Lili Mizuno (born February 4, 2001) is an American rhythmic gymnast.[1][2] She is the Pan American Championships 2021 Group All-around bronze medalist and 2017 All-around silver medalist. She competed in the group all-around at the 2020 Summer Olympics, finishing eleventh in qualification.
Gymnastics career
Junior
Mizuno began training in rhythmic gymnastics when she was eight years old,[3] after an artistic gymnastics coach suggested it.[4] She initially trained at Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy East Bay in California.[1]
Mizuno joined the junior national team in 2015.[5] In 2016, she moved from California to Illinois to train at North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center.[3]
In February 2016 she made her international debut at the Alina Cup in Moscow, finishing fourth in clubs with a score of 15.400.[6] At the Pacific Rim Championships in April, Mizuno won the junior all-around.[7] She took gold in all four apparatus finals as well.[8] In June at the USA Gymnastics Championships, Mizuno won gold in hoops and clubs, silver in all-around and rope, and placed fourth in ball.[9]
Senior
2017
Mizuno joined the senior national team in 2017. In March, she competed at the Rhythmic Challenge in Indianapolis, Indiana, winning gold in ball and bronze in all-around.[10] At the end of March, she was assigned to three international competitions: Marbella Grand Prix in Marbella, Spain from March 31-April 2; Sofia International Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria in May; and Guadalajara World Challenge Cup in Guadalajara, Spain from June 2–4.[11] At the US Gymnastics Championships in June, she won clubs silver behind Olympian Laura Zeng.[12] Mizuno competed at the Pan American Championships in October, capturing silver in hoop, ball, ribbon and all-around, behind teammate Evita Griskenas.[2][13]
2018
At the 2018 Rhythmic Challenge in February, Mizuno was third all-around with a score of 63.800.[14] At the end of March, Mizuno was assigned to four international competitions: Sofia International Tournament from March 30-April 1; Baku World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan from April 27–29; Guadalajara World Challenge Cup from May 4–6; and Portimao World Challenge Cup in Portimao, Portugal from May 11–13.[15] In July at the US Gymnastics Championships, Mizuno was fourth in clubs and fifth all-around.[1] At the Pan American Championships in September, she won silver in hoop, behind teammate Laura Zeng and ahead of Mexico's Marina Malpica.[2][16]
2019
Mizuno captured gold in all-around and ball, plus silver in hoop, clubs and ribbon at the Rhythmic Challenge in February.[17] In March she competed at MTM Ljubljana International Tournament in Ljubljana, Slovenia, finishing fifth all-around.[1][18] At the Pesaro World Cup in Pesaro, Italy, from April 5–7,[19] Mizuno finished 35th all-around, far behind fellow American Evita Griskenas, who finished sixth.[20] At the Tashkent World Cup in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on April 19–21,[1][18] she finished 17th all-around and did not advance to any apparatus finals.[21] At the US Gymnastics Championships in July, she won ball bronze with a score of 18.800, behind Laura Zeng and Evita Griskenas.[22] Mizuno competed at the Kazan World Challenge Cup in Kazan, Russia from August 30-September 1, placing 28th all-around.[23] At Japan's AEON Cup in October,[24] the American team finished eighth and Mizuno finished fifteenth all-around.[25]
2020
Mizuno started her 2020 season in February at the Rhythmic Challenge in Lake Placid, New York.[26] Mizuno placed fourth all-around, behind Lennox Hopkins-Williams and ahead of Elena Shinohara. She was third with ball, fourth in hoop and ribbon, and seventh in clubs.[27] The 2020 season was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Mizuno, frustrated by three consecutive fifth-place finishes at the U.S. national championships, considered quitting the sport. However, in autumn 2020, Mizuno was invited to train with the national senior group, which had lost a member and needed a replacement, an experience that she said was enjoyable and invigorating.[4]
Mizuno returned to competing as an individual gymnast in 2022. She won gold at the 2022 Rhythmic Challenge, the first national competition of the season.[30] Her first international competition of the year was Marbella Grand Prix in March, where she finished fifth with hoop, sixth in all-around and clubs, and seventh with ball and ribbon.[31] At the Sofia World Cup she placed sixth all-around,[32] and at the Baku World Cup she was sixth with ball.[33] She was sixth with clubs at the Pamplona World Challenge Cup.[34] In May, Mizuno was third with ball and fifth with clubs at the Portimao World Challenge Cup.[35] In June, she competed at the USA Gymnastics Championships, winning silver in all-around, behind Evita Griskenas and ahead of Erica Foster.[36] At the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, she was seventh in ribbon[37] and eighth with ball.[38] At the Cluj-Napoca World Challenge Cup in August, Mizuno finished 17th all-around.[39] In September at the 2022 World Championships, she contributed to the United States team's fifth place finish with her 12th place finish in the all-around.[40] In October, at the Aeon Cup in Japan, she was eighth all-around and helped the United States team capture bronze.[41]
2023
Mizuno began the season in February at the 2023 Rhythmic Challenge, coming second in the all-around behind Evita Griskenas, and first in clubs and ribbon.[42] The Aphrodite Cup in March was Mizuno's first international competition of the season - she was fourth in the all-around and picked up a bronze medal in ball, and she was fifth in ribbon and eighth with hoop.[43] The next week at the Faliro World Cup, Mizuno was injured during her qualification clubs routine and withdrew from the competition.[44] She returned to competition in June at the 2023 Pharaoh's Cup in Cairo, Egypt, winning four medals: gold in ball and ribbon, and silver for hoop and clubs.[45] Later that month, at the USA Gymnastics Championships, Mizuno became the individual all-around champion, ahead of Alexandria Kautzman.[46] In July at the Cluj-Napoca World Challenge Cup in Romania, Mizuno finished 13th all-around and additionally placed fifth in ball and eighth in hoop.[47] She was 27th all-around at the Milan World Cup later that month.[48]
At the Rhythmic World Championships in August, Mizuno contributed to the United States team's 14th place finish.[49] She did not qualify to any finals, finishing 32nd in the all-around.[50] In September at the Aeon Cup, she was 11th all-around and the United States team was fifth.[51] Competing at the 2023 Pan American Games, Mizuno finished fourth in the ribbon final, behind bronze medalist Evita Griskenas.[52] In December, she was named USA Gymnastics' Sportsperson of the year in rhythmic gymnastics.[53]
2024
At the 2024 Rhythmic Challenge, Mizuno came in third in the all-around and won with the ribbon.[54] She was assigned the 2024 World Cup in Sofia but withdrew before the competition.[55]
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