Sixteen-year-old gymnast Hezly Rivera became the youngest member of Team USA to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics after qualifying in July. But make no mistake: A decade of training led to this milestone.
After the trials, Hezly told ELLE.com of making the team, “After putting in years of hard work and all of the sacrifices my family and I made, well, I can’t describe the feeling.”
She added that she always puts her best effort in, and she is ready for the Olympics. “My mentality is the same as it’s always been,” she explained. “I go to the gym every day and give it 100 percent. If I go out onto the [Olympic] competition floor and do the same thing I do in the gym, I know I will have done my best.”
Hezly is a standout athlete, but her performance on the beam, in particular, is astonishing. She beat champions Simone Biles and Suni Lee and tied Joscelyn Roberson for the top score. Hezly, Biles, Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Jade Carey were chosen to go to Paris.
On July 30, Hezly and her teammates took home the gold, scoring first in the women’s artistic gymnastics team final.
Here’s everything to know about the rising star.
Where is Hezly Rivera from?
Hezly was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, to Henry Rivera and Heidy Ruiz on June 4, 2008. She was raised in nearby Oradell before they eventually moved to Plano, Texas, to support her career. She has two siblings, her brother, Hanly, and her sister, Carhelis. Hezly is a student at Connection Academy, which is a virtual high school program that allows her to train with a lot of flexibility.
Who are Hezly Rivera’s parents?
Henry is originally from the Dominican Republic and got his degree from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 2002. He went on to work as a computer engineer at Medidata Solutions, becoming the senior director of test engineering, according to his LinkedIn. Ruiz is also from the D.R. originally, and seems to be a homemaker who has been available for Hezly’s many training and competition obligations.
Hezly has said, “I just want to help the community grow. I just want Latinas to be able to look up to me and be like I want to be like her when I grow up, and I want people to look up to me and say, ‘I want to be like her because she’s Latina.’”
Her dad’s reaction to his daughter being named one of the five female gymnasts chosen to go the Olympics went viral shortly after the announcement was televised.
How did Hezly Rivera get into gymnastics?
When she was only five years old, a coach saw Hezly playing with other kids at a birthday party at a gymnastics gym. He recognized natural talent and approached her dad, according to NBC.
“The coaches approached us,” Henry told The New York Post. “They said, ‘You got to bring her in.’ She made the team on the first audition. That’s very unusual.”
He continued, “All she ever wanted to do was be in the gym.”
In 2022, the family decided to head to Plano, Texas, where Hezly would be able to train at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy with Valeri Liukin, one of the most famous gymnastics coaches of all time.
“I am forever grateful,” the star has said of her family’s dedication to her career.
“We said, ‘This is it. This is going to be our life—there’s no looking back,’” Henry told The Post.
He later told NBC, “It means the world to her so it means the world to us as family members. We couldn’t ask for anything better than this; this is the outcome we always envisioned so for us, it’s only the beginning.”
Heidy added that she always reminds herself to “be brave, be confident, she got this” before she goes out on the floor.
How did Hezly Rivera get into the Olympics?
Under Liukin’s training, she won her first junior women’s all-around gold medal while competing at the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships. She later placed third in the all-around at the 2024 Winter Cup. She was eligible to compete at the Olympic trials after placing sixth in the individual all-around finish at the National Championships.
What has Hezly Rivera said about what motivates her?
In an interview with ELLE.com, Hezly shared some of her thoughts about competing, many of which were about focusing on doing your best and ignoring the rest.
“Stay in my own zone, no matter the competition,” she advised.
Hezly shared what got her through the trials, saying, “Myself, my routine, and what my coaches told me to do. I relied on my muscle memory, because it’s very strong.”
She also “doesn’t listen” to naysayers, and she “always believes” in herself.
“I know I am good enough,” she explained. “If you put your mind to something and you work hard, you can achieve greatness.”
After joining the Olympic team, not much has changed around Hezly’s approach.
“In a meeting with my coaches, they told me to just do me—I don’t need to do any more or less than my normal,” she said. “They told me that I’m not competing with others, only myself, and that I should just go out there and do what I need to do, and let the rest fall into place.”
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.