HENDERSON, Nevada – Eight national teams, including the defending Olympic team gold medalists, will vie for the international team title at USA Gymnastics’ American Cup in suburban Las Vegas. With a total of forty-three gymnasts, including 12 Olympians, the headline event will be held Saturday evening at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, with the 2026 Nastia Liukin Cup Presented by Ozone slated for earlier that day.
The U.S. enters the competition as the defending World and Olympic women’s team gold medalists and men’s team bronze medalists, while Japan boasts both titles on the men’s side. Comprised of men and women competing together, American Cup will see eight countries provide a sneak peek into the mixed team format that may be used at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Taking on the USA and Japan will be Brazil, China, Great Britain, Mexico, the Philippines and Spain.
Japan is led by the most accomplished individual athlete in the field, three-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time World champion Hashimoto Daiki. As the defending Olympic and World Championships women’s team gold medalists and men’s team bronze medalists, the U.S. team is led by Olympic champion Hezly Rivera and World and Olympic bronze medalist Asher Hong, both of whom are the defending U.S. all-around champions. Brazil heads to Nevada as the 2024 women’s Olympic team bronze medalists and 2023 World Championships silver medalists while China is the World and Olympic men’s team silver medalists.
In addition to 12 Olympians and three Olympic medalists, the field for Saturday includes 23 athletes with senior Artistic World Championships experience. Of those, three U.S. gymnasts highlight the six-athlete delegation headed for Nevada. Leading the American team are Rivera, Hong and 2020 Olympian and two-time World medalist Yul Moldauer.
They will be joined in American Cup competition by rising stars who have started to make a name for themselves both domestically and internationally, including two-time Junior World Championships medalist Danila Leykin; five-time Junior Pan American Games champion and Junior World Championships team bronze medalist Charleigh Bullock; and four-time 2025 Antalya World Cup medalist and 2025 U.S. vault silver medalist Claire Pease.
Notable athletes from across the globe are each hoping to gain international honors for their country. Hashimoto is one of the greatest men’s gymnasts of all time, owning a total of 16 medals from World Championship and Olympic competition. Other noteworthy international athletes competing Saturday include two-time World Championship medalist Zhang Qingying (CHN), 2025 World floor exercise bronze medalist Abigail Martin (GBR) and 2025 World parallel bars silver medalist Tsunogai Tomoharu (JPN).
The international roster also includes a depth of Olympic experience, with five athletes having made multiple appearances at the Games. Hashimoto, Nicolau Mir (ESP), Alba Petisco (ESP), Joel Plata (ESP) and Diogo Soares (BRA) have all competed at the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games. Hashimoto, Mir, Plata and Issac Nuñez (MEX) are also all multi-time World team members with their respective countries, with Mir, Nuñez and Plata each having six appearances.
Accompanying American Cup on March 7 will be the annual Nastia Liukin Cup Presented by Ozone, a national competition for Level 10 women’s artistic gymnasts. Returning to American Cup weekend for the first time since 2020, the country’s best U.S. level 10 women’s gymnasts will compete for national titles in suburban Las Vagas.
The event will feature three rounds of competition beginning with eight teams/countries. Two men and two women per country will compete in each round with one male athlete and one female athlete competing alternately in each rotation. One team will be eliminated following Round 1, two teams eliminated after Round 2, and the four remaining teams will compete for the podium.
The four scores from each athlete on a team will be added up to determine the team score – no scores will be dropped. Team scores will not carry over between rounds.
A complete infographic of the competition format can be viewed here.
American Cup will stream live on Peacock and an international live stream will be available on the USA Gymnastics YouTube channel for viewers outside of the United States. Nastia Liukin Cup will stream live on the USA Gymnastics YouTube channel. Podium training sessions for both American Cup (PPV) and Nastia Liukin Cup Presented by Ozone (PPV) will be available on Flipnow.tv.
A complete schedule of events is listed below. All times Pacific.
Saturday, March 7
11 a.m. — Nastia Liukin Cup
6 p.m. — American Cup
Fans can find complete information about American Cup and Nastia Liukin Cup Presented by Ozone, including ticketing, on their respective websites.
All registered athletes for American Cup are listed alphabetically by team below. Athletes with Olympic and World Championship connections are indicated by symbol. All surnames are written in uppercase letters.
Team: Brazil
Women
Gabriela BOUÇAS — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Ana Luiza LIMA — Telêmaco Borba, Brazil
Sophia WEISBERG — Araras, Brazil^
Team: China
Women
KE Qinqin — Dongguan, China
TIAN Zhuofan — Hunan, China
ZHANG Qingying — Zhejiang, China^
Team: Great Britain
Women
Abigail MARTIN — Paignton, England*^
Emily ROPER — Ipswich, England
Ruby STACEY — Tavistock, England^
Team: Japan
Women
KISHI Rina — Toda, Japan*^
NAKAMURA Haruka — Osaka, Japan*^
Team: Mexico
Women
Natalia ESCALERA— Ensenada, Mexico*^
Mariangela FLORES— Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico^
Paulina GUERRA— Monterrey, Mexico^
Team: Philippines
Women
Chiara ANDREW — Chino Valley, Arizona
Llya ESCOSES — Pasay City, Philippines
Haylee GARCIA — Makati City, Philippines^
Team: Spain
Women
Marina ESCUDERO — Barcelona, Spain^
Alba PETISCO — Barcelona, Spain*^
Team: USA
Women
Charleigh BULLOCK — Spotsylvania, Va.
Claire PEASE — Sunnyvale, Texas
Hezly RIVERA — Oradell, N.J. *
*Denotes Olympian
^Denotes World Gymnastics World Championships team member
