Hezly Rivera was quite young when it was discovered that she had the skills to become a gymnast. She was taken under the wing of a well-known coach and managed to make it to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Although the star failed to qualify for the finals, she still has the love and support of her family. Here’s what we know about her background.
Who Is Hezly Rivera?
Hezly “Hez” Rivera, 16, was born on June 4, 2008, in Hackensack, New Jersey. She and her family, parents Henry Rivera and Heidy Ruiz, and siblings Hanly Rivera and Carhelis Abreu, currently live in Plano, Texas. They moved there in 2021 or 2022 so the gymnast could join the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA).
At age five, Hezly attended a friend’s birthday party at a gymnastics facility. The coaching staff approached her parents because of how she stood out with her casual cartwheels and flips. They advised her parents to have her try out for the team.
Hezly made the team with her very first audition, which the coaching team described as “very unusual.” They enrolled her in a class, and she “absolutely fell in love” with gymnastics.
She got hooked on the sport and started her career in 2013, spending hours practicing at ENA Gymnastics in Paramus. Her father recalled, “All she ever wanted to do was be in the gym.”
When she was eight, Hezly’s parents started homeschooling her so she could practice intensely. Her computer engineer father and her mother said gymnastics would be their life, and there was no looking back.
Almost three years ago, the star’s family relocated from New Jersey to Plano, Texas, to allow Hezly to train under Valeri Liukin. He is famous for being Nastia Liukin’s father and Gabby Douglas’ coach. Nastia is a five-time Olympic medalist, while Gabby is a three-time Olympic gold medalist.
Henry was so focused on supporting his daughter that he once gave her a copy of “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play,” written by Kobe Bryant. The late Los Angeles Lakers player inspired the gymnast with his drive.
Her father shared, “Her ticket was always outworking everyone. Her mentality was almost that ‘mamba mentality.’” Hezly believes if you want something, you must go for it. She also knows that things won’t be handed to her, especially since she’s Latina.
The teenager got to rub shoulders with future stars like LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne. Gymnastics coach Maggie Haney trained the athlete but when she was suspended, the athlete’s family relocated to Texas so the teenager could continue training.
While training, the star kept up with her education by attending Connection Academy. The academy is an online high school program that allows her time and space to maintain her training and competition schedule.
What she loves about gymnastics is that she can flip in the air, and she is also a fan of being with her teammates. Her favorite gymnastics event is the bars. Growing up, the teenager was always a fan of the Olympics and often rewatched the 2008 and 2012 ones.
She became old enough to feature in senior-level competitions when she turned 15. At the 2024 Winter Cup, the gymnast placed third in the all-around. She was in sixth place in the individual all-around finish at the National Championships. And after years of training, Hezly finally got to perform at the Olympics in 2024.
Hezly’s Journey to the 2024 Paris Olympics
The National Championships placement allowed her eligibility to compete at the Olympic trials a few months later. In June 2024, she participated in a two-day competition of the team trials for qualification for the Paris Olympics.
Hezly was facing seasoned athletes who had medals from the Rio and Tokyo Olympic Games. She had never competed at the Olympics before and described herself as the “underdog.” Fate was on her side and placed her in the run when three top contenders withdrew from the trials due to injuries.
The star, who once revealed that her goal in gymnastics is to make the National team to have a chance to represent the US at the Olympics, was unmoved by the changes, revealing, “I just went out there and gave it my ‘normal,’ because that is good enough.”
On July 1, 2024, an X user shared a video of Hezly’s father crying in the stands while recording his daughter on his phone. At the time, it was revealed that she was chosen to represent the US Women’s Gymnastics Team at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Speaking about her selection, the gymnast said, “This is everything that my inner child ever wanted.” She shared that being able to represent the US team at the Olympics was “amazing.” The star then revealed that she was “shocked” when her name got called, an experience he said felt “surreal.”
She worked hard to get where she is and finally got to live out her dreams of being an Olympian. The unexpected selection meant a lot to Hezly but also to every person who helped her get there.
The athlete couldn’t explain how she felt knowing that she had put in years of hard work with her family making sacrifices to get her there. At the Paris Olympic Games, she was the youngest competitor representing Team US in any sport.
Becoming an Olympian didn’t go to her head, and she remained calm and continued training as usual. Before going to the Olympics, she kept the same mentality she always had and went to the gym daily, giving “it 100 percent.”
The star said if she takes to the Olympics’ floor and does the same things she did in the gym, she’ll know that she’s done her best.
