Jade Carey’s glory and gymnastic prowess make her the sixth-most decorated American gymnast. Born on May 27, 2000, Jade’s passion for gymnastics dawned at a very young age; reports suggest that she was introduced to gymnastics as early as 2001, as her parents owned a gym and she loved playing with the equipment. Carey is a student-athlete at Oregon State University who was committed there until the age of 14. It was just the beginning of her accomplished journey forward.

Unlike many other elite gymnasts who start their training at 12, Carey began her adventure of becoming an elite gymnast at the age of 17. Best known for her vault skills, she is among the few women who have attempted triple-doubles, with Simone Biles being the first. Within a year of being on the elite team, Jade Carey rose to fame from being an underdog to an emerging gymnastic sensation with two silver medals. Here’s a journey throughout the years of her elite gymnastics career that was remarkable from the very beginning.

Jade Carey’s Elite Gymnastics Career

2016: Jade’s first Junior Champion 

The American artistic gymnast Jade Carey made her mark at the 2016 Junior Olympics in Fort Worth, Texas. Carey successfully executed a tucked Kasamatsu full-on vault, which was later renamed ‘The Carey’ vault in the Junior Olympics code of points. Her routine on the vault and floor turned the heads of the senior national team, who wanted someone near Simone Biles to perform for the team. She received an invitation to her first elite-level national team camp later in 2016.

2017: Qualification of her Elite status

Jade Carey began as a level 10 gymnast, later qualifying for elite status. On July 7, 2017, Carey participated in the American Classic, which led to her competing in vault, floor, and balance beam, and she secured first place in all. Later in the same month, she competed in the US Classic, securing first place in the vault and floor and placing fourth in the balance beam. August 2017 saw Carey compete in the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, winning gold for vault and silver for floor, securing her a spot on the National Team. In September 2017, Jade competed in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championship, where she qualified 2nd in the floor and vault routines, bagging two silvers for the same.

2018: Participation in the National and International Championships secures her spot in the Olympics!

In 2018, Carey continued to display her active participation in competitions like the American Classic, the US National Championship, the Pan American Championship, and others. To top off the season, Carey competed in the American Classic in Utah on July 7. The young gymnast secured the 10th position in both the uneven bars and the balance beam, competing for the first time in both apparatuses.

A few months down the road, the gymnast participated in the Pan American Championship in Peru, where she contributed two golds to the American team in the vault and floor routines. In due course, Jade Carey made a strategic decision to decline partaking in Doha’s 2018 World Championship qualification to maintain her eligibility for the individual Olympic spot. As per reports, “Carey, who is the defending vault and floor exercise World silver medalist, and her coach, Brian Carey, want to pursue qualifying as an individual through the apparatus World Cup series, which precludes her competing on the 2018 World Team.”

As the International Gymnastic Federation introduced another method to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in 2015, individuals could get their spot fixed in the Tokyo Olympics by getting points at the World Cup Series. Jade’s decision to refrain played a significant role in her qualification for the 2020 Olympics, as, beginning in 2018 with her Cottbus World Cup placements of 2nd in vault and first in floor exercise, she did well in a total of four World Cup competitions till 2019.

2019: The World Cup Series!

Carey’s strong determination to be in the Olympics worked as a driving force for her triumphs. Being a part of the World Cup series was remarkable, and it was the prime reason for her spot. The 24-year-old Olympian won four medals—two golds in vault and floor exercise—in February 2019 at Baku and the same in Doha, which took place in March 2019, along with an AGF Trophy for having the highest consolidated score in the qualifiers at Baku.

On July 20, 2019, Carey competed in the US Classic in Louisville, scoring 14.250 in floor exercise, and later, in the same championship, she excelled in vault, scoring an impressive 14.900. Following the World Championship in the same year in Stuttgart, Germany, Carey’s valuable contribution to Team USA made them win gold! The Olympian also clinched the opportunity to win silver in the vault and floor disciplines. In the same year, the Arizona Sunrays’ gymnast partnered with Allen Bower to win the Swiss Cup.

