Minneapolis will be the epicenter of USA gymnastics this week.
The nation's top gymnasts will compete at the Target Center, vying for spots on Team USA's men's and women's Olympic gymnastics teams.
Among the competitors are Suni Lee of St. Paul, who was one of the stars of the last Olympics, and Shane Wiskas of Spring Lake.
The two will compete in the men's and women's qualifying competitions starting on Thursday.
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In the days leading up to the competition, athletes train on the floor, perfecting their routines.
Both boys and girls compete in several events. Both boys and girls compete in floor exercise and vault.
The girls will also compete on the uneven bars and balance beam, while the boys will compete on the pommel horse, horizontal bar, parallel bars and hanging rings.
Each of these events will be judged based on two factors: execution and difficulty.
“Each event has a slightly different look for, but there are really two scores,” says Jenny Hansen, head coach of the University of Minnesota women's gymnastics team. “One is the difficulty — how difficult the element of the routine is. And the other is the execution of the routine — how well the routine was done, how good the form was, how artistry was, how high a level the element was executed at.”
Performances will be judged on points, but other factors Olympic coaches will look at include who is the best and most consistent athlete and who can help round out the team.
The team with the highest overall score will automatically qualify. There are separate guidelines for men and women on how teams should be selected. For women, the team with the highest overall score will automatically qualify.
The other athletes are then selected based on this tournament and recent tournaments. Coaches try to select one or two overall stronger athletes to compete.
“And then from there, once you get to these great all-around athletes, you just find your strengths in other events,” Hansen said, “because we don't need everyone to compete in every event. We're not going to have five athletes in each event. So it's just a matter of figuring out who's the strongest in the other events.”
The men's process is similar: the top athlete in the overall points ranking (if he or she finishes in the top three in any of the three events) is selected, and then the coaches select the rest of the team based on their strengths and performances in this and recent tournaments.
Tickets can be purchased online.
In-person events include:
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Thursday: 5:30pm – 8:00pm — Men's Day 1
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Friday: 6:30pm to 9:00pm — Women's Day 1
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Saturday: 2pm to 5pm — Men's Day 2
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Sunday: 7pm to 10pm — Women's Day 2
You can watch it online or on USA, NBC and Peacock TV.
