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Simone Biles landed a Yurchenko double pike vault on Friday and leaped to first place in the all-around standings after the opening day of women's action at the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials in Minneapolis.
However, the overall health of the U.S. women's gymnastics roster became the bigger story on Friday.
Biles, the 2016 Olympic all-around champion, posted an all-around score of 58.900. The next two places are occupied by Jordan Chiles at 56.400 and Suni Lee, the 2020 Olympic all-around champion, at 56.025.
The winner is guaranteed a spot on the U.S. squad for the Paris Games next month, while the other positions on the team will be decided by USA Gymnastics.
Biles scored 15.975 on the vault, met with roaring applause from the crowd on hand and gleeful high-fives with coach Laurent Landi. She also delivered a flawless floor routine, opening to Taylor Swift's "Are You Ready For It?"
Before getting to the finals, there are major questions about the health of the team.
Skye Blakely was recognized during the event on Friday, but she was on crutches after suffering a ruptured right Achilles this week in training.
Blakely was on a path toward Paris, but she isn't the only candidate whose participation is in danger because of injury.
USA Gymnastics confirmed Friday that Kayla DiCello "being evaluated by the medical team" after sustaining an injury on the vault. She was taken from the floor in a wheelchair not long after Shilese Jones sustained a knee injury.
Jones entered with concern about her shoulder injury that forced her to withdraw from the U.S. gymnastics championships.
More must-reads:
- Brewers' run of dominance makes MLB history with more left to achieve
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Perhaps Superman Paul Skenes has found his kryptonite
Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes may continue to be one of the top contenders for the National League Cy Young Award, but there is one place where he has appeared mortal this season. On Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Brewers did to Skenes what they have done to plenty of MLB pitchers in 2025 ... put up big offensive numbers. For the second time this season, Skenes also pitched in Milwaukee on June 25, the Brewers forced him from the game after just 4.0 innings on Tuesday night, logging six hits and four runs during his time on the mound. Both of those performances came at Milwaukee's home stadium (American Family Field) and both are now Skenes' shortest outings of the season. While another NL Central team has put up more runs against Skenes this season (the St. Louis Cardinals nicked him for five runs in 6.0 innings on April 8), no other team has had the same kind of success over multiple starts by Skenes in 2025 as have the Brewers inside their home stadium. In all this season, Skenes has given up 10 hits and eight runs in 8.0 innings in Milwaukee. It was his third career outing on the road against the Brewers, with his lone 2024 start representing arguably the best outing of his rookie season. On July 11, 2024, Skenes struck out 11 and didn't allow a hit over 7.0 innings as the Pirates would eventually post a 1-0 victory. Tuesday's short outing was highlighted by a pair of Milwaukee home runs, including a leadoff solo shot by Sal Frelick that quickly set the tone for the Brewers. While Milwaukee's hit parade helped raise Skenes' ERA on the season to 2.13, it's hardly any reason for concern in a season where the 23-year-old right-hander is still a heavy favorite (-600) to win the NL Cy Young Award, per BetMGM. Skenes struggling in Milwaukee is likely more yet another stamp of approval on the Brewers' potential to be a threat once the postseason arrives. With an 18-4 record since the All-Star break entering Tuesday, Milwaukee has taken over the NL Central race from the Chicago Cubs. So what's the good news for Skenes? This is Pittsburgh's last trip to Milwaukee this season and the next-to-last series for the Pirates against the red-hot Brewers. Milwaukee will visit PNC Park for a three-game series on Sept. 5-7 and, if Skenes gets a chance for revenge against Milwaukee, there couldn't be a better place for him to take the mound. This season, in 11 starts covering 68.2 innings, Skenes has a 1.70 ERA in the Steel City.
Mock Trade Sends Suns' Dillon Brooks to Lakers for $66 Million Duo
The Phoenix Suns are set to enter next season with an almost completely different roster than what they had last season after making major changes to it this offseason. Of course, the Suns broke apart their star trio of Devin Booker, Keivn Durant and Bradley Beal as they traded Durant to the Houston Rockets and bought out Beal’s contract, allowing him to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. Now Booker is the only remaining star from their big three and he is set to be the centerpiece of Phoenix’s future after they signed him to a massive contract extension this summer. For the Suns, they have done a solid job of building a younger roster as they landed Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams via trades and also selected Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming and Koby Brea in the 2025 draft. While the Suns have made some major moves this offseason, more could be on the way before the start of next season as multiple players continue to be in trade rumors. Suns predicted to send Dillon Brooks to Lakers With this in mind, SB Nations’ Jacob Rude recently released a mock trade that would see the Suns send Brooks to the Los Angeles Lakers for two players. In the trade, the Suns would send Brooks to the Lakers in exchange for Gabe Vincent and Maxi Kleber. This would be an interesting trade for both teams involved and one that does not make a ton of sense for the Suns to make. Of course, the Suns could look to trade Brooks at some point before next season’s trade deadline as they may try to add more young talent to their roster but to swap him for two veterans who struggled last season does not make a ton of sense for Phoenix. For the Lakers, adding Brooks to their roster would be a massive upgrade after losing Dorian Finney-Smith in free agency as the veteran forward would give them a solid scorer and great defender alongside Luka Doncic and LeBron James. Despite this, the Suns would likely want more in return in a potential trade for Brooks that would likely require Los Angeles to include draft capital and a young player. Because of this, it is highly unlikely that the Suns would consider this offer for Brooks, especially before he even suits up for their franchise.
