Leanne Wong’s Electrifying Day-1 Performance Puts Her in Medal Hunt at U.S. Gymnastics Championships

Leanne Wong rocketed back into the elite spotlight at the 2025 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans, vaulting to first place on her signature event and finishing the opening night third in the all-around with 55.100 points—her best total since winning world silver in 2021. The Florida Gators junior nailed a DTT vault for a meet-high 13.675, added 13.55 on uneven bars and 13.80 on floor, and kept her beam mistakes minimal to stay within half a point of leaders Hezly Rivera and Joscelyn Roberson. The performance positions Wong, a two-time Olympic alternate, as a frontrunner for October’s World Championships team and strengthens her bid for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. It also caps a whirlwind year in which she balanced pre-med classes, SEC titles and NIL fashion ventures before returning to elite full-time in June. “College refined my execution; now I’m chasing bigger difficulty again,” Wong said after podium training. Her upgraded bar combo (pike Chow to Pak) and the restored full-twisting double layout on floor boosted her start values by eight-tenths compared with last season’s U.S. Classic. Sunday’s finals (Peacock, 7 p.m. ET) will decide the national crown and automatic world berths. If Wong repeats her day-one numbers, she could capture her first senior U.S. title at age 22—a rarity in a sport trending ever younger. Key storylines to watch tonight • Vault showdown: Wong’s 13.675 edges out NCAA teammate Izzy Stassi (13.300) but leaves little cushion for Roberson, who plans an Amanar. • All-around margins: Less than 0.5 separates the top three; one wobble on beam could reshuffle the podium. • Team implications: High-scoring veterans like Wong are invaluable under the new 5-up, 4-count world format. Beyond New Orleans, Wong will head to selection camp in September, where consistency across four events could cement her first major international team since 2022. For fans and recruiters alike, her resurgence signals that the “CEO of Aesthetics” is ready to add another line to an already crowded résumé—and keep Google searches buzzing long after the confetti falls.