Hezly Rivera (born June 4, 2008) is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the silver medal-winning team at the 2023 Junior World Championships. Additionally she is the 2023 Junior World silver medalist on floor exercise.
| Hezly Rivera | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Hez | ||||||||||||||
| Country represented |  United States | ||||||||||||||
| Born | June 4, 2008 Hackensack, New Jersey | ||||||||||||||
| Hometown | Oradell, New Jersey | ||||||||||||||
| Residence | Plano, Texas | ||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||
| Level | Junior International Elite | ||||||||||||||
| Years on national team | 2022–present (USA) | ||||||||||||||
| Gym | WOGA | ||||||||||||||
| Head coach(es) | Valeri Liukin | ||||||||||||||
| Assistant coach(es) | Anna Liukin | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
Early life edit
Rivera was born in Hackensack, New Jersey in 2008 to Henry Rivera and Heidy Ruiz, and raised in nearby Oradell.[1]
Gymnastics career edit
Junior edit
2022 edit
Rivera competed at the 2022 Winter Cup where she placed third in the all-around.[2] As a result, she was selected to compete at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge.[3] While there she helped the USA win gold.
In July Rivera competed at the U.S. Classic where she finished second in the all-around behind Jayla Hang. Additionally she won gold on balance beam, silver on floor exercise, and finished fourth on vault.[4] The following month Rivera competed at the National Championships where she finished sixth in the all-around and won bronze on floor exercise.[5]
2023 edit
Rivera competed at the 2023 Winter Cup where she won the all-around competition. Additionally she placed first on balance beam and floor exercise.[6] As a result, on winning the competition, Rivera was named to the team to compete at the 2023 Junior World Championships.[7][8]
On the first day of the Junior World Championships Rivera helped the USA finish second behind Japan. However, during the vault rotation Rivera's hand slipped on the vaulting table resulting in her scoring a 0 on the apparatus and therefore not qualifying for the all-around final. She did qualify for the uneven bars and floor exercise finals.[9][10] During event finals Rivera placed eighth on uneven bars but won silver on floor exercise behind Italian Giulia Perotti.[11]
Competitive history edit
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | |||||||
| 2022 | Winter Cup |  |
8 | 6 | 11 | 6 | |
| DTB Pokal Team Challenge |  |
||||||
| U.S. Classic |  |
4 | 11 | |
| ||
| U.S. National Championships | 6 | 11 | 6 | 12 |
| ||
| 2023 | Winter Cup | |
4 | 7 | |
| |
| Junior World Championships | |
8 |
| ||||
| U.S. Classic | 6 | 20 | |||||
| U.S. National Championships | |
5 | |
|
15 | ||
| Senior | |||||||
| 2024 | Winter Cup | |
20 | |
| ||
| City of Jesolo Trophy | |
9 | 4 | ||||
References edit
- ^ "USAG Profile: Hezly Rivera". USA Gymnastics.
- ^ "Parker repeats as junior all-around champion at 2022 Winter Cup Presented by OZONE and TURN". USA Gymnastics. February 27, 2022.
- ^ "World team members Frazier, McClain headline women's contingent for upcoming DTB Pokal Team Challenge and Mixed Cup in Stuttgart". USA Gymnastics. March 1, 2023.
- ^ "Hang vaults to top of leaderboard in thrilling end to U.S. Classic junior women's competition". USA Gymnastics. July 30, 2022.
- ^ "Johnson captures women's junior all-around title on final day of OOFOS U.S. Gymnastics Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 21, 2022.
- ^ "Rivera takes home junior women all-around gold at 2023 Winter Cup". USA Gymnastics. February 26, 2023.
- ^ "USA Junior rosters set for FIG World Juniors, DTB Pokal, City of Jesolo Trophy". USA Gymnastics. March 7, 2023.
- ^ "2023 Winter Cup: Hezly Rivera bests junior and senior women's fields en route to three titles, junior world team berth". Gymnastics Now. February 26, 2023.
- ^ "Learning from mistakes: U.S. gymnast Hezly Rivera embraces 'mess-ups' to achieve Paris 2024 dream". International Olympic Committee. April 20, 2023.
- ^ "Junior women secure team silver at Junior Artistic World Championships; all through to finals". USA Gymnastics. March 30, 2023.
- ^ "Ginnastica artistica, Giulia Perotti strabilia a 13 anni: Campionessa del Mondo al corpo libero!" [Artistic gymnastics, Giulia Perotti amazes at 13: World Champion in floor exercise!]. OA Sport (in Italian). April 2, 2023.