Olympic Champions Ignite NCAA Gymnastics Season with Thrilling Performances and Controversial Start
The 2025 NCAA gymnastics season launched with a bang, featuring the highly anticipated return of Olympic gold medalists Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles. The star-studded "American Gold Collegiate Classic" in Oceanside, California, saw Carey’s No. 19 Oregon State Beavers and Chiles’ No. 10 UCLA Bruins go head-to-head against the 2024 National Runner-Up, the No. 4 California Golden Bears. While Cal dominated the meet, outscoring both teams by a significant margin, the spotlight shone brightly on the individual achievements of the two Olympic champions.
Carey, a three-time Olympic medalist and five-time NCAA medalist, showcased her exceptional talent, reclaiming her familiar dominant form. She led the Beavers’ charge, securing all-around, beam, and floor titles. Carey’s floor routine was a masterclass in difficulty, highlighted by her signature double-twisting double-back, a skill rarely witnessed in collegiate competition. Further demonstrating her versatility, she secured a third-place finish on vault, unveiling a new Yurchenko-style vault with one and a half twists, and also placed third on bars. Entering her senior season, Carey’s pursuit of an elusive NCAA title promises to be a compelling storyline.
Chiles, Carey’s Olympic teammate, equally dazzled in her return to collegiate gymnastics. Despite the UCLA Bruins grappling with uncharacteristic errors across multiple events, Chiles exhibited unwavering composure and infectious energy. Competing on vault, bars, and floor, she delivered scores of 9.9+ on vault and bars, ultimately claiming the vault title. Her new skill debut, an intricate tucked vault executed with near-perfect precision, earned her a 9.90. Chiles’ reactions, from her calm salute to the judges to her subsequent celebratory roar, underscored her genuine joy in returning to the competition floor. Her enthusiastic performance provided a bright spot amidst the Bruins’ struggles.
The "American Gold Collegiate Classic," while showcasing breathtaking athleticism and the return of Olympic champions, was marred by controversy surrounding the lack of official live streaming options. Despite featuring a compelling lineup of Olympians and a top-ranked team, the event organizers’ decision not to provide streaming access sparked widespread frustration within the gymnastics community. Fans expressed their disappointment online, criticizing the limited accessibility of the sport and advocating for greater viewing options. The situation highlighted a growing concern among fans who feel that the limited broadcasting of collegiate gymnastics hinders the sport’s growth and reach.
In an attempt to salvage the situation, the participating programs, Oregon State, UCLA, and California, resorted to improvisational measures, providing live streams via their respective team social media accounts. While this grassroots effort provided some access, it underscored the inadequacy of ad-hoc solutions and reinforced the need for a more comprehensive and reliable broadcasting strategy for collegiate gymnastics. The fan outcry serves as a clear message to organizers and stakeholders: the demand for accessible collegiate gymnastics is high, and the sport’s growth hinges on meeting this demand.
Beyond the streaming controversy, the meet itself provided valuable insights into the early stages of the 2025 NCAA gymnastics season. California’s dominant performance reaffirmed their status as a national powerhouse, while the struggles of UCLA highlighted the challenges of maintaining consistency even with elite talent. Oregon State’s strong showing, anchored by Carey’s all-around performance, signaled their potential to be a competitive force throughout the season. The individual brilliance of Carey and Chiles, despite their teams’ varying fortunes, added an extra layer of excitement and anticipation for the weeks to come.
The NCAA gymnastics season continues to unfold, with both Carey and Chiles slated for competition in Week 2. Carey and the Oregon State Beavers will host BYU in a traditional dual meet in Corvallis, Oregon, on Saturday, January 11th. Chiles and the UCLA Bruins will participate in another multi-team meet, the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, also on Saturday, January 11th, facing formidable opponents in No. 7 Kentucky, No. 8 Arkansas, and No. 16 Ohio State. The coming weeks promise more thrilling competition, individual showcases of talent, and hopefully, improved accessibility for fans eager to follow the exciting journey of collegiate gymnastics.
