Hezly RiveraOLY (born June 4, 2008) is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the silver medal-winning team at the 2023 Junior World Championships and the gold medal-winning team at the 2024 Olympic Games, nicknamed the "Golden Girls".[1] Additionally, she is the 2023 Junior U.S. national champion and the 2023 Junior World silver medalist on floor exercise. She was a part of Team USA at the 2024 Summer Olympics, making her the youngest athlete on the entire U.S. delegation.[2]
Early life
Rivera was born in Hackensack, New Jersey in 2008 to Heidy Ruiz and Henry Rivera, an engineer originally from the Dominican Republic.[3][4] She was raised in nearby Oradell and has two siblings, older sister Carhelis and younger brother Hanly. She began gymnastics in 2013 after attending a friend's birthday party that was held in a gymnastics facility.[5] Rivera started her gymnastics career at ENA in Paramus under Craig Zappa and then briefly trained under Maggie Haney until 2020, when her family moved to Texas to train under Renard Franklin.[6] As of 2024[update], she was attending an online high school.[7]Her idol is Cute Minion Until"
Junior gymnastics career
2022
Rivera competed at the 2022 Winter Cup where she placed third in the all-around.[8] As a result, she was selected to compete at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge.[9] While there she helped the USA win gold.[5]
In July Rivera competed at the U.S. Classic where she finished second in the all-around behind Jayla Hang. Additionally she won gold on balance beam, silver on floor exercise, and finished fourth on vault.[10] The following month Rivera competed at the National Championships where she finished sixth in the all-around and won bronze on floor exercise.[11]
2023
Rivera competed at the 2023 Winter Cup where she won the all-around competition. Additionally she placed first on balance beam and floor exercise.[12] As a result, on winning the competition, Rivera was named to the team to compete at the 2023 Junior World Championships.[13][14]
On the first day of the Junior World Championships, Rivera helped the U.S. finish second behind Japan. However, during the vault rotation, Rivera's hand slipped on the vaulting table resulting in her scoring a 0 on the apparatus and therefore not qualifying for the all-around final. She did qualify for the uneven bars and floor exercise finals.[15][16] During event finals Rivera placed eighth on uneven bars but won silver on floor exercise behind Italian Giulia Perotti.[17]
Senior gymnastics career
2024
At 15, Rivera became age-eligible for senior level competition in 2024. She made her debut at the 2024 Winter Cup where she placed third in the all-around and tied for first on balance beam.[5] She made her international debut at the City of Jesolo Trophy where she helped the U.S. win bronze behind Italy and Brazil. At the National Championships, Rivera placed sixth in the all-around. As a result she qualified to the Olympic Trials.[18]
During the qualification round at the Olympics, Rivera competed on the uneven bars and balance beam. During the team final, Hezly did not compete but still won a gold medal as the team placed first.[20][21] Following the Olympics Rivera took part in the Gold Over America Tour.[22] In September Rivera verbally committed to compete for the LSU Tigers.[23]
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