Cardinals Announce Willson Contreras News After Leaving Rockies Game
The St. Louis Cardinals have been fighting to stay alive in the National League Wild Card race, entering Tuesday’s slate with a 61–59 record and three games behind the New York Mets. A huge reason for the team’s success this year has been Willson Contreras, who is playing in his third season for the Cardinals after joining the organization ahead of the 2023 season. The 33-year-old transitioned from catcher to first base to appear in the lineup more frequently and to fill the void at the position due to Paul Goldschmidt departing for the New York Yankees in free agency. Contreras has been a force at the plate, posting a .256 batting average, .787 OPS, 16 home runs, and 65 RBIs over 113 games. Willson Contreras Leaves Rockies Game Early During Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies, Contreras was drilled on the foot by starting pitcher Kyle Freeland. He was replaced in the top half of the sixth inning at first base by Nolan Gorman. Moments later, the Cardinals announced that he had left the game with a bruised right foot. “Contreras has left game with a bruise on his right foot, per #stlcards official,” wrote St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold. Contreras Continues to Carry Cardinals Offense This comes at a disappointing time for St. Louis, as they just got All-Star second baseman Brendan Donovan back after missing three consecutive games, and Nolan Arenado is still out with a right shoulder strain. Contreras has kept the lineup afloat since his arrival, and if he is forced to miss extended time, it would be a massive blow to St. Louis’s playoff odds. Over three years in St. Louis, Contreras has a .261 batting average, .818 OPS, 51 home runs, and 168 RBIs, seemingly improving his game as a Cardinal after spending seven years with the Chicago Cubs to start his career. Contreras has made it clear that he intends on staying with the Cardinals for the long haul after his name surfaced in trade rumors at this year’s deadline.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. blames Connor Zilisch for Shane van Gisbergen wreck: ‘I don’t like it’
The battle everyone predicted came to pass late in the Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen on Saturday. It was the wonder kid, Connor Zilisch, against the road course warrior, Shane van Gisbergen. But the battle didn’t quite materialize. Instead, Zilisch got into van Gisbergen going into a turn with about 15 laps to go and wrecked him. The two drivers, teammates at the time racing for JR Motorsports, wouldn’t battle it out to the finish line. That left owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. less than enthused, despite Connor Zilisch going on to claim the win. “Connor coming back on the track and clipping him was avoidable,” Earnhardt said, breaking down the wreck on the Dale Jr. Download. “[SVG]’s shading left to make the entrance for Turn 7 and Connor’s options into Turn 7 (limited). He’s doing that and he had been doing this for many laps, to try to make it hard for Connor to get around. And he’s doing it again. And Connor didn’t cut him a break. “Connor could have lifted. Connor could have got back behind. There’s 15 laps in the race to go. This is like a last lap, last corner move. And there were so many laps left in the race. And we would have been gifted more laps of these two guys trying to battle.” There are two schools of thought to the whole thing. Well, at least. Earnhardt honed in on one of them: van Gisbergen is a heck of a defensive driver, and with 15 laps to go, Connor Zilisch may have been growing frustrated. So he just went for it. “I would say that that wreck was a result of them going lap, corner after corner after corner, and getting a little more and more aggressive with — I wouldn’t call what SVG was doing as blocking — he was just really trying to take away opportunity and line,” Earnhardt said. “He never threw like a Daytona, Talladega block, but he knows how to shade down the straightaway or be in a spot that makes really Connor’s options limited. He is very good. Very good.” Van Gisbergen was at a bit of a tire disadvantage at the time, having stayed out late in Stage 2 for track position. The thinking by most analysts was that Connor Zilisch could have passed van Gisbergen in the closing stretch without too much fuss. For Earnhardt, the real question is who Zilisch is as a driver. Even he’s not entirely sure yet. Was it inexperience showing in the wreck? Or was it something else entirely? “We don’t know everything about Connor,” Earnhardt said. “We don’t know how Connor keeps score, right, in his head. This may just be who Connor Zilisch is. Right? This might not be a young guy, inexperienced, making mistakes. This may be Connor saying, ‘You block, you pay.’ That also might be the case, where we might actually be realizing how he’s willing to stand his ground in moments like this, even against a teammate. “I don’t like it, right? I don’t like the 9 car getting destroyed. I want SVG to have a great experience driving our cars. I want SVG to want to do it again. Man, any car owner would love to have this guy behind the wheel of your car at the road courses.”
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