Katelyn Ohashi falls short as Esponda wins U.S. Classic

Katelyn Ohashi impressed in her first U.S. Classic as a senior elite after a 13-year hiatus, but she narrowly missed the score needed for the U.S. Championships as Reese Esponda held off Jade Carey for the all-around win in Hartford. The viral former UCLA star scored 13.200 on beam and floor for 26.400—just 0.400 shy of the 26.800 automatic mark for August’s nationals in Phoenix.

Key Takeaways

• Reese Esponda won her first elite senior all-around title at the 2026 U.S. Classic with 54.900, upsetting two-time Olympic gold medallist Jade Carey (54.050).
• Katelyn Ohashi returned after 13 years away, hit 13.200 on both beam and floor, and finished 0.400 short of the nationals qualifying total.
• The Hartford meet was the final qualifier for the 2026 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships, set for August 6–9 in Phoenix.
• Skye Blakely, back in elite competition since last October’s World Championships, won uneven bars (14.100) and balance beam (14.250).
• Ohashi said she felt proud of a “solid meet,” with her longer-term sights still set on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

For fans who remember Ohashi’s UCLA floor routines that broke the internet, Hartford felt like a living then-and-now moment: same showmanship, a new elite chapter, and a scoreboard that refused to cooperate by four tenths.

Who won the 2026 U.S. Classic all-around, and why does it matter?

On Saturday, July 18, in Hartford, Connecticut, 17-year-old Reese Esponda of World Champions Centre claimed the biggest win of her career. According to Olympics.com, she posted 54.900 to Carey’s 54.050 in a contest that came down through the final routines.

USA Gymnastics reported it was the first all-around title of Esponda’s elite career. A year after placing fifth at the U.S. Classic in Hoffman Estates, the Shenandoah, Texas, gymnast also took floor gold (13.950) and beam bronze (13.750), adding a 14.150 vault and 13.050 on bars.

Carey, competing for Oregon State University, earned all-around silver and vault gold with a 14.275 average (14.300 and 14.050). Zoey Molomo of Metroplex Gymnastics took all-around bronze at 53.900. The meet mattered because it was the last automatic path into August’s U.S. Championships—the domestic stage that shapes who stays in the Olympic conversation.

How close was Katelyn Ohashi to qualifying for nationals?

Very close. Olympics.com noted the Classic was Ohashi’s final chance to earn the 26.80 two-event total required to advance. Competing only on balance beam and floor exercise, the 29-year-old scored 13.200 on each apparatus and finished at 26.400.

Forbes reported that total left her four-tenths short of automatic qualification to Phoenix. Her beam 13.200 matched what she scored at June’s American Classic and ranked sixth-highest on the event that night. Floor, though, was a different story: a near-two-point jump from that earlier meet, good for fifth place on the apparatus in Hartford.

She started beam strong—hitting acrobatics and sticking the dismount to a massive roar—then closed on floor with intricate dance and trademark showmanship. Improvement was obvious. The qualifying cut still was not.

What does Katelyn Ohashi’s comeback look like then versus now?

Then, Ohashi was the college star whose joyful floor work made her a global name. Now, she is a Pacific Reign senior elite rebuilding difficulty after more than a decade away. Forbes said Saturday was her first U.S. Classic as a senior elite, just weeks after her surprise June return, and she told media she felt “at home” in Hartford.

Her team leaned into an artistic strategy meant to maximize scoring with fewer acrobatic elements. On beam, coaches inquired about difficulty after an initial 13.300 flashed—then judges reevaluated and lowered the mark to 13.200. “My score went down,” Ohashi laughed. “But you have to gamble, right?”

She left with little bitterness. “I couldn’t ask for anything more. I feel like I had a really solid meet,” she said. The crowd answered with some of the night’s loudest cheers. “That’s what my gymnastics is about: [being] happy and bringing the joy in,” she added, while noting pride in everything she has done this year.

A petition to August’s Championships remains possible, Forbes reported, but her immediate plans are out of her hands. The longer horizon is clearer: a run at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Hartford was not the ticket punch she wanted. It was still a confident, joyful step on that path.

Who else stood out beside Katelyn Ohashi in Hartford?

Beyond the all-around duel and Ohashi’s near-miss, Skye Blakely made a sharp specialized statement. Olympics.com said it was her first elite meet since last October’s World Championships; USA Gymnastics confirmed she won both events she contested—bars at 14.100 and beam at 14.250.

Junior and senior elites now turn toward the 2026 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships on August 6–9 in Phoenix, where automatic qualifiers and petition cases will sort the next national field. Esponda arrives as Classic champion. Carey arrives as Olympic pedigree with vault gold in hand. Ohashi arrives—if she arrives—as the nostalgia headliner who almost made the math work.

That is the Classic’s lasting buzz: a new all-around winner, a veteran Olympic champion pushed to silver, and Katelyn Ohashi proving the joy still travels even when four tenths say otherwise.