Minnesota Report
Minnesota will be the final stop on the journey to the Olympic Games Paris 2024 when it hosts the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Gymnastics, USA Gymnastics and Minnesota Sports and Events announced Tuesday. Highlighted by the Olympic Trials, Minneapolis will take on the moniker of Gymnastics City USA 2024, bringing together four of the sport’s most prestigious events over the course of nine days in June 2024.
Beginning June 22, 2024, the Minneapolis Convention Center will be the site of the USA Gymnastics Championships, featuring rhythmic gymnastics, acrobatic gymnastics, and trampoline & tumbling; the USAG National Congress and Trade Show; and the USA Gymnastics for All National Championships & Gymfest.
It all leads up to the four-day Olympic Trials, June 27-30 at Target Center in Minneapolis, where fans will watch the country’s best artistic gymnasts vie for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. At the conclusion of competition, USA Gymnastics will announce the 2024 Olympic Team for artistic gymnastics live in front of the Target Center audience. The rhythmic and trampoline teams will be announced at the conclusion of the USA Gymnastics Championships.
“There is no bigger stage for gymnastics in this country than the Olympic Trials,” USA Gymnastics President and CEO Li Li Leung said. “With world-class venues in a compact urban environment and an incredible track record of successfully hosting large-scale events, Minneapolis is an ideal location. We look forward to hosting fans from across the country for an unforgettable nine days of gymnastics competition and celebration.”
While 2024 will mark the first time for Minneapolis to host the Olympic Trials in gymnastics, the Greater Minneapolis region boasts a rich history of hosting world-class events, including NFL Super Bowl LII, NCAA Men’s Final Four, NCAA Women’s Final Four, ESPN Summer X Games, and Ryder Cup, as well as the Olympic Trials for curling and the Paralympic Trials for swimming and track & field. Additional events surrounding Gymnastics City USA festivities include the FlipZone fan interaction area and the 2024 USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where legends reunite.
“Minnesota athletes are making sports history on the national and global stage. We are proud to keep that momentum going by showcasing our talent and hospitality during the 2024 U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials,” Governor Tim Walz said. “Minnesota is excited to welcome athletes, their families, and fans to this event, and for them to experience all that makes our state a great place to live, work, and play.”
“We are thrilled that USA Gymnastics has selected Minnesota to host its 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, the USA Gymnastics Championships, Gymfest, and the National Congress and Trade Show,” said Wendy Blackshaw, President and Chief Executive Officer for Minnesota Sports and Events. “Having so many incredible gymnastics events in the same city at the same time makes it a rare opportunity to celebrate and grow the sport throughout our diverse communities statewide.”
Big crowds, hometown flavor
The U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Gymnastics are riding an especially strong wave of momentum after 2021, when a final-day, record crowd of 20,815 was on hand in St. Louis to welcome a U.S. Olympic Team that included three Minnesotans. Sunisa Lee, of St. Paul and the Midwest Gymnastics Center, ultimately claimed the 2020 Olympic all-around gold medal as well as team silver and uneven bars bronze at the Tokyo Games. Olympic Team silver medalist Grace McCallum is an Isanti native who trained at Twin City Twisters, and Spring Park’s Shane Wiskus was an NCAA champion while part of the University of Minnesota’s men’s gymnastics team from 2018-21.
“I am so excited and proud that Minneapolis has been selected to host the Olympic Trials,” Lee said. “Watching the Olympians who came before me was such an inspiration when I was growing up, and it means so much to know that the young athletes of Minnesota will have a chance to watch and be inspired by the best gymnasts in America. I can’t wait for the Olympic Trials to be in my backyard.”
In addition to the Tokyo 2020 Olympians, Minnesota’s gymnastics heritage was made rich by the Roethlisberger family. The first male three-time gymnastics Olympian, John Roethlisberger competed for Team USA at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympic Games and was a three-time NCAA all-around champion at the University of Minnesota. He is a USA Gymnastics Hall of Famer and currently is active as a television commentator. Marie Roethlisberger was an alternate for the 1984 Olympic Team who went on to an NCAA gymnastics career at Minnesota that included the 1990 uneven bars title and four All-America honors. Their father, Fred, was the head coach at the University of Minnesota from 1971-2004, was himself a 1968 Olympian, and is a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
“There isn’t a better place in the country for the Olympic Team Trials than Minnesota,” John Roethlisberger said. “Minnesota is home to some of the greatest gymnastics in the world, from many of the best junior club programs in the country, outstanding collegiate gymnastics and of course elite and Olympic level gymnastics. I have no doubt the state will come out in force to support the most exciting event to come to the state in 2024. Minnesota is referred to as the state of hockey, but I think it’s time it becomes the state of gymnastics.”
Among Minnesota’s own Olympic hopefuls for 2024, rhythmic gymnast Erica Foster of Chanhassen trains at Northwest Rhythmic in Plymouth. A member of the National Team, Foster was third in the all-around at the 2022 USA Gymnastics Championships and a 2021 World Championships competitor. The 2022 U.S. runner-up in trampoline, Elijah Vogel, was born in St. Paul and currently resides in Longmont, Colo., as a member of the National Team.
Sudden impact
In total, nearly 6,000 participants and tens of thousands of fans will flock to Gymnastics City USA next summer to celebrate one of the most popular sports of the Olympic Games. The USA Gymnastics Championships on June 22-26 brings together more than 1,500 elite and development athletes in the rhythmic, acrobatic and trampoline & tumbling disciplines, and it will help select the Olympic Team for rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline. The 2024 USA Gymnastics National Congress and Trade Show on June 27-29 welcomes more than 2,500 gymnastics professionals and exhibitors, and the USA Gymnastics for All National Championships and Gymfest on June 22-26 features roughly 500 athletes in what is also known as group gymnastics, with competitive and non-competitive opportunities and a division for gymnasts with disabilities.
All-session tickets for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Gymnastics are on sale now online at usagymolympictrials.com. Ticket sales for the accompanying USA Gymnastics Championships and registration for the 2024 National Congress and Trade Show will open early next year.
For information on Gymnastics City USA and all of its events, including the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, visit gymnasticscity24.com. Be part of the conversation on social media by using #GymnasticsCity24 to engage with the USA Gymnastics community.