2020: The Melbourne Cup

In 2020, Jade participated in the Melbourne World Cup, which was a part of the International Gymnastic Federation’s individual apparatus World Cup series, which was also a part of the Olympic qualification process. The gymnast star earned first place in the Melbourne World Cup with final scores of 14.866 in vault and 14.366 in floor exercise.

2021: Olympic Trials

Jade Carey’s participation in the 2021 Winter Cup allowed her to showcase her skills to the audience. She performed the vault (silver), balance beam (9th), and uneven bars (6th). Making her National Championship debut with Biles II in 2021, she secured the sixth spot in all-around qualification for the Olympic trials. Ahead of the trials, there were various questions arising about whether Carey would pick the individual spot after her World Cup results led to qualification for the same or compete for a spot on the four-woman Team USA squad until she finally chose the individual spot, marking an end to her pursuit of one of the four coveted team spots.

2020: Tokyo Olympics

For the Tokyo Olympics finals, Jade Carey hit the floor for 14.366 in the finals, winning a gold and leading hometown mayor Kate Gallego to declare August 17 as ‘Jade Carey Day’ upon her return home, following her prestigious victory.

2022: Elite Championship comeback

Jade Carey made a stellar return to the OOFOS USA National Championship in August 2022, after announcing through her X account that she “will be pursuing elite gymnastics while remaining dedicated to my GymBeav family.” She placed first on the vault, second on floor exercise, ninth on uneven bars, and seventh on the balance beam, with an all-around placement of fifth.

In September of that year, Carey won gold in the vault and silver in the balance beam at the Paris World Challenge Cup at the Accor Arena. This was the first time Carey earned a silver medal on the balance beam for an international competition, which was followed by a prideful celebration from her father and coach Brian Carey, who stated, “Jade had an impressive performance at the Paris World Challenge Cup competition.” Referring to her future goals, he said, “She is on track in preparation for the World Selection Camp coming up October 20-23 in Katy, Texas.”

2023: Swiss Cup 2.0

2023 was a fantastic year for Jade Carey’s career. She reached new heights with her second participation in the Swiss Cup, securing her second consecutive win. Notably, she was partnered with Yul Moldauer for their joint triumph; the duo pulled out the top spots with a cumulative score of 28.950 in round 1 as they moved ahead to a final score of 29.050.

2024: On the Road for the Paris Olympics, 2024

Jade Carey, 5’2″ tall, made a mighty vault in the American Classic earlier in 2024. The Phoenix native emerged as the star of the night, with gold in all-around and floor exercises and silver in balance beam, clinching her position in the Paris Olympics 2024 alongside Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, and Helzy Riveria.

Collegiate Gymnastics Career

Jade Carey verbally committed herself to Oregon State University for the NCAA meetings until she signed with the Oregon State Beavers in 2017. Time took a wrong turn for her when she deferred enrollment until after 2020, and soon COVID hit the stands, postponing the Olympics until 2021, leading the gymnast to defer her competition until that year.

2021–2022 Season

The Oregon State gymnast made an impressive NCAA debut on January 15, 2022. Shining in the orange and black leotard, Carey dazzled with an impressive score of 39.650 in the all-around in the tri-meet against San Jose and Washington. Following the win of her titles in vault, uneven bars, floor exercises, and balance beam (which included a double-twisting Yurchenko and a Bhardwaj) in that competition, Jade won Pac-12 Gymnastics of the Week twice and Pac-12 Freshman of the Week six times throughout the ’21-’22 seasons.

2022–2023 Season

Carey secured two perfect 10s on the vault and floor and bagged the Pac-12 honor based on her performances at the Wasatch Classic, which was followed by her induction at the Super 16 on January 6, 2023. Three months later, at the Arizona State University meet, the Phoenix native achieved her first perfect 10 on the balance beam, which completed the list of her perfects and led her to become the 13th gymnast to achieve a gym slam in the history of the NCAA.

2023–2024 Season

After an impressive 2023 season, the champion decided to focus on the Paris Olympics in 2024, contemplating her decision to stay at Oregon State University. In the first meet of the 2024 season, the Olympian scored 9.975 on uneven bars and 9.90 on balance beam, claiming the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week once again. The world now awaits to see how she performs in the French capital in a few weeks.