Simone Biles will be the only returner from the “Final Five” who won gold in Rio four years ago. If selecting a five-person roster was hard in 2016, four is going to be tortuous in 2021. But that is what head coach Tom Forster and the selection committee will be forced to do since the International Gymnastics Federation reduced Olympic team rosters from five to four ahead of Tokyo (before quickly backpedaling and announcing that it will return to five for Paris 2024). 

Here’s how the roster is structured this go round.

Olympic Team (4 gymnasts):

First and second place all-around finishers at U.S. Olympic Trials, plus two spots that are selected by committee.

Individual Olympic Spots (2 gymnasts):

Jade Carey already clinched one of these places through an FIG World Cup qualification system. The last remaining individual spot will be selected by committee. These athletes can compete in individual all-around and individual event competitions but not the team competition unless a team member gets injured. 

With Biles a seeming lock for spot number one, and spot two earned at trials, the big decisions will be on team spots three and four, along with the one unfilled individual spot. Eighteen women have been invited to St. Louis to compete at the Olympic Trials June 24-27 for a chance at a ticket to Tokyo. While a few names have pulled away from the pack, the final spots are nowhere near decided.

“It’s never been done before. And it’s called, ‘The Biles.’” pic.twitter.com/5uoyYQPzWB

— Lindsay Crouse (@lindsaycrouse) June 7, 2021

The Frontrunners:

Two women are almost considered locks for the team roster: Sunisa “Suni” Lee and Jordan Chiles. Lee is an 18 year old from St. Paul who could be the first Hmong American gymnast on the Olympic team. Having recovered from an ankle injury in time to be at almost full force for U.S. Nationals a few weeks ago, Lee made an assertive claim on a roster spot by finishing in second place all-around behind Biles and taking first in the uneven bars and second on beam. It was a special night for the close-knit family, as Lee’s father was cheering in person for the first time since an accident left him paralyzed from the chest down two years ago.

Whereas Lee is an individual medal contender in a few events and then falls farther down the line in others, Jordan Chiles’ success comes from being solid across the board. The 20 year old from Washington now trains in Texas alongside Biles and has been on the senior circuit since 2017. The youngest of five siblings, Chiles has taken the long road to believing she deserves a spot on this elitist of elite rosters. Having Biles in her corner (and breathing down her neck in training) appears to be paying dividends as she recently earned silver all-around at U.S. Classics and bronze all-around at U.S. Nationals.

In The Mix:

After Lee and Chiles, the list bubbles out to a large number of athletes who are all still in the mix for a team spot. This includes 18-year-old Emma Malabuyo from California, who had a disappointing U.S. Classics showing but an incredible U.S. Nationals. Then there is Leanne Wong, who has solid potential to medal individually on floor and beam, and MyKayla Skinner, an alternate from Rio whose strengths nicely compliment the frontrunners for team medal consideration. 

Another contender is Grace McCallum, who helped Team USA earn two World Championship titles in 2018 and 2019 and is making her way back from hand surgery earlier this year. Youngster Skye Blakely, who turned 16 in February and is now eligible for the Olympics thanks to the postponement, kept her name in the conversation by tying McCallum for 7th overall at U.S. Nationals. And 2019’s junior national champion Kayla DiCello is still in the running, though her name dropped much further down the list with an 11th overall finish at nationals.

Individual Contenders:

With Jade Carey having already earned one of the two individual spots, the other one is likely to go to either Riley McCusker or MyKayla Skinner (if she’s not given a team spot). McCusker is an uneven bars specialist and Skinner is phenomenal on vault.

Whoever’s Olympic dreams come true when the selection announcement is made, the expectation that accompanies this achievement is indisputable: win team gold in Tokyo.

Tune in: The Women’s Olympic Gymnastics Trials will air on NBC on June 25 at 8pm ET and June 27 at 8:30pm ET.

UCLA-bound high school senior Sienna Betts led the West team to a decisive 104-82 victory over the East in the McDonald's All-American Girls Game held last night at New York's Barclays Center.

The 6'4" forward contributed 16 points, seven rebounds, and two assists, earning MVP honors for her performance. ​

Betts is currently the class of 2025's No. 2 overall recruit. Only Texas-based point guard Aaliyah Chavez, who recently committed to the Oklahoma Sooners, ranks above her.

Betts to join sister Lauren Betts at UCLA next year

Betts's performance is a good indicator of her potential impact at UCLA next year. There, she'll join forces with her sister Lauren Betts, the senior currently leading the Bruins to this season's NCAA Final Four after transferring in from Stanford.

The Betts sisters' arrival is highly anticipated, with Lauren opting to forgo the 2025 WNBA Draft in order to play out her final year of college eligibility alongside her little sister.

