Larissa Miller (AUS)
The London Olympian earned the sole berth Australia had for the Olympics and she will be hoping to equal her result from the 2014 World Championships where she was a finalist in the Floor Exercise. If she were to make the Floor Final she would be one of the most artistic gymnasts performing.
Gaelle Mys (BEL)
Gaelle was an Olympian for Belgium in Beijing 2008 and she qualified to the all-around final. Four years later in 2012 she did not earn the sole spot Belgium had for the Olympics, instead was named the alternate but after teammate Julie Croket tore her ACL Gaelle got the chance to go to London. Today Belgium has qualified a full team and Gaelle will be the most experienced member in it.
Céline Van Gerner (NED)
Four years ago Céline did not earn the sole spot the Netherlands had for the Olympics so she went to court to have her Federation’s decision revoked citing that the decision had been made to soon and that she had been unable to show her best abilities as she had been injured. The court accepted her petition and after showing good results at Europeans and World Cups she was granted the sole spot available for the Netherlands. She made the best of it by qualifying to the all-around final and finishing 12th. For Rio the Netherlands has qualified a full team.
Asuka Teramoto (JPN)
Asuka who contributed on all four events in the London Team Final and finished 11th in the all-around will be in Rio as the leader of the massively talented Japanese team that is expected to enter the team final. Individually Asuka will look to improve on her all-around result from four years ago.
Brittany Rogers (CAN)
The achievement of Canadian Olympian Brittany Rogers of a second Olympic Games is even more admirable since she has been competing NCAA, for the University of Georgia, and elite at the same time. Brittany will aim to qualify to the vault final; four years ago she finished in 7th place.
Elsabeth Black (CAN)
Ellie Black was one of the Canadian gymnasts making history for her country when Canada finished a surprising 5th in the Team Final in London 2012. Individually she was not as lucky as she got injured during the vault final and could not compete her second vault. Since then Ellie has enjoyed a lot of success and is a strong contender for three finals: all-around, vault and floor.
Kim Bui (GER)
Kim was an alternate for the 2008 Olympic Team and is a veteran from the London 2012 Olympic team where she competed on three events: bars, beam and floor. At the age of 27 and in her second Olympics Kim will bring her experience, leadership and bars expertise to help Germany enter the team final.
Elisabeth Seitz (GER)
Re-known for her complex uneven bars routine, Seitz will try to improve on her London results that include a 10th place finish in the all-around and 6th place in the uneven bars. Without doubt she will be key in getting Germany qualified into the team final.
Erika Fasana (ITA)
The youngest member of the London Italian Team will now be one of the three Olympic veterans bringing the experience needed to get Italy into the team final. Erika is a Floor specialist that can also contribute on any piece of apparatus she may be needed.
Carlotta Ferlito (ITA)
The 2010 Youth Olympic medalist has overcome the very scary fall from beam she had earlier this year at the Jesolo meet to be at her second Olympics. As a team member Carlotta will be key in Italy’s quest to finish in the top 8, individually she will be looking to improve her all-around score from four year ago where she finished in 21st place.
Vanessa Ferrari (ITA)
Vanessa will be a three time Olympian with her Rio participation and she will be hoping to have better luck this time. In Beijing she competed while dealing with injury and in London 2012 a tie-breaker left her fourth in the Floor Exercise. Vanessa will be in Rio trying to improve her 8th place finish in the all-around and capture the Floor medal that slipped through her hands four years ago.
Jade Barbosa (BRA)
After refusing to sign an endorsement contract Jade Barbosa lost her opportunity to represent Brazil at the 2012 Olympic Games yet the chance to compete at a home Olympics in the very city where she was born, Rio de Janeiro, made her stick around and she will get her chance to shine. She is expected to make the vault final.
Daniele Hypólito (BRA)
Daniele was one of the young revelations of the 2000 Olympics, today at the age of 31 and in her fifth Olympics, she will be competing against gymnasts that were born while she was making history for her country in Sydney. Daniele’s determination to stay involved in gymnastics to have the opportunity to compete at home is admirable; let’s hope she can shine on her best apparatus, the Floor, where she won a World Silver medal 15 years ago in 2001.
Maria Paseka (RUS)
The 2012 bronze medallist from London on vault enters the Rio Olympics as the defending vault World Champion. Yet her road to Rio has not been easy as back problems took her out of contention for the 2016 European Team. She is expected to compete only vault at the Olympics.
Aliya Mustafina (RUS)
The most decorated gymnast from the London Olympics returns to grace the Floor in Rio. Aliya has competed very little this past year and a half as she has been dealing with injuries however Aliya is re-known for her fighting spirit