# Skye Blakely Tops U.S. Women in Worlds Qualifying After Hezly Rivera’s Withdrawal

> Skye Blakely leads U.S. women’s gymnastics team to Worlds qualifying after Hezly Rivera withdraws due to injury.
- Title: Skye Blakely Tops U.S. Women in Worlds Qualifying After Hezly…
- Summary: Skye Blakely leads U.S. women’s gymnastics team to Worlds qualifying after Hezly Rivera withdraws due to injury. Skye Blakely scored 55.465 points in…
- Keywords: skye blakely, hezly rivera, u.s. women, worlds qualifying, gymnastics, olympics, 2026 world artistic gymnastics champions, left ankle injury, tommmy john surgery, achilles tendon rupture, sports, Skye
- Source: EssentiallySports — https://essentiallysports.com/olympics-news-gymnastics-news-i-already-cried-skye-blakely-tops-u-s-women-in-worlds-qualifying-after-hezly-riveras-withdrawal
- Author: Maleeha Shakeel
- Published: 2026-10-19T05:50:47+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: skye blakely, hezly rivera, u.s. women, worlds qualifying, gymnastics, olympics, 2026 world artistic gymnastics champions, left ankle injury, tommmy john surgery, achilles tendon rupture, sports
## U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team
The U.S. women’s gymnastics team entered the 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with a younger lineup after Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles were absent.
## Hezly Rivera Withdraws
Hezly Rivera, the Paris 2024 Olympic gold medalist, withdrew from Worlds qualifying on October 17 due to a left ankle injury.
## Skye Blakely Leads Team
Skye Blakely scored 55.465 points in the all-around, leading the U.S. women with 14.000 on vault, 14.333 on uneven bars, 14.166 on balance beam, and 12.966 on floor exercise.
## Team Performance
The American team posted a combined score of 164.529, provisionally ahead of Italy by 2.099 points with Japan trailing by 0.800 points.
## Blakely’s Injuries
Blakely underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2021 after tearing her ulnar collateral ligament and missed Tokyo Olympics, then ruptured her right Achilles tendon in June 2024.
## Blakely’s Emotional Reaction
Blakely shared she cried after finishing her performance, saying, 'It truly means the world to me. I’m not going to cry; I already cried.'

> It truly means the world to me. I’m not going to cry; I already cried.
## Rivera’s Second Setback
Hezly Rivera withdrew from Worlds qualifying for the second consecutive year due to a left ankle injury after rolling the same ankle in 2025.
## Key takeaway

Skye Blakely scored 55.465 points in all-around gymnastics to top U.S. women at Worlds qualifying after Hezly Rivera withdrew due to left ankle injury.