her to enjoy the moment because what she’s doing is pretty special.
That kind of encouragement would make anyone feel good. When it comes from Simone Biles, it hits even harder.
“It’s really cool,” said Esponda, who trains at World Champions Centre, the gym Biles’ family owns. “She’s the Greatest of All Time. Knowing that I have her supporting me and telling me I’m good enough, I think I should trust myself and know that I’m good enough, too.”
Watch Gymnastics World Championship Finals on Peacock!
The rest of the world is now seeing what Biles has long known.
Esponda qualified first for the floor final at the world gymnastics championships, posting the highest score in the first qualifying session and seeing it stand up even as judging got more generous in the remaining nine subdivisions.
This despite Esponda having to change her floor routine days before the competition began after learning one of her skills wasn’t going to get the value she expected.
“She is so powerful and the way she’s doing gymnastics looks really effortless,” Biles told USA TODAY Sports before the world championships.
“But obviously there’s a lot of work that she’s had to put behind that.”
What Simone Biles saw in Reese Esponda before the rest of the gymnastics world
The U.S. women carry the weight at these worlds of both trying to qualify for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and extend their 15-year winning streak. That could overwhelm a team as inexperienced as this one, with Skye Blakely the only gymnast who’s competed at a team world championships before.
But if Esponda is feeling any pressure, she’s not showing it. As the U.S. women moved between events during qualifying, Esponda was dancing and waving to people in the stands. She and Charleigh Bullock could be heard above the arena din cheering for their teammates.
She and Bullock also are making TikToks every night. Esponda even got Valeri Liukin, the normally taciturn coach, to join in.
“Just everything about it has been so fun,” Esponda said.
That’s because, as Biles said, Esponda has been putting the work in behind the scenes.
How Reese Esponda went from Montana to Simone Biles' gym
Esponda, who turns 18 on Oct. 28, has been doing gymnastics since she was 3. Originally from Helena, Montana, she trained in her home state as she made her way up the junior ranks, drawing notice for her power on vault and floor exercise.
But Esponda knew she could accomplish more. In 2024, Esponda moved to WCC to train with Cecile Canqueteau Landi and Laurent Landi and their star-studded group that included Biles; two-time Olympian Jordan Chiles; 2019 European champion Melanie de Jesus dos Santos from France; and Paris alternate Joscelyn Roberson.
Shortly after Esponda arrived, the couple announced they’d be leaving WCC after the Olympics for Canqueteau Landi to join the staff at the University of Georgia. Canqueteau Landi is now the Bulldogs’ head coach, with Laurent Landi an assistant.
Chiles and Roberson also left after Paris for NCAA gymnastics while Biles has been taking time off before deciding whether to return for LA28. De Jesus dos Santos is now training in Martinique.
That many changes could be unsettling for any athlete. But Esponda has thrived under new coaches Patrick Kiens and Daymon Jones, who coached Romania at the Paris Olympics.
“I think this combination of the coaches works better for her because she just loves to have fun, do unique things,” Biles said. “This structure fits her the best.”
Reese Esponda's breakout season almost ended with a foot injury
Esponda drew notice in March at the Jesolo Cup, only the second international assignment of her career, when she won the floor title. But Esponda also tore a ligament in her foot at Jesolo and had to spend the next eight weeks in a boot.
She made it back for the U.S. Classic, where she won the all-around and beat Jade Carey on floor, the event where Carey won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Esponda then finished fourth in the all-around at the U.S. championships while again winning floor.
Why Reese Esponda had to change her floor routine before worlds
Esponda made the world team on the strength of that floor routine. But after the U.S. women had arrived in the Netherlands, the American contingent was told her Barani, a front somersault with a half-twist that she was following with a double-tucked back somersault, was now deemed a sideways tumbling skill.
That would mean Esponda wouldn’t meet the requirement of a front tumbling element. Though Esponda was able to tweak her routine, the Americans were exasperated because no one had questioned the element at Jesolo.
Even with Donatella Sacchi, head of World Gymnastics’ women’s technical committee, being the supervisor there.
“The judging and the interpretation of the technical rules are not consistent,” Kiens said.
“(If) there was no problem with the element, and it looks exactly the same as how she performs it here, it means you look with different eyes over there than you looked with here. That should not happen,” Kiens added. “… They make the rules. We just have to live with it.”
The change lowered Esponda’s start value by 0.2 points, to 6.0, and there were concerns that was a big enough loss to hurt her medal chances. As it turned out, U.S. teammate Claire Pease was the only other gymnast with a 6.0 or higher D score. While several others had higher execution scores, that was to be expected with Esponda in the first qualifying session. All scores start over for the finals.
The floor final is Sunday, Oct. 25.
“I was a little bit upset about it, just because that was a big connection pass for me,” Esponda said. “I move forward. It is what it is.”
Sounds exactly like something Biles would tell her.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Simone Biles knew Reese Esponda was ready for this moment. Now the world does, too.
Our editors independently choose our recommendations. Some content is produced with paid support from a third party, however our editorial decisions remain independent. If you buy through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices and availability may change.
