Stick the landing
How to watch Houston Olympic G.O.A.T. Simone Biles' big gymnastics comeback this weekend
Simone is back.
Two years after her historic and headline-making run at the Tokyo Olympics, Texas gymnastics icon Simone Biles is returning to competition. She — along with Olympic teammates Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Jade Carey — will go head-to-head at the 2023 Core Hydration Classic, August 4-6, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
The competition will be the final qualifier to the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, one of the biggest indicators of who might get picked for the 2024 Olympic team. (Biles, Lee, Chiles, and Cary all have declared their Paris Olympic intentions.)
It will be Biles' first competition since being sidelined with "the twisties" at the 2020 Olympics (in 2021), and her first since her high-profile wedding this spring.
Gymnastics fans don't have to book a flight to Chicago to catch all the vaults, leaps, and flips this weekend. The entire event will be live-streamed, and highlights will air on major network television. Competition organizers have released the following viewing schedule, all times local to Fort Worth:
Saturday, August 5: Two sessions of women’s competition will take place, with Session 1 at 1-3 pm and Session 2, featuring all Team USA Olympic and World Championships medalists, at 7-9 pm.
Women’s sessions on Saturday will be broadcast live on CNBC and streamed live on Peacock.
Both sessions also will stream live on USA Gymnastics’ YouTube channel.
Sunday, August 6: NBC will air a highlight package of the women's competition at 2:30 pm.
Also on Sunday, the men's competition will take place in two sessions, at 10:45 am and 4:45 pm. They will stream live on USA Gymnastics’ YouTube channel.
In addition to headliners Biles, Chiles, Lee, and Carey, the women's competition will include 2021 Worlds all-around silver medalist and floor bronze medalist Leanne Wong, 2021 Worlds all-around bronze medalist Kayla DiCello, and 2022 Worlds team gold medalist Skye Blakely.
They are all names Fort Worth gymnastics fans will recognize from both the 2021 U.S. Gymnastics Championships held at Dickies Arena (at which Biles won her record seventh national title) and from the Biles-led "Gold Over America Tour," which stopped at Dickies Arena in fall 2021.
On the men’s side, competitors will include 2020 Olympian, 2017 World Championships floor bronze medalist and eight-time Pan American gold medalist Yul Moldauer, 2015 Worlds vault bronze medalist and 2014 team bronze medalist Donnell Whittenburg, 2021 World pommel horse gold medalist Stephen Nedoroscik, and 2020 Olympian and three-time NCAA champion Shane Wiskus.
A junior competition also will be contested. For more information on the event, schedule, and competitors, visit the competition website.
As CultureMap was first to report, Biles married her former Houston Texans safety Jonathan Owens in April at a secret downtown location. The power couple then headed to Cabo San Lucas for a destination wedding.
After Owens signed with the Green Bay Packers, the duo has traveled back and forth to Green Bay (hardly the food capitol Houston is, clearly) where Owens is readying for the 2023 NFL season. Doting wife Biles even asked fans for Green Bay food tips and must-do activities.
