Skye Blakely, Claire Pease share first at U.S. Gymnastics Championships

The University of Florida's Skye Blakely and 17-year-old Honolulu native Claire Pease are tied for the all-around lead after the first day of women's competition at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships on Friday in Phoenix.

Each earned 55.6 points.

Sixteen-year-old Charleigh Bullock from Virginia holds third place at 55.4, with defending all-around champion Hezly Rivera (55.0), Jade Carey (54.4) and Reese Esponda (54.1) also in contention.

Blakely, 21, was part of the United States' winning teams at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, but she missed the 2024 Paris Olympics due to an Achilles injury she sustained at the U.S. trials. She returned to competition last year and shared the uneven bars crown with Rivera at the U.S. championships.

She said of her performance on Friday, according to Olympics.com, "That felt really good. I'm really proud of myself. It's not easy, but I feel like I handled each moment the best of my ability."

Pease called being the co-leader "definitely a dream," per Olympics.com. Looking ahead, she added, "I just like to stay focused on what I'm doing in the gym."

Rivera, 18, was a member of the gold-medal-winning U.S. team at the 2024 Olympics. Her Friday score was hurt by a fall on the uneven bars, but she ended the day with the best score on the balance beam (14.3) and the second-best mark on the floor exercise (14.0), behind only Esponda's 14.45.

Bullock produced the best uneven bars score (14.25), just ahead of Pease and Blakely, who were both at 14.2.

Pease (13.9) and Blakely (13.75) were second and third, respectively, behind Rivera on the balance beam.

The women's event concludes on Sunday.

--Field Level Media