Gymnastics stars Lee, Jones and Blakely are struggling with health issues as the Olympic trials begin

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Defending Olympic champion Sunisa Lee, six-time world championship medalist Shilese Jones and national runner-up Skye Blakely are dealing with health issues ahead of U.S. Olympic qualifying.

Lee, who has battled multiple kidney problems for the higher a part of two years, felt unwell during Wednesday’s training session, although longtime coach Jess Graba doesn’t imagine it’s going to affect Lee’s ability to compete when trials begin Friday evening.

“She was a little nauseous this morning,” Graba said. “She’s fine. She did her job. I thought, ‘You don’t have to go any further.’ Just get it over with.”

Lee, 21, has been battling kidney problems for greater than 18 months, which have hampered her training and caused her weight to fluctuate wildly. She got here to the trials in her hometown off the back of a promising performance at the U.S. Championships, where she finished a solid fourth overall and looked impressive on the uneven bars and balance beam, her two best events.

“She competes well,” Graba said. “She knows her results transfer well internationally. So I think everyone knows about it. So I think (rehearsals) just show that Suni can be there (that’s enough).”

Lee is not the only contender to attain below 100%.

Jones, perhaps the top American gymnast not named Simone Biles, trained with her right shoulder taped to assist her deal with a minor labrum tear.

Featured Stories

Jones, 21, withdrew from the U.S. Championships on the day the competition was set to begin earlier this month. She successfully petitioned to compete in the qualifiers and then took every week off to rest before returning to form with the hopes of being chosen for the five-woman Olympic team on Sunday evening.

“I feel pretty good,” said Sarah Korngold, Jones’ coach. “The biggest problem right now is just routine endurance. We just don’t get enough reps.”

Korngold said Jones was in significant pain before the U.S. championships but is feeling higher in her second trip to the Olympic qualifiers. Jones has struggled with her shoulder on and off for the past two years, and Korngold described what happened earlier this month as a “flare-up.”

“I hope she’s proven to the selection committee that she’s building fitness quickly and that she’s getting into ‘routine form’ pretty quickly, and we’ve got more time (until Paris),” Korngold said. “So I hope she does enough here to show that she’s ready to go.”

Blakely, who tore a ligament in her elbow during 2021 Olympic qualifying, needed to be carted off the field Wednesday night with a potentially serious leg injury. The 19-year-old cried when she went for the examination. Blakely got here to Minneapolis as the team’s top contender after a stunning performance at the national championships.

Alicia Sacramone Quinn, chief strategic officer of USA Gymnastics, who is a component of the three-person selection committee, said Sunday evening the team shall be chosen based on its top five players, not who shall be ready for the July 28 women’s qualifiers in Paris.

“We always have to look at what’s happening in front of us now,” Quinn said. “Because that’s what we can actually count on.”