“For me, it [committing to UCLA] was a lot about how the coaches care about you off the court, and the coaches at UCLA, they really care about your mental health,” Betts told The Flagler College Gargoyle after committing last year. “Every team that I’ve ever been on, we’ve been a family… So, they really cared about that part of basketball for me, and they showed me that on my visits and when I called to talk to them.”

Betts in good company as McDonald's All-American Game MVP

In Brooklyn, Betts showcased her ability among the sport's best high school talent. Recent McDonald's All-American MVPs have all gone onto fuel prominent NCAA programs, including top-ranked recruits UConn's Sarah Strong, South Carolina's Joyce Edwards, USC's JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, and UCLA's own Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez.

The McDonald's All-American Game has a storied history of highlighting promising players, with past MVPs subsequently laying the foundation for future superstars.

Less than a day after Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles shocked the women’s basketball world by opting to enter the transfer portal rather than declare for the 2025 WNBA Draft, the Irish’s transfer fall-out has continued.

Sophomore guard Emma Risch and freshman forward Kate Koval have also entered the portal, with Koval — who started in 10 games this season — leading the Irish in blocks.

Between transfer moves and graduating seniors, sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo remains Notre Dame’s only returning starter — a sharp turn for an Irish squad ranked No. 1 in the country just six weeks ago.

Other top NCAA programs see transfer portal movement

Notre Dame isn’t the only top-tier program experiencing a roster shakeup after exiting the 2025 NCAA tournament.

LSU sophomore forward Sa'myah Smith entered the transfer portal after the Tigers’ season ended in Sunday’s Elite Eight. USC sophomore guard Aaliyah Gayles subsequently followed suit after the Trojans fell to UConn on Monday.

Schools like TCU have become national contenders via the transfer portal, with the Horned Frogs recruiting both Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince ahead of their first-ever Elite Eight run. Former Kentucky center Clara Silva is the latest transfer to commit to TCU, as the team comes off their best tournament finish in school history.

The modern era of NCAA roster-building is upon us, with top players taking the reigns as ambitious teams scramble to fill offseason gaps.

The NWSL is looking to sign a new Sunday night TV deal, according to a Sports Business Journal report published this week.

The league is targeting a two-year deal starting in 2026, with both new and existing TV partners interested in picking up additional NWSL games.

NWSL looks to build on multimillion dollar TV deal

The NWSL is currently two years into a four-year, $240 million TV partnership with ESPN, Prime, ION, and CBS Sports. However, the current contract doesn’t cover the entire schedule. And with league expansion planned for 2026, even more inventory is on the way.

SBJ notes that the market for this season’s lineup has been strong. In fact, all four media partners have already sold out all their 2025 advertising slots.

“You cannot find a place to spend right now,” IMG’s Hillary Mandel said at a recent Business of Soccer event hosted by SBJ. “We know what’s motivating interest is the fact that there’s no place to invest. That’s a phenomenal story in such a short period of time."

ESPN spotlighted for TV network-owned Sunday lineup

ESPN could be a prime candidate for a Sunday package, with the network set to move on from Sunday Night Baseball after the 2025 MLB season.

The NWSL has traditionally leaned into network-owned nights, with Prime airing Friday night matchups and ION running Saturday double-headers.

The NWSL’s most recent contract subsequently added serious value to the league. And the returns have networks coming back for more, setting up a potential bidding war and easing growing pains as new teams join the fold.

UCLA will hit the court for their first-ever NCAA Final Four on Friday, but as they extend the most successful season in program history, the Bruins have looked anything but green.

“We said talent was going to be our floor,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said after Sunday’s Elite Eight win over LSU. “Our character, our chemistry, our habits were going to be our ceiling.”

With just two losses on the season, UCLA’s status as a first-rate NCAA title contender has actually been years in the making.

Roster-building paves the way to the Final Four

In 2022, the Bruins signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, stacking their roster with top high school standouts Gabriela Jaquez, Kiki Rice, and Londynn Jones.

UCLA then upped their game even further last year, when 2022 No. 1 overall recruit Lauren Betts transferred in from Stanford — a move that fueled the Bruins all the way to the Sweet 16 with the promise of even greater success.

“Everyone came to UCLA for this reason: to do something we haven't done in a really long time,” Jaquez said on Sunday. “[I’m] just really proud of my teammates, the staff, the coaches, just continuing to get better every day and grow from each season prior.

With Lauren Betts at center, UCLA leans on depth

As one of the most dominant post players in college basketball, Betts is at the literal center of every UCLA performance. But that doesn’t mean the Bruins lack the depth it takes to handle a team like Final Four opponent UConn.

“When we have a deep team, I don’t have to be in the game at all times,” Betts said. “I have a team full of players who are just amazing and talented in their own right, and they put in the work.”

All in all, UCLA is coming into their own after developing much of its squad from the ground-up. Now it's time to make the case that patient roster-building can pay off on NCAA basketball’s biggest stage.