Hezly Rivera: A Champion Who Knows How to Fight Back

Hezly Rivera © Pinterest

Winning a national title is difficult. Winning it twice in a row is even harder.

Doing it after a fall? That tells a very different story.

At the 2026 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Phoenix, Olympic gold medalist Hezly Rivera proved that a champion is not defined by a perfect routine — but by what happens after something goes wrong.

Rivera won her second straight U.S. all-around title, finishing with 111.950 points and beating her WOGA teammate Claire Pease, who scored 110.800. Charleigh Bullock took third with 110.550.

But the final result doesn’t tell the whole story.

A fall — and a comeback

On the first day of competition, Rivera had a major mistake on bars. During her routine, she fell on a stalder piked Tkatchev — an upgrade she was attempting — and finished the exercise with 12.500 points.

For an athlete fighting for a national title, a fall can completely change the competition.

Rivera didn’t let it.

Instead, she came back on the second day with the kind of performances that explain why she is already an Olympic champion.

On floor, she delivered an impressive routine that included a full-twisting double layout and double layout, earning 14.300 points.

Then came beam.

Rivera performed a strong routine featuring a double wolf turn, side aerial combinations, a front aerial and ring jump, a switch leap and a double pike dismount. She scored 14.400.

And on vault, she hit a clean double-twisting Yurchenko for another 14.400.

Suddenly, the fall from day one looked less like a disaster and more like the beginning of a comeback.

The pressure of being the champion

Rivera’s victory is particularly interesting because she was not simply chasing her first major title.

She was defending one.

After winning the U.S. all-around championship in 2025, she entered Phoenix with expectations already attached to her name. The pressure of defending a national title can be very different from winning one for the first time.

Yet she finished more than one point ahead of Pease, her teammate and closest challenger.

Her consistency on the second day was crucial.

While Rivera recovered from her first-day mistake, other contenders struggled as well. Skye Blakely, who had been tied for the lead with Pease after day one, suffered three falls on day two — one on floor and two on beam — and ultimately finished seventh in the all-around.

Gymnastics can change in seconds.

One landing can move an athlete from the top of the standings to the middle of the field. One mistake can erase months of preparation.

That is why Rivera’s ability to reset became one of the defining stories of the championship.

More than one title

The victory also puts Rivera in an important position heading into the next stage of the season.

The U.S. women’s world team was not selected at the championships. Instead, the team will be decided at a selection camp at the end of September.

So Rivera left Phoenix with another national title — but not necessarily the biggest goal of her season.

Now she has to do something perhaps even harder:

prove that she can repeat this level of performance when the stakes rise again.

Her 2026 championship showed several qualities that matter at the highest level: difficulty, power, recovery, and the ability to stay composed after a mistake.

And perhaps that is what makes her story so compelling.

A perfect gymnast is an impressive idea.

But a gymnast who falls, gets back up, and still wins?

That’s a champion worth watching.

Source: article on gymnastics-now.com By Patricia Duffy published September 9, 2026.

Achieve More With VSA: Boost your skills with world-class coaches for just $29/hour. Personalized programs 24/7, 365 days a year, anywhere in the world.

By Vitalina Andrushchenko, Staff Writer