As a Latina with a Dominican background — her parents come from the Dominican Republic — the gymnast felt it was an honor to represent Latinas and the Dominican Republic at the 2024 Paris Olympics. But she also felt like she represented both the US and the Dominican Republic, as she’s “very proud to be Latina and American.”
Speaking about her goals at the Olympics, she said, “I just want to help the community grow.” The star wanted other Latinas to look up to her and wish to be like her “because she’s Latina.”
But in addition to her prowess in the art, the athlete will be leaning on her faith to help her stay focused as she tackles the Paris Olympics.
The Christian gymnast revealed that she likes praying with her family before leaving to compete and on other occasions. Praying is essential as it helps her calm down and gets her in a good headspace. She also listens to Christian music.
Hezly shared that her favorite Christian artist is Katy Nichole because the musician uplifts her, cheers her up, and calms her down. Sadly, despite how hopeful she was to represent at the Olympics, her dreams took an unexpected turn.
Hezly’s Fans Feel She Deserves to Perform in the Olympic Finals
On July 28, 2024, Hezly had a shaky debut during the women’s gymnastics qualifier at the Paris Olympics. It was revealed that she wouldn’t partake in the finals alongside her US teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Simone Biles, and Jade Carey.
Responding to a “Today” Facebook post that said Hezly would only take part in the finals if one of her teammates got injured, a fan wrote, “She earned her spot and will always be an Olympian! We all know she can do it!”
An X user stood by the whole team, writing, “let’s not forget jordan chiles, hezly rivera, and jade chiles also. the WHOLE team deserves so much love. remember their names. we are proud of you 5!!”
Replying to a different Facebook post about Hezly being booted out of the Olympics, someone stated, “Hope she continues. They should have let her do at least one event in the finals given how well they dominated.” But why did she pull out of the finals?
Why Was Hezly Not in the Olympic Finals for Gymnastics?
During the qualifier, Hezly had the lowest scores on her team, causing her to fail to make it to the finals in any individual gymnastics event. She got a 12.633 score in the beam event and a 13.900 in the uneven bars competition.
Her scores placed her 26th in the beam event and 13th in the uneven bars. The athlete’s team chose to drop her beam event score to help lower their error margin. Luckily, her overall bar performance allowed the team to progress to the finals.
As the team headed into the all-around team final, they were leading with a qualifier overall score of 172.296. They were ahead of Italy, who followed closely with a score of 166.86, and in third place was China with 166.628.
The Women’s Gymnastics final was held on July 30, 2024, and Hezly’s team won, meaning she also earned a gold medal. Despite the gymnast failing to partake in the finals, she still got to star alongside one teammate she admired.
Meeting and Working with Simone
Hezly was only seven years old when she met Simone, long before they became teammates in Paris. In April 2016, the older and well-known gymnast visited the gym where Hezly was taking classes. The pair even posed together for a picture that the younger athlete shared on her Instagram.
Hezly confessed that she never thought they’d be on the same Olympic team that day when they took the photo together. The star continued, “So it’s just so amazing that I am so blessed to be here and have this opportunity.”
During the Olympic trials, the teenager gave an impressive performance that earned her 27.975 points for two balance beam routines. She surprisingly beat Simone and Suni on the beam but tied with Joscelyn Roberson.
The motivational advice that Hezly uses might be what got her this far in her career at such a young age. She once revealed that during a meeting with her coaches, head coach Valeri and coach Anna Liukin told her to “just do me.”
They informed her that she isn’t required to do more or less than what she does normally. Her trainers said she wasn’t competing with others but only with herself and she must go out and do what she needed to do, and the rest would “fall into place.”
Through it all, her family stood by her, giving her all the support she needed. Here’s more about her family and how they encouraged her.
Getting All the Support She Needs
According to his LinkedIn account, Hezly’s father is the Senior Director of Test Engineering at Medidata Solutions. He’s been with the company for nineteen years and three months and has been in his new role for a year and five months.
From 1997 until 2002, Henry studied at the Stevens Institute of Technology, where he earned a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) and Computer Engineering. His job has allowed him to afford Hezly’s gymnastics career.
The young athlete also credited Carhelis, her older sister, for getting her involved in gymnastics at an early stage. She recalled how her sibling would tell their mother that she should put Hezly into gymnastics due to the handstands and cartwheels she performed in the house.
Carhelis knew how dangerous it was for her younger sister to be doing such stunts in the house, so she urged their mother to enroll her in the sport so she could be safe. The older sister hoped that through gymnastics, Hezly would have the freedom to do whatever she wanted and make it far.
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