Gymnastics News: 16-Year-Old Sensation’s Withdrawal From 2024 Xfinity Championship Likely Due to Injury

The final few events leading up to the 2024 Olympics are getting more intense each day. With that, the race to secure a spot on the national team is also getting more competitive, and the country’s top gymnastics stars have only one more meet before the Team Trials. Amid that, a budding teenage gymnast who committed to the University of Michigan in October last year found herself on the wrong side of things.

Despite featuring alongside the nation’s biggest stars at the 2024 Core Hydration Classic, 16-year-old Myli Lew has been absent from the just-released list of the 2024 Xfinity US Championships. In a recent X post by the official USA Gymnastics account, the entry list for the Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships has been revealed.

With 2024 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships slated to begin next weekend over Fort Worth, USA Gymnastics tweeted. “Due to an impressive and talented number of Senior Women competing at the 2024 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships, the Senior Women will be split between two sessions on both days of women’s competition at #XfinityChamps,” read the caption of the post. And yet, the 2024 American Classic All-Around 2nd place winner Lew is mysteriously missing from the list.

Earlier this month, Konnor McClain was injured at the Core Hydration Classic and was forced to withdraw from the event. That puts her Olympic chances in question. Even Olympic gold medalist Yulimar Rojas, triple jumper, announced her withdrawal from the Paris 2024 Olympics due to an injury to her left Achilles tendon.

In a post on the Subreddit r/Gymnastics, one fan suggested that a back injury might have forced Lew out of the list. When another fan questioned Lew’s absence, USA Gymnastics confirmed it and replied, “unfortunately she won’t be competing.” However, the reason for her absence is not yet confirmed

In the recently concluded American Classic, Myli Lew drew a lot of attention with her amazing performance. In the all-around competition, she stood just behind Jade Carey with a score of 53.900. Her talent was prominent in the uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise as well. She took home the UB title with 13.100. While in BB she stood third (13.600), the floor routine saw her tying with Malea Milton in the second position with 13.250. Notably, her skills seem to be most evident when it comes to the bar routine.

In last year’s American Classic, she shone in the uneven bars as well. Myli Lew (rivaled France’s Melanie de Jesus dos Santos on her way to winning the senior women’s division in that event. Lew’s 51.550 all-around made her topping the field. Lew won the bars title with her stunning moves that included a floaty Pak salto, Gienger, piked Jaeger, and stick-straight double layout to score a 14.250. Hopefully, she will overcome the debacle to come back stronger, the way she did in 2018.

Because of injury, Myli could not compete at the regionals that year. But she came back from her injury to compete at the Auburn National Qualifier at the end of May. Here, Myli earned her compulsory and optional scores for Hopes 10-11, earning a spot at the Hopes Classic 2023. There she grabbed gold medals on bars and beam, while a silver in the all-around, punching a ticket to the Hopes Championships.

In one more fabulous display there, she walked away with a gold medal on the bars, a silver medal on the floor, and a bronze medal in the all-around. While the rising star won’t be entertaining fans at the Xfinity Championships, fans are sure to be compensated for their money’s worth by other stars, who all have their own claims to be on Team USA for the Olympics scheduled to kick off in July.

The country’s best gymnastics figures to show their worth

The entry list for next weekend’s event is staked. Among the names that fans are eager to see in action, Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles is undoubtedly the most anticipated. Earlier this month, Biles walked away from Connecticut with the all-around title with an impressive 59.5 overall score. The 27-year-old also picked up the event titles in the floor exercise (14.8) and vault (15.6, also the highest individual score from the event).

Her stellar performance was followed up by Shilese Jones (57.65) thanks to her consistent display in all events, including a first-place finish on the uneven bars. Along with Biles and Jones, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, Trinity Thomas, and Leanne Wong will also be bolstering their claims for a spot in the national team to represent the USA in France later this year.

Another crucial name on the list for the 2024 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships is easily Gabby Douglas. Her return to action after eight long years hasn’t been an easy ride so far, and at this year’s Core Hydration Classic, Douglas pulled out of the competition after registering disastrous results in the preliminary round.

However, fans hope for her stars to align as they rally behind one of the country’s most admired gymnastics stars to showcase her mettle definitively this time. With so many title contenders on the list, who will you be supporting next weekend? Tell us your pick in the comments below.