Jade Carey displayed a strong performance at this year’s Olympic trials. The 24-year-old showcased marked improvements, winning gold on vault and silver for her floor exercise performance. However, if you had asked Carey about her chances of making the Paris Olympics team, you would have found her quite unsure, especially since she didn’t make the 2023 World Championships squad.

In fact, the 4x NCAA medalist and 7x world championships medalist nearly left self-doubt cripple her. The year 2023 had started well for Jade Carey with success at PAC-12, but things went downhill. Besides finding it mentally and physically exhausting to keep up with the demands of training, her competitive performance began declining. Things came to a head at the U.S. Championship where she ended up in 15th place.

“I was like, ‘I don’t know if I made the right decision’… I was left off the worlds team and I didn’t have a great year in elite,” Jade Carey revealed during an interview with The Oregonian. Things became so precarious that the 24-year-old started to “kind of second-guess myself and my gymnastics.” The Olympian had lost confidence in herself and her abilities.

To put things into perspective, the disastrous 2023 U.S. Championships for Jade Carey saw the gymnast drop to 15th place. It was the first time Carey had fallen out of the overall top 8 in that competition. While the Olympian had started with a bronze on the vault, she ended up in 19th place on the uneven bars. Worse still, Carey fell to 25th on the balance beams and had to settle for 11th in all-around.

Thankfully Jade Carey came to her senses and contemplated where she had gone wrong instead of questioning her skills. The Oregon State Beavers member took a step back, evaluated, and dedicated herself to perfecting her art. Unfortunately, after making it to the US Olympics Gymnastics team, questions about her work ethic came from the unlikeliest place.

Jade Carey on her work ethic

On 30th June, Jade Carey took fourth place as the curtains closed on the 2024 Olympic Trials. However, at the same time, her Toyko 2020 teammate MyKayla Skinner made some unsavory comments during her trial watch party on YouTube. The 27-year-old veteran lifted up Simone Biles but put everyone down, questioning their “work ethic” and dedication toward gymnastics.

However, just days before the Olympic Trials Carey had spoken about her work ethic. In fact, she spoke about the immense dedication that every gymnast looking to perform on the grandest stage puts in each day of the week. “I think people should just know, like all the hard work that’s done behind the scenes,” Carey told Yetta Gibson on Arizona’s Family Original. While fans witness the final performance they don’t witness the training Carey and others go through twice a day.

Jade Carey lamented missing 2023 Worlds, an event where she earned 3 golds. Self-doubt took hold of the 24-year-old, but she didn’t quit. Instead, the Olympian channeled her competitive spirit and is now ready for a shot at redemption in Paris.