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Claire Pease wins Saatva U.S. Classic gymnastics title

Many U.S. gymnasts have gone from junior all-around national champions to stars on the senior level. Claire Pease may have taken an early step to joining that list on Saturday.

Pease, a 16-year-old Texan, won the Saatva U.S. Classic, the primary tune-up meet for the U.S. Championships in three weeks.

Pease overtook Simone Rose on the last rotation, totaling 54.6 points to prevail by four tenths over Rose in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Gymnasts use Classic as a building block for nationals (Aug. 7-10 in New Orleans).

After nationals, the four-woman team for the World Championships in October in Indonesia will be named after a two-day selection competition in early autumn. This year’s worlds include individual events only and no team competition.

Pease, the first senior rookie to win Classic since 2017 (Alyona Shchennikova), can join the list of U.S. junior all-around champions to make global championship teams on the senior level.

Over the years, that’s included Olympic all-around champions Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin (whose parents coach Pease) and world all-around champions Shawn Johnson and Jordyn Wieber.

Plus Hezly Rivera, the 2023 U.S. junior all-around champ who made the 2024 Olympic team as the youngest American competing in Paris in any sport.

Rivera, the lone Olympian competing at Classic, tied for 11th on Saturday after falling on her first two routines — bars and beam. She trains at World Olympic Gymnastics Academy outside Dallas, just like Pease.

Paris Olympic alternate Leanne Wong competed on two events at Classic, tying for fifth on beam and tying for 11th on bars.

One gymnast not at Classic who is expected at nationals is Skye Blakely. She was second to Biles at the 2024 U.S. Championships, then ruptured her right Achilles in practice two days before Olympic Trials began.