Top NCAA Gymnasts To Return To Elite Competition In 2025

While the 2025 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics season wrapped in late April, a new elite gymnastics season is just starting. This year’s collegiate meets saw 14 Paris Olympians or Olympic alternates competing among the NCAA ranks.

However, many athletes’ competitive seasons did not end at the 2025 NCAA National Championships. Instead, the following gymnasts intend to return to the sport’s highest level of competition, with many seeking spots at the 2025 World Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Olympic gold medalists Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey remain undecided on returning to elite gymnastics, with Carey indicating that 2025 is likely off the table. “Taking 2025 off would just help my body and mind relax a little more,” she told Olympics.com.

After a historic season with the UCLA Bruins, Chiles is focused on preparing for her final year as an NCAA gymnast. Though a run for Jakarta seems unlikely, she has not ruled out elite competition in 2025 and beyond.

The top NCAA gymnasts expected to vie for elite assignments in 2025:

Skye Blakely (Florida – USA)

Skye Blakely just wrapped her freshman season with the Florida Gators. Blakely was among the most anticipated additions to the 2025 class, entering Gainesville as a two-time World Champion with Team USA and a World finalist on balance beam.

Though a force on all four events, she was limited to uneven bars with the Gators after tearing her Achilles tendon at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. The injury marked her second consecutive Olympic bid cut short due to injury.

Before her injury, Blakely was considered a shoo-in for the 2024 Olympic Team, finishing second overall at the 2024 National Championship to only Simone Biles. Blakely has been methodically pacing her return to the remaining events, showing progress in training videos posted in early April.

Despite injury setbacks, Blakely has her sights set on the 2025 World Championships. Known for her world-class work on the beam and immense potential in the all-around, gymnastics fans excitedly anticipate her return to the elite stage.

Aleah Finnegan (LSU – Philippines)

From U.S. National Team Member to NCAA National Champion and Olympian, Aleah Finnegan has seen it all. She completed her final season for the LSU Tigers, wrapping a stellar career with two national and three SEC titles.

Finnegan’s most significant career moments came in 2024. In April, she clinched LSU’s first team championship with a near-perfect beam routine. Later that summer, she appeared alongside Filipina-American teammates Emma Malabuyo and Levi Jung-Ruivivar, representing the Philippines for the first time on the Olympic stage.

Though the Tigers fell short of defending their title in Finnegan’s senior season, she quickly announced her intentions outside NCAA gymnastics. Both Finnegan and Malabuyo indicated their desire to return to elite competition in an interview with Scott Bregman (Olympics.com).

“As of now, I’m set to compete in December, actually with [fellow Filipina Olympian and UCLA standout] Emma Malabuyo,” she told Bregman. “We’re going to go over to the Southeast Asian Games to compete.” The Southeast Asian Games are scheduled for December 7–19 in Thailand.

Emma Malabuyo (UCLA – Philippines)

From one Filipina American trailblazer to another, Emma Malabuyo also completed a noteworthy career with her collegiate squad in April 2025. The 22-year-old led UCLA to second place, its best finish since 2018, and helped the team to the Big Ten regular season and championship titles.

A world-class performer on the balance beam, Malabuyo also added an individual silver medal on the event in Fort Worth to close her NCAA career.

Like Finnegan, Malabuyo has made history on the mat for the Philippines. Malabuyo excelled on both the U.S. and Philippine stages, making the 2021 U.S. Olympic team as an alternate and the 2024 Philippines team as a competitive athlete.

In addition to appearing at the Olympics, she won gold on floor at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games, making her the first Philippine female gymnast to do so at those games. She and Finnegan will return to the SEA Games this December, hoping to replicate Malabuyo’s gold medal moment.

Konnor McClain (LSU – USA)

Konnor McClain’s NCAA career may have just started, but she’s been a staple in the elite gymnastics community for years. Though she’s excelled on the NCAA stage – helping LSU to its 2024 title and earning multiple SEC titles, McClain is hungry for more.

In 2022, she was the No. 1 elite gymnast in the United States, winning the national title over eventual World all-around silver medalist Shilese Jones. Considered a prodigy by many, the 20-year-old is arguably one of the most talented athletes in the sport.

However, McClain’s elite success never truly took flight due to untimely injuries and personal hardships, including her father’s death in 2021 due to COVID-19. Her goals were complicated again by a tragic Achilles tear in late May 2024, just over a month before the Olympic Games.

While McClain has not detailed concrete plans to return to competition, she has insinuated a comeback. “My story definitely isn’t over yet, and I remind myself of that every single day,” she told Olympics.com in April.

Joscelyn Roberson (Arkansas – USA)

Joscelyn Roberson is the first of two 2024 U.S. Olympic alternates who have shown intent to return to elite after the 2025 collegiate season. The powerhouse athlete just wrapped up a historic freshman season with Jordyn Wieber’s Arkansas Razorbacks.

In her first year in the NCAA, Roberson set numerous records for the Razorbacks, including the highest all-around score for a freshman in program history (39.625). Though Arkansas failed to advance its team to nationals, Roberson qualified as an individual, the program’s first freshman qualifier since 2017.

Roberson hasn’t missed a beat since April’s NCAA Championships. The 19-year-old appeared at May’s U.S. National Team Camp and likely has her sights set on the 2025 World Championships.

Though she clinched a World title with Team USA in 2023, an injury in warmups prevented her from competing to her full potential. At the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, she impressed fans and the selection committee, nailing her routines to finish first on balance beam and fourth on floor, good for an Olympic alternate spot.

Sporting some of the world’s highest difficulty on floor and beam, 2025 could be the year for Roberson to capture individual accolades.

Ava Stewart (Minnesota – Canada)

Canadian elites took the NCAA by storm in 2025, and two-time Olympian Ava Stewart was at the helm. Stewart quickly became a lineup staple on vault, bars, and beam in her freshman season for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Stewart peaked at the right time for the Gophers, delivering scores of 9.875 or higher on all three events at the 2025 Big Ten Gymnastics Championships, leading the Gophers to a top-three finish behind UCLA and Michigan State.

With her clutch performances, she secured a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and All-Big Ten Second Team. Known for bringing world-class difficulty to the collegiate stage, Stewart should easily transition back to the elite level.

Like many of her fellow elites, Stewart returns to the elite stage just a month after completing her collegiate season. She will take to the floor this May at the 2025 Canadian Championships in Calgary.

Aurélie Tran (Iowa – Canada)

Iowa standout freshman Aurélie Tran will join Stewart in Calgary at May’s 2025 Canadian Championships. Tran was one of three Canadians joining Iowa’s roster for the 2025 season, and the Québec City native quickly made a name for herself in a highly competitive Big Ten Conference.

In her first season, Tran emerged as a leader for the Hawkeyes, recording 15 event titles, 33 top-three finishes, and eight scores of 9.900 or higher in 2025.

A 2024 Paris Olympian and Canadian all-around silver medalist, Tran delivered her best gymnastics at the 2025 Big Ten Championships, recording a career-high 39.525 in the all-around.

With her stellar results in the regular season, Tran secured First Team All-Big Ten and All-Freshman team honors, making her just one of two freshmen to earn both awards. With her 2025 elite season beginning this coming week in Calgary, the rising star looks to qualify for her second World Championships.

Leanne Wong (Florida – USA)

Fewer athletes have shown more longevity and persistence than Leanne Wong.

At just 21 years old, Wong is already a two-time U.S. Olympic alternate, a four-time World medalist, and a seven-time NCAA medalist. In addition to her medal count, she is a trailblazing entrepreneur, an author, and a soon-to-be medical student.

Though her Florida Gators fell short of achieving their ultimate goal at April’s NCAA Championship, she completed a terrific career with the Gators, including an individual NCAA title, five SEC titles, and nine perfect tens.

While many fans suspected Wong’s career would soon end after years of high-level competition, the veteran continues to push forward, appearing on the official billing at May’s U.S. National Team Camp.

It’s hard to imagine that an athlete of Wong’s drive and caliber wouldn’t have sights on Jakarta in the fall. After all, she’s done it before. At the 2021 World Championships, Wong delivered, claiming silver in the all-around and bronze on floor.

Could 2025 bring more accolades for the “renaissance gymnast?” For now, Wong shows no signs of slowing down.