16-year-old Hezly Rivera reveals childhood dream of going to the Olympics after Paris 2024 gold medal

Hezly Rivera can now call herself an Olympic champion. The 16-year-old gymnast from Hackensack, New Jersey, played an important part in the USA women's gymnastics Olympic gold medal in the team all-around event.

USA topped the table with a total of 171.296 points in the finals. Italy took home the silver with a total of 165.494 points, while Brazil was the bronze medalist with a total of 164.497 points.

After the win, Rivera celebrated her win on her Instagram account, where she posted an image of her alongside her teammates. The carousel post included some old pictures as well, where Rivera revealed her journey from being a young gymnast aiming to make it to the Olympics, to living that dream at the Paris Olympics 2024.

The post also contained a snapshot of an old diary entry, wherein she'd written,

"Hi, I'm Hezly. I love doing gymnastics. Some day I want to go to the Olympics, with me and my family. Gymnastics is the best sport I've ever done. It's hard but fun."

In the second image of the Instagram post, a young Rivera can be seen biting her medal from a gymnastics event, while the third image depicts her recreating that exact pose with the gold medal from the Paris Olympics.

A month before the Paris Olympics, during an interview with NBC, Hezly Rivera mentioned that she had been training 'her entire life for this moment.'

Although Hezly Rivera was not a part of the team that won the finals, she had performed well during the qualifications round. Hezly Rivera scored 13.900 in the uneven bars section, and 12.633 in the beam section to contribute to USA's overall score of 172.296, which not only helped them qualify for the finals but also top the scoreboard overall.

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Hezly Rivera on her medal-winning experience at the Paris Olympics

Hezly Rivera [Extreme Right] along with the US Women's Gymnastics Team after winning the gold medal for Team All Around Event at Paris Olympics 2024 [Image Source: Getty]

Hezly Rivera may not have been a part of the finals, but she is far from disappointed. Hezly Rivera is ecstatic about being a part of the Olympic gold medalist team from USA at the Paris Olympics.

She said (via NBCDFW)

"This was such an amazing experience, and just being with the team to support them meant the world to me. It was so surreal you know. My mind was everywhere. I am so happy to be here and this team has worked so hard."

While Rivera is the youngest female gymnast in this edition to win an Olympic gold medal, she is not the youngest American gymnast to do so. That feat belongs to Dominique Moceanu, who was 14 years old during the Atlanta Olympics, and was a part of the 'Magnificent Seven' when she won the Olympic gold medal.