Is the Winter Cup 2025 cursed? Think hard! The first elite gymnastics contest of this year could have seen a lot more names in the participant list. But untimely withdrawal and injuries have put a mark on the show. Surprisingly, the contest only has Hezly Rivera from Team USA women’s artistic gymnastics team, the winner of team Olympic gold in the Paris Olympics. Well, now it seems that there are a few limitations to it. How? 

On February 22, USA Gymnastics announced the start list of the women’s events. Ultimately, Hezly Rivera’s name has come in only one event, the balance beam routine in rotation 3. Why so? Why did the Olympic champion enter only one event in the season-opening contest? Injury? There’s no update about that yet. But why are we cogitating on the matter? Gymnasts are not bound to compete in multiple events, right? Yes, they aren’t! But Hezly has some uncanny matters requiring attention. And what are those? 

Last year, she showed up in the Winter Cup and displayed her capability. She was in all the events of the contest. Subsequently, her performance gained her 1st place in the balance beam routine and 3rd in the floor exercise event. Her all-around score wasn’t sufficient to make her a topper. But it was enough to make her third in the all-around event. 

This year could have been a golden chance for Hezly Rivera to let the gymnastics world know about her further. In the absence of Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, Suni Lee, and Kayla DiCello, she could have been the favorite to win the all-around title.

Also, this year, another rising gymnast from WOGA made her entry into the senior level of the women’s Winter Cup. Notably, after the junior division, the Winter Cup could have been the stage to host the gymnastics battle between Hezly Rivera and Claire Pease. Yet the former backed off from the race. Moreover, her sole performance today on the balance beam routine stood to be a dampener.

Yes, in her sole routine today, the Olympian faced an unexpected fall. Hezly Rivera’s steps were not in sync on the balance beam. Nor did she have a perfect landing after completing the event. But she tried to get over the fall. After missing her steps on the balance beam midway, she started her routine once again. Yet the damage was done, and Rivera knew it. So did injury stand as the disruptor? But that shouldn’t have been the case for her. In fact, a few days before the Winter Cup 2025, she had a chance to narrate her story. And Hezly said nothing about her injury in that interaction. 

Did Hezly Rivera hide anything? 

Before moving to the 2025 Winter Cup, Hezly Rivera sat down with Inside Gymnastics. In the conversation, she recalled her journey that once started in New Jersey. The heavy emotions led her to say, “I am so incredibly grateful for my family because I would not be here without them [her parents]. I’ve moved so many times. I moved two or three times in New Jersey alone just to find a good gym, and they sacrificed everything for me. They moved houses, moved gyms. That’s so insanely hard to do.” Meanwhile, she also reminisced over her journey from the 2023 Junior National Championships to the Paris Olympics. 

But anything on her fitness never came up in the conversation. Well, we could be wrong about speculating on her injury. But remember, Hezly is the one keeping “long-term goals” in her mind. In fact, in her interaction with Olympics.com last year, she took the name of three events between her and the LA Olympics—the three world championships in consecutive years. Yet she did face a slump in the first contest in the post-Paris Olympics phase. Do you have any take on it?