Shilese Jones

Shilese Jones (born July 26, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. She is a member of the United States' women's national gymnastics team and was a member of the team that won gold at the 2018 Pan American Championships.

Shilese Jones
Full name	Shilese Jones
Nickname(s)	Shi
Country represented	United States
Born	July 26, 2002 Seattle, Washington
Residence	Westerville, Ohio, U.S.
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Years on national team	2018–Present (US)
Gym	Future Gymnastics Academy
College team	Florida Gators
Head coach(es)	Christian Gallardo
Assistant coach(es)	Garrett Plaza
Medal record Representing  United States Women's artistic gymnastics Pan American Championships 2018 Lima Team

Early life

Jones was born in Seattle, Washington to parents Sylvester Jones and Latrice Bryant. She has one sister.[1]

Gymnastics career

2014–15

Jones qualified to junior elite in 2014. She made her elite debut at the American Classic where she finished 29th in the all-around but fourth on vault.[2] She later competed at the U.S. Classic where she placed fourteenth in the all-around, seventh on vault, ninth on floor exercise, and twenty-third on uneven bars and balance beam.[3] At the 2014 National Championships Jones placed twentieth in the all-around.[4]

In July 2015 Jones competed at the U.S. Classic where she finished sixth in the all-around, on vault, and on floor exercise.[5] The following month she competed at the 2015 National Championships where she placed tenth in the all-around[6] ninth on vault, fourteenth on uneven bars and floor exercise, and tenth on balance beam.[7]

2016–17

Jones competed at the 2016 U.S. Classic in July where she finished nineteenth in the all-around and seventh on vault.[8] In August she competed at the 2016 National Championships where she finished seventh in the all-around[9] but won bronze on vault behind Chae Campbell and Madeleine Johnston and on floor exercise behind Maile O'Keefe and Riley McCusker.[10]

Jones competed at the 2017 U.S. Classic where she placed seventh in the all-around.[11] She was scheduled to compete at the 2017 National Championships but had to withdraw due to injury.[12]

2018

Jones turned senior in 2018. She competed at the American Classic where she placed first in the all-around, on vault, and on floor exercise, placed fourth on uneven bars, and twelfth on balance beam.[13] Later in the summer she competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic where she placed fourth in the all-around behind Simone Biles, Riley McCusker, and Morgan Hurd, sixth on uneven bars, eleventh on balance beam, and fifth on floor exercise.[14]

At the National Championships Jones finished fifth in the all-around, behind Biles, Hurd, McCusker, and Grace McCallum, sixth on uneven bars, tenth on balance beam, and seventh on floor exercise.[15][16] As a result of her performance she was added to the senior national team for the first time.[17] The following day, Jones was named to the team to compete at the Pan American Championships in Lima, Peru alongside McCallum, Trinity Thomas, Jade Carey, and Kara Eaker.[18] In the team competition, Jones helped the United States' win the gold.[19][20]

In October Jones participated in the Worlds Team Selection Camp. During the competition she placed eighth in the all-around, second on vault behind Biles, fifth on uneven bars, ninth on balance beam, and eighth on floor exercise.[21] The following day she was not named to the team to compete at the 2018 World Championships.[22][23]

2019

In February Jones was named to the team to compete at the 2019 City of Jesolo Trophy alongside Sunisa Lee, Emma Malabuyo, and Gabby Perea.[24] While there she contributed scores on vault, beam, and floor that helped the team win gold.[25]

In June, after the conclusion of the American Classic, Jones was named as one of the eight athletes being considered for the team to compete at the 2019 Pan American Games along with Sloane Blakely, Kara Eaker, Aleah Finnegan, Morgan Hurd, Sunisa Lee, Riley McCusker, and Leanne Wong.[26]

At the 2019 GK US Classic, Jones placed ninth in the all-around. She also placed third on vault behind Jade Carey and Aleah Finnegan, eleventh on uneven bars, fourteenth on balance beam, and tenth on floor exercise. After the competition she was named as the alternate for the Pan American Games.[27]

At the U.S. National Championships, Jones placed twelfth in the all-around. She also finished fifth on vault, fourteenth on uneven bars, eleventh on balance beam, and ninth on floor exercise.[28] She did not retain her spot on the national team, but it was announced that despite neither gymnast making the team, her and Faith Torrez had been extended invites to the worlds selection camp. She later withdrew from the camp due to injury.[29]

