Florida Gator gymnast Leanne Wong with work to do in order to make Olympics

The Olympic Trials for gymnastics can often be brutal and unforgiving. Between Team USA already being a difficult team to crack combined with the complexities of how to actually build the team, the only certainty for Team USA is Simone Biles while everyone else fights for the other four spots on the team.

Florida Gator Leanne Wong is in the mix for one of those four spots, but will need a convincing night two on Sunday in order to get a ticket to Paris.

Florida Gators Olympics: Going For Gold

The format for the Olympic Trials is the top scorer in the all-around competition automatically gets a spot on the team while the other four spots are up to the discretion of the committee based on how they feel they can best fill out the team. The current format at the Olympics has each team putting three athletes in each event, with every score counting.

Wong, the NCAA national champion in 2024 in the uneven bars and runner-up in the all-around competition, was sitting in first place after two rotations. Wong had the third best vault of the meet with a 14.450 (international gymnastics uses a different scoring system than NCAA) and the fourth best uneven bars routine with a 13.925.

However, her balance beam, despite having no significant flaws, scored low due to a low degree of difficulty, and she stepped out of bounds during her floor routine, dropping from 1st to 8th over the final two routines.

Biles ended night one in 1st place, highlighted by her 15.975 on the vault.

Wong won't be in the running for the auto spot, but given other injuries at the meet, including Florida's Kayla DiCello, there is still a pathway for her to sneak on the squad. Wong must convince the committee that she is worth a spot in the vault and possibly the uneven bars.

Night two of the USA Olympic Trials will take place on Sunday at 8 PM.