Fall in love with USA Gymnastics… again

There isn’t a more annoying relationship stereotype than the on-again, off-again romance. I say this fully knowing that Ross and Rachel kept people interested in 10 seasons of Friends, and How I Met Your Mother somehow kept things going after Ted and Robin’s shtick was about as fresh as proposing to a significant other at a ballgame. (Seriously, people. Love is supposed to be intimate, not shared with 20,000 other people.)

On-again, off-again relationships are the worst — except when you’re talking about the Olympics.

After the Olympic torch is extinguished at the closing ceremony, the Olympic spirit is forgotten like a set of keys to a stadium (oh wait, that still happens DURING the Olympics). But somehow, every four years Americans are on their couches glued to the TV ready to fall in love with the games once again.

Gymnastics, in particular, garners a lot of amicable attention.

Whether it’s the power of the men or the grace of the women, Americans can’t help but fall in love with these athletes every time the Olympics rolls around. Here is a look at this year’s team.

Women of Team USA

There is no denying that every four years, these young women are America’s daughters. The names and faces might change, but the feeling of pride remains consistent.

Not that all these women are just pretty faces. They are bad.

Not in the way that Indiana Jones and Crystal Skull was bad. More like bad in the way that Shaft was bad.

They have been labeled the “Fierce Five” for a reason. At the 2015 World Championships, they easy won the gold medal and won five individual medals at the same competition.

They are favorites to win the team gold medal, and anything less than that would be a big disappointment. 

Simone Biles – She might as well be known as Queen B because she is about to take over the world. When I say that Simone Biles is a favorite to lead Team USA to a team gold and win the all-around individual gold, it’s almost a lock.

She’s that good.

At the World Championships, she has won three consecutive all-around gold medals and 14 total medals in three years. The crazy thing about Biles is that she might walk away with five medals from Rio when it is all said and done.

She was too young to join the Team USA in London, but there is no doubt she will be making an impact in Brazil. 

Gabby Douglas – You know what’s better than having the No. 1 gymnast on your team? Having the No. 1 AND No. 2 gymnasts on your team.

Gabby Douglas finished behind Simone Biles in the 2015 World Championships, but she still has more Olympic experience. And what an Olympics that was in 2012.

Douglas became the first African-American woman to win the individual all-around gold medal and the first American gymnast to win both the team and individual all-around medals. Oh, having a movie made about your life at the age of 16 isn’t bad either.

Although she is facing stiff competition from her own teammate, Douglas can become the first two-time gold medalist in the individual all-around event since 1968 when Vera Caslavska pulled it off. 

Laurie Hernandez– If Douglas is the defending champion and Biles is the champion in waiting, Hernandez is the next big thing.

The bubbly Hernandez is known for her spunky personality on the floor routine, where she explodes off the ground and flashes that million-dollar smile. However, she’s shown she can do a lot more.

The “Human Emoji,” as she’s known, finished third in the individual all-around behind Biles and teammate Aly Raisman at the National Championships, and placed second in the same event at the Olympic Trials behind Biles.

An unfortunate numbers game left Hernandez off the individual all-around roster at the Olympics despite her accolades and talent, but she will still be available to help Team USA secure the team gold. 

Madison Kocian – Even on the best teams, specialists are still needed in order for the unit to thrive.  Kocian is the specialist that Team USA needs.

The Texas native and UCLA-bound gymnast is a master at the uneven bars, earning a gold medal at the World Championships in 2015 in a four-way tie for first. She didn’t always have it easy, though.

Kocian has fought back from a wrist injury in 2012 that knocked her out from competing for three months. She then delayed surgery on the same wrist in order to compete at the World Championships in 2014, where she earned her stripes and made a reputation for being a big-time athlete on the world stage. 

Aly Raisman – At 22 years old, Raisman is the oldest member of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team. Of course, being the oldest doesn’t mean you're immune of your share of ribbing.

“Grandma Aly,” as the rest of the team knows her, has a knack for saying the right things at the right time. Gabby Douglas noted that it was Raisman who calmed her down before she competed on the balance beam during the team final.

It is that kind of leadership that got her named team captain for this Olympics. However, she can do more than talk the talk.

Raisman is the defending gold medalist in the floor routine and has a bronze medal to her name from the 2012 London Olympics on the balance beam. Looks like grandma has some game. 

Men of Team USA

Unfinished business is the worst kind of business. The men of USA gymnastics surprised a lot of people in 2012 when they found themselves on top of the standings after the qualification round in London.

That’s when it all fell apart.

The team came out flat during the medal round, and a number of miscues knocked the U.S. off the podium. The team’s youth had caused it to lose focus and a medal in the process.

This year’s version of Team USA is in the same position as 2012, where a medal is expected to be out of reach. But the men also have a chance to surprise people and earn a medal to avenge their mistakes from the last games. But who will get them there? 

Chris Brooks – Oh captain, my captain. Aside from being the team’s unofficial barber, Chris Brooks was named the leader of the USA men’s gymnastics team despite being rookie to the Olympic experience. It’s been a long road to the games for Brooks, who is 29 but has competed with the United States since he was 13.

In that time, he’s gotten 10 surgeries and lost his dad to a tragic car accident in 2008. That kind of toughness and grind-it-out attitude can be the driving force that Team USA needs for a medal. Look for the oldest U.S. Olympic gymnast since 1972 to do his damage in the horizontal bar event. 

Jake Dalton – There are a lot of talented gymnasts at the Olympics, but not a lot of them have elements named after them.

According to the Men’s Gymnastics Code of Points, a “Dalton” is a backward roll with a half turn tuck to hang performed on the parallel bars. Dalton originally performed the element at the 2015 World Challenge Cup in Doha, Qatar.

Dalton may have an element to his name, but he doesn’t have a medal. He was a part of the 2012 London team that failed to capitalize on its blistering qualification round finish. Dalton will be asked to compete in multiple events, but his best is the floor exercise. 

Danell Leyva – An athlete’s journey to the Olympics are rarely smooth, even for someone who has been to one before.

Leyva was a part of the team at the London Games and even earned a bronze medal in the all-around individual event. However, he was unable to perform at the qualification meets for Rio 2016 and was named as an alternate on the team.

However, a torn ACL suffered by John Orozco allowed Leyva to join the team and compete for more hardware. Leyva is known for his acrobatic work on the horizontal and parallel bars.

But the bars can be a fickle mistress.

The horizontal bar once betrayed him when he went chin first into the bar during the 2011 World Championships. However, he was able to recover and win a gold medal in parallel bars at the same meet.

Sam Mikulak – Another holdover from the 2012 London Games, Mikulak seemed destined to be a gymnast from birth.

I mean, what else are you supposed to do when both of your parents were gymnasts? You’re definitely not going to be competing in croquet.

While Chris Brooks is the captain of this team, Mikulak may be its best athlete. He has won four consecutive all-around national championships and could be in the running for an all-around medal at the 2016 Olympics.

And more Mikulak on-screen is a good thing. These dance moves are proof of that.