The U.S. women are starting the road to the Los Angeles Olympics in a tough spot.
The Americans drew the first subdivision in qualifying, where scores tend to be the lowest, at the upcoming world gymnastics championships. They also finish their Oct. 18 qualifying session on balance beam, the event where nerves are most likely to be a factor.
This doesn't mean the U.S. women can't make the podium, where the top three teams automatically qualify for LA28. Scores start over after qualifying, and the Americans have won every team title going back to the 2011 world championships. They also could be bringing two Olympic gold medalists in Hezly Rivera and Jade Carey, with the worlds team to be named after a selection camp Sept. 30-Oct. 1.
But with scores
typically rising as qualifying goes on, being in the first subdivision could affect where the U.S. women start in the team final and how many U.S. women make event finals.
Russia, expected to be the Americans' biggest competition for gold, is in the eighth of 10 subdivisions at its first worlds with a full team since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Olympic silver medalist Italy is in the third subdivision and China is in the 10th.
The world championships are Oct. 17-25 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Though the U.S. men got a more favorable draw — they are in the fourth of six subdivisions and begin on vault, one of their strongest events — their chances of qualifying for LA28 at these worlds could be tougher.
Only the top three at these world championships qualify for Los Angeles, with the remaining nine spots filled at next year's worlds. In addition to perennial powerhouses Japan and China, the Russian men also are sending a full team. The Russians won the team gold at both of their last two major international competitions, the 2019 worlds and the Tokyo Olympics.
Fred Richard is the only athlete from the U.S. team that won bronze at the Paris Games on the world team. The other four members are Danila Leykin, Patrick Hoopes, Kameron Nelson and Tokyo Olympian Shane Wiskus.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US women get tough draw for world gymnastics championships
