Gymnastics Is Back! Meet the 4 Women on the 2021 US World Championship Team
:upscale()/2021/10/11/845/n/1922729/2bc1b3ed61648dbc595de9.94462481_.jpg)
After an exciting series of competitions at the Tokyo Olympics, the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships (Worlds) kick off next week and will span from Oct. 18 to Oct. 24 in Kitakyushu, Japan. Worlds is held annually during non-Olympic years (with an exception this time around due to COVID), and gymnasts will only vie for individual event and all-around titles at the 2021 edition since there typically is no team competition for the championship directly following an Olympics. Back in 2019, Team USA won by almost six whole points.
Four women were named on the 2021 team: Tokyo Olympic alternates Kayla DiCello and Leanne Wong, eMjae Frazier, and Konnor McClain. Olivia Greaves was named the "non-traveling" replacement athlete (aka, the alternate). These women represent USA's next generation of elite gymnasts, and it is each of the athletes' first World Championships on the senior level — all of the senior gymnasts from the Olympics, except for Suni Lee, are on Simone Biles's Gold Over America Tour, then many of them will transition to collegiate gymnastics.
Ahead, read up about these gymnasts heading for 2021 Worlds. We can't wait for the competition to begin!
:upscale()/2021/10/11/743/n/1922729/4b0de8117af5750d_kayla-dicello.jpg)
2021 US Women's World Artistic Gymnastics Team: Kayla DiCello
DiCello, from Boyds, MD, is committed to the University of Florida, where she is set to compete on the Gators' collegiate gymnastics team. Earlier this year, she won a silver medal on floor at 2021 Nationals, and she earned gold on bars and bronze for her all-around and floor performances at the 2021 GK US Classic. DiCello, 17, was also on the first-ever Junior World Championships women's artistic gymnastics team for the US in 2019 and won Nationals on the junior level that same year.
Follow Kayla DiCello on Instagram: @kayladicello
Follow Kayla DiCello on Twitter: @kayladicello
Follow Kayla DiCello on TikTok: @kayladicello
:upscale()/2021/10/11/745/n/1922729/e4c04301b075bf06_leannewong.jpg)
2021 US Women's World Artistic Gymnastics Team: Leanne Wong
Wong, 18 and from Overland Park, KS, will be joining the Florida Gators for this upcoming NCAA gymnastics season as a freshman. She finished third on floor at the US Gymnastics Championships this year. She won a team gold medal when she represented the US at the 2019 Pan American Games.
Follow Leanne Wong on Instagram: @leanne.wong_
:upscale()/2021/10/11/749/n/1922729/afe1589627022fff_emjaefrazier.jpg)
2021 US Women's World Artistic Gymnastics Team: eMjae Frazier
Frazier, 17 and from Erial, NJ, is committed to the University of California, Berkeley, where she will join the Golden Bears gymnastics team in 2023. She represented the US at the 2020 Friendship and Solidarity event in Tokyo hosted by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). She is the little sister of Margzetta Frazier, the UCLA senior whose Janet Jackson floor routine went viral earlier this year.
Follow eMjae Frazier on Instagram: @emjaefrazier
Follow eMjae Frazier on Twitter: @EmjaeFrazier
Follow eMjae Frazier on TikTok: @emjaefrazier
:upscale()/2021/10/11/905/n/1922729/4d3300b86164a1fa3b74f9.60276554_konner.jpg)
2021 US Women's World Artistic Gymnastics Team: Konnor McClain
McClain is verbally committed to LSU and intends to compete on the school's gymnastics team starting in 2024. The 16-year-old is from Cross Lanes, WV, and won all-around, bars, and vault silver medals and a beam gold medal as a junior competitor at 2019 Nationals. As a senior-level athlete, she won third place on vault this year at the Winter Cup. She currently has her sights set on the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Follow Konnor McClain on Instagram: @konnormcclain_
Follow Konnor McClain on Twitter: @Konnormcclain_
Follow Konnor McClain on TikTok: @konnormcclain_
:upscale()/2021/10/11/753/n/1922729/255271a36eb195a2_olivia-greaves.jpg)
2021 US Women's World Artistic Gymnastics Team Alternate: Olivia Greaves
Greaves, 17, is from Staten Island, NY, and is verbally committed to Auburn University (the same school Suni Lee will compete for starting this upcoming season). As a junior-level athlete, she finished first on bars and third in the all-around at 2019 Nationals.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Greaves began training at World Champions Centre — the same gym as Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles. A series of injuries in 2020 and 2021 prevented her from going for the Tokyo Olympic team.
"All these injuries definitely tested me, but I think I've matured enough to realize sometimes it's just not your time, and I just have to keep working hard until it is," Greaves told College Gym News. "That's exactly what I plan on continuing to do."
Follow Olivia Greaves on Instagram: @livgreaves_
Follow Olivia Greaves on TikTok: @livgreaves