Looks can be deceiving.
Watch U.S. gymnasts Hezly Rivera – a member of the U.S. team that claimed gold at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 – and reigning U.S. junior champion Claire Pease during competition, and it will be pure focus.
But on any given day inside WOGA Gymnastics in Plano, Texas, where the two train alongside one another, it’s a different story. Together, they’re finding a balance that blends joy with the seriousness required of elite-level sport.
“[Claire]’s hilarious, she will always crack a joke,” Rivera told reporters ahead of this week’s U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans. “She’s always just making you laugh, even if you’re not in the mood. She will lift you up right away, but yeah, she’s an amazing person. I love her so much.”
“I feel like we work really well together,” adds Pease of her training-mate. “We get along really well inside the gym, outside the gym… It’s really inspiring. She’s such a hard worker and it’s always fun with her too.”
It’s a dynamic that works as both teenagers find themselves at the forefront of a changing of the guard in U.S. women’s gymnastics.
With four of the five members of the Paris squad – including all-around champion Simone Biles – stepping back from the sport, at least for now, Rivera and Pease are learning how to lead as they also navigate two burgeoning senior careers.
For Pease, Rivera – just one year her senior – is the one who’s “been through this before” and who encourages her to believe in her abilities.
“Hearing what she has to say about just trusting myself helps a lot,” said the 2024 junior U.S. champion.