Jordyn Wieber will not try to make the 2016 U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics team, according to the Lansing (Mich.) State Journal.
Wieber, 19 and a Michigan native, hasn’t competed since she won gold as part of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. In July, she said she was still deciding on her gymnastics future, while a student at UCLA. She is not eligible to compete collegiately, since she turned professional before the London Olympics.
If Wieber’s career is over, it goes down as one of the best in U.S. history. Wieber and Shannon Miller are the only U.S. gymnasts to win World Championships individual all-around gold medals and Olympic team golds.
At the Olympics, Wieber placed fourth overall in all-around qualifying but third among Americans, behind Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman. One nation may qualify two athletes for each individual final, meaning Wieber missed the Olympic all-around final one year after winning the World all-around title.
Two days later, she helped the U.S. to its first Olympic team gold since 1996. She later placed seventh in the floor exercise final.
Medical tests after the Olympics showed Wieber competed in London with a stress fracture in her right leg.
In 2011, Wieber swept the American Cup, U.S. Championships and World Championships all-around titles in her first year as a senior gymnast. She also won the 2012 American Cup and 2012 U.S. Championship before placing second to Douglas at the Olympic trials.
The other four members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team plan to continue competing. Douglas and Raisman rejoined the U.S. national team in November and could compete next year for the first time since the Olympics.
Olympic vault silver medalist McKayla Maroney won the World title on vault in 2013 but missed all of 2014 following knee surgery in March.
Kyla Ross, the youngest member of the 2012 Olympic team, competed each of the last two years. She won silver and bronze in the all-around at the 2013 and 2014 World Championships behind the new U.S. star, Simone Biles.
No U.S. women’s gymnast has made back-to-back Olympic teams since Amy Chow and Dominique Dawes in 1996 and 2000.
