New Jersey gymnast wins Olympic gold with Team USA in Paris. Meet Hezly Rivera, from Oradell.
NEW YORK -- As Team USA and Simone Biles celebrate their Olympic Gymnastics comeback, one New Jersey town is over the moon for its new gold medalist.
Hezly Rivera is making her Olympic debut this year in Paris at 16 years old. She competed in Sunday's qualifying rounds in the uneven bars and balance beam, helping Team USA secure its spot in the team finals.
While she didn't participate in Tuesday's competition, she still accepted a gold medal alongside her teammates.
She posted on Instagram after the win, saying in part, "OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST [emojis] couldn't be more thankful and super proud of this team!!"
Olympian from Oradell, N.J.
Rivera is from Oradell and practiced at ENA Gymnastics in Paramus.
"Her town is just thrilled. You know, the love and support that has been shown to her from the community is just, it's fantastic," said her former coach, Craig Zappa.
Her former coach remembers she was dedicated from the very beginning.
"If you told her to do 10 of it, she made sure she did 10 of that. And she was just, from the get go, a very self driven gymnast," Zappa said.
See the full list of New Jersey athletes to watch in the 2024 Paris Olympics here, along with New York and Connecticut.
Team USA gymnastics takes home gold
After finishing second in the 2020 Tokyo Games, the U.S. women's gymnastics team dubbed this Olympics the "redemption tour," as they looked to get back on top of the podium. They did just that with their first gold medal of the games Tuesday, and Biles further secured her spot as the greatest of all time.
With her eighth Olympic medal, she is now the most decorated American Olympic gymnast, passing Shannon Miller, who had seven. This is her fifth gold medal, tying Anton Heida for the most gold earned by a U.S. gymnast.
As for the women's team, it's their third gold medal in the last four Olympics and their fourth gold ever.
Click here for information on how to watch all of Team USA and Simone Biles' competitions.
