Sloane Blakely

Sloane Blakely (born December 23, 2002) is an American collegiate artistic gymnast and was a member of the United States women's national gymnastics team. She is currently competing for the Florida Gators in NCAA gymnastics. She is the older sister of gymnast Skye Blakely.

Sloane Blakely
Full nameSloane Blakely
Country representedUnited States
Born (2002-12-23) December 23, 2002
Dallas, Texas USA
HometownFrisco, Texas USA
Height5 ft 1 in (155 cm)
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior Elite (2018–20)
Level 10 (2021)
NCAA (2022–)
Years on national team2019 (USA)
ClubWorld Olympic Gymnastics Academy
College teamFlorida Gators (2022–25)
Head coach(es)Tatyana Shadenko
Medal record
Representing Florida Gators
NCAA Championships
Silver medal – second place2022 Fort WorthTeam
Silver medal – second place2023 Fort WorthTeam

Early life

Blakely was born to Steven and Stephanie Blakely in 2002 in Dallas, Texas and has one sibling, Skye. She originally did ballet and tap dancing prior to starting gymnastics training.[1]

Gymnastics career

2016

Blakely qualified as a junior elite in 2016. She made her elite debut at the 2016 U.S. Classic where she placed 21st in the all-around.[2] She next competed at the U.S. National Championships where she finished 18th.[3]

2018

Blakely turned senior in 2018. She made her senior debut at the American Classic where she placed sixth in the all-around.[4] Later that month she competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic where she placed seventh in the all-around and fourth on balance beam.[5] In August Blakely competed at the 2018 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships. She finished 16th in the all-around.[6]

2019

In February Blakely was named to the team to compete at 2019 L'International Gymnix in Montreal, alongside Kara Eaker, Aleah Finnegan, and Alyona Shchennikova. As a result, she was named to the national team for the first time.[7] While there she helped the USA win team gold and individually she won silver on balance beam behind Eaker and finished fourth on floor exercise.[8]

In June Blakely competed at the American Classic where she placed first on balance beam, second on vault behind Faith Torrez, and fifth on floor exercise. After the conclusion of the American Classic, Blakely was named as one of the eight athletes being considered for the team that would compete at the 2019 Pan American Games, along with Kara Eaker, Aleah Finnegan, Morgan Hurd, Shilese Jones, Sunisa Lee, Riley McCusker and Leanne Wong.[9] The following month Blakely competed at the U.S. Classic where she only competed on vault, balance beam, and floor exercise. She was not selected to compete at the Pan American Games.[10]

In August Blakely competed at the U.S. National Championships where she once again only competed on vault, balance beam, and floor exercise. She finished ninth and sixteenth on the latter two events.[11]

2020

Blakely competed at the 2020 L'International Gymnix as a Challenger and not part of national team. She finished first in the all-around and on balance beam.[12] In November Blakely signed her National Letter of Intent with the Florida Gators.[13]

2021

Blakely dropped down to level 10. She qualified to[14] and competed at the Nastia Liukin Cup where she finished 13th.[15] In May Blakely competed at the Developmental National Championships where she placed first in the senior-F division and swept titles on all apparatuses. In doing so Blakely became the first level 10 gymnast to sweep all of the titles at a National Championships.[16]

2021–2022 season

Blakely made her NCAA debut on January 7 in a quad meet against Rutgers, Northern Illinois, and Texas Women's. She competed on all four apparatuses and had the highest all-around and balance beam scores of the meet.[17] Blakely became the first Florida Gator gymnast since Kytra Hunter in 2012 to win the all-around in a debut collegiate meet.[18] As a result Blakely was named SEC Gymnast of the Week. In doing so she became the first freshman to earn the opening SEC Gymnast of the Week honor of a season since the honor began in 2000.[19]

Career perfect 10.0

SeasonDateEventMeet
2022March 4, 2022Floor exerciseFlorida @ Auburn

Competitive history

Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
Junior
2016U.S. Classic2115331511
U.S. National Championships1815251117
Senior
2018American Classic6111369
U.S. Classic716411
U.S. National Championships16181115
2019International Gymnix1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)4
American Classic2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)5
U.S. Classic1416
U.S. National Championships916
2020International Gymnix1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Level 10
2021Nastia Liukin Cup13
L10 National Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
NCAA
2022SEC Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)11
NCAA Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2023SEC Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)
NCAA Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)21

References

  1. "Sloane Blakely". USA Gymnastics.
  2. "Alexeeva wins junior title at Secret Classic". USA Gymnastics. June 4, 2016.
  3. "O'Keefe wins first junior U.S. title". USA Gymnastics. June 26, 2016.
  4. "Jones, DiCello win all-around titles at 2018 American Classic today". USA Gymnastics. July 7, 2018.
  5. "Biles, Wong win all-around titles at 2018 GK U.S. Classic". USA Gymnastics. July 28, 2018.
  6. "Biles shines on all four events on way to record fifth U.S. senior all-around title". USA Gymnastics. August 19, 2018.
  7. "USA Gymnastics announces women's spring international team assignments". USA Gymnastics. February 24, 2019.
  8. "USA wins four junior, senior event titles at 2019 Gymnix International". USA Gymnastics. March 10, 2019.
  9. "USA Gymnastics names eight women eligible for 2019 U.S. Women's Pan American Games Team". USA Gymnastics. June 23, 2019.
  10. "Biles, McClain win all-around titles at 2019 GK U.S. Classic". USA Gymnastics. July 20, 2019.
  11. "Biles soars to sixth U.S. women's all-around title at 2019 U.S. Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 11, 2019.
  12. "2020 International Gymnix Results". The Gymternet. March 9, 2020.
  13. "Sloane Blakely Signs with Gator Gymnastics Team". Florida Gators. November 11, 2020.
  14. "An additional 16 gymnasts qualify for the 2021 Nastia Liukin Cup". USA Gymnastics. February 17, 2021.
  15. "Smith, Zhou take 2021 Nastia Liukin Cup senior and junior titles". USA Gymnastics. February 26, 2021.
  16. "Region 8 claims Super Team title as 2021 USA Gymnastics Women's Development Program National Championships wrap in Daytona Beach". USA Gymnastics. May 17, 2021.
  17. "Preseason No. 2 Florida Gymnastics Opens with Quad Meet Win". Florida Gators. January 7, 2022.
  18. "Freshman Blakely Delivers Big In Gators Debut". Florida Gators. January 8, 2022.
  19. "Baumann and Blakely Claim Week 1 SEC Weekly Honors". Florida Gators. January 11, 2022.
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