2020

In March Jones was selected to compete at the City of Jesolo Trophy alongside Sophia Butler, Leanne Wong, and Kara Eaker. As a result she was re-added to the national team. However, the USA decided to not send a team to Jesolo due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.[30] In October it was announced that Jones would compete at a friendly competition in Japan taking place in November. She will compete alongside Butler and eMjae Frazier and against gymnasts from Russia, Japan, and China.[31]

Competitive history

Junior

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2014	American Classic		29	4	24	32	27
	U.S. Classic		14	7	23	23	9
	National Championships		20	12	20	33	14
2015	U.S. Classic		6	6	14	19	6
	National Championships		10	9	14	10	14
2016	U.S. Classic		19	7	17	38	18
	National Championships		7		14	20
2017	U.S. Classic		7	7	18	16	4

Senior

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2018	American Classic				4	12
	U.S. Classic		4		6	11	5
	U.S. National Championships		5		6	10	7
	Pan American Championships
	Worlds Team Selection Camp		8		5	9	8
2019	City of Jesolo Trophy
	U.S. Classic		9		11	14	10
	U.S. National Championships		12	5	14	11	9
2020	Friendship & Solidarity Meet

References

1. https://usagym.org/pages/athletes/athleteListDetail.html?id=384302
2. "Toronjo, Foberg win all-around titles at 2014 American Classic". USA Gymnastics. July 5, 2014.
3. "Biles, Chiles take Secret U.S. Classic all-around titles". USA Gymnastics. August 2, 2014.
4. https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_14champs_jrevents.pdf
5. https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_15susc_jr.pdf
6. https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_15champs_jraa.pdf
7. https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_15champs_jrevents.pdf
8. https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_16classic_jr.pdf
9. https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_16champs_jraa.pdf
10. https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_16champs_jrevents.pdf
11. "2017 U.S. Classic Meet Results - Juniors" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. July 29, 2017.
12. "54 women will compete at 2017 P&G Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 7, 2017.
13. "Jones, DiCello win all-around titles at 2018 American Classic today". USA Gymnastics. July 8, 2018.
14. "Biles, Wong win all-around titles at 2018 GK U.S. Classic". USA Gymnastics. July 28, 2018.
15. "Biles wins fifth senior women's all-around title at 2018 U.S. Gymnastics Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 19, 2018.
16. "2018 U.S. Championships Results". The Gymternet. August 20, 2018.
17. "USA Gymnastics names 2018-19 U.S. Women's National Team". USA Gymnastics. August 20, 2018.
18. "USA Gymnastics names U.S. Women's Team for 2018 Pan Am Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 20, 2018.
19. "U.S. women win team gold at 2018 Senior Pan Am Championships". USA Gymnastics. September 16, 2018.
20. "McCallum, Thomas go one-two in women's all-around at 2018 Senior Pan Am Championships". USA Gymnastics. September 15, 2018.
21. "Biles wins U.S. women's World Team Selection Camp competition". USA Gymnastics. October 11, 2018.
22. "USA Gymnastics announces 2018 U.S. Women's World Championships Team". USA Gymnastics. October 12, 2018.
23. "Qualification line-up for U.S. women is announced for 2018 World Championships". USA Gymnastics. October 25, 2018.
24. "USA Gymnastics announces women's spring international team assignments". USA Gymnastics. February 24, 2019.
25. "USA wins senior team title at 2019 Jesolo Trophy, captures 14 other medals". USA Gymnastics. March 3, 2019.
26. "USA Gymnastics names eight women eligible for 2019 U.S. Women's Pan American Games Team". USA Gymnastics. June 23, 2019.
27. "Biles, McClain win all-around titles at 2019 GK U.S. Classic". USA Gymnastics. July 20, 2019.
28. "Biles soars to sixth U.S. women's all-around title at 2019 U.S. Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 11, 2019.
29. "Fans can watch U.S. Women's World Championships Selection Camp competition live on Sept. 22". USA Gymnastics. September 21, 2019.
30. "U.S. women to compete in 2020 Gymnix International". USA Gymnastics. March 3, 2020.
31. "Uchimura Kohei to compete in Japan's first coronavirus-era international sporting event next month". Olympic Channel. October 12, 2020.

External links

• Shilese Jones at the International Gymnastics Federation