U.S. Women Dominate Pan American Gymnastics Championships as Men Secure Bronze

Charleigh Bullock of Team USA reacts after competing in the Women’s balance beam. (Photo by Mark Fredesjed Cristino/Getty Images)

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Despite a depleted roster, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team maintained their dominance on Wednesday, capturing their second consecutive Pan American Championship title.

Competing in Rio de Janeiro, Team USA secured the gold medal with a total score of 161.628, edging out host nation Brazil (157.796) and Canada (156.997), who took home silver and bronze, respectively.

The victory was driven by stellar all-around performances from Charleigh Bullock, Claire Pease, and Simone Rose. The team overcame the unexpected loss of veteran and 2024 Olympic gold medalist Hezly Rivera, who withdrew due to a hamstring injury after scoring a strong 13.400 on the vault. Rookie Lila Richardson also withdrew due to injury, leading traveling alternate Alessia Rosa to step in and contribute to the gold-medal effort.

Path to the World Championships

This victory ensures the U.S. delegation has qualified a full team for the 2026 World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, this October, as well as a spot in the 2027 Pan American Games.

Because the team final also serves as a qualifier for individual events, the American women have significant opportunities remaining in Rio. Charleigh Bullock, the top all-around qualifier, will compete for the individual title and the beam and floor finals. Claire Pease, who qualified second in the all-around, will compete in the all-around, vault, floor, and beam finals.

Simone Rose finished third in the all-around standings but will miss the individual all-around final due to the two-per-country limit. However, the 18-year-old is still set to compete in the vault, bars, and beam finals. Meanwhile, Hezly Rivera’s individual goals ended with her withdrawal from the qualifying events.

Even without their Olympic champion, the U.S. women delivered a dominant performance and could potentially leave Brazil with as many as 10 medals. Attention now turns to the junior women, who seek to mirror this success in Thursday’s junior team final and qualifying round.

U.S. Men Secure Bronze Amidst Struggles

While the women’s side was seamless, the American men faced a more challenging road to the podium. Needing a top-four finish to qualify for the world championships, the U.S. men managed to secure the bronze medal despite several costly errors.

The finish marks the lowest placement for the U.S. men since the championships’ inception in 1997. The team posted a score of 235.961, finishing behind a surprising silver-medal performance by Colombia (241.594) and a historic gold-medal win by Canada (243.026).

The performance sparked concern among fans and experts, as the errors nearly risked a failure to qualify for the world championships—a result that would have been unprecedented compared to their 2023 world medal and 2024 Olympic successes.

Following the medal ceremony, team leader Yul Moldauer defended his teammates against online criticism, emphasizing that the primary goal had been achieved.

“We qualified as a team to the world championships… we got the job done,” said the Olympic veteran. “Considering how many people we had try out and compete, it says a lot about this group of guys. Give them props for fighting until the end.”

The U.S. men will remain active in the individual competitions this weekend. Yul Moldauer, returning to competition after a USADA suspension, led the team by qualifying for five of the seven event finals.

Moldauer and Kameron Nelson will both compete in Sunday’s vault finals. Additionally, Riley Loos qualified for the rings and floor finals, Taylor Burkhart for the high bar and parallel bars, and world bronze medalist Patrick Hoopes for his specialty, the pommel horse final.

2026 Pan American Championships Schedule

Senior elite competitions only.

Friday, June 19

8:00 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. ET: Women’s All-Around Final

2:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET: Men’s All-Around Final

Sunday, June 21

8:35 a.m. – 9:05 a.m. ET: Men’s Floor Exercise Final

9:10 a.m. – 9:40 a.m. ET: Men’s Pommel Horse & Women’s Vault Finals

9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. ET: Men’s Still Rings & Women’s Uneven Bars Finals

10:20 a.m. – 10:50 a.m. ET: Men’s Vault Final

10:55 a.m. – 11:25 a.m. ET: Men’s Parallel Bars & Women’s Balance Beam Finals

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET: Men’s High Bar & Women’s Floor Exercise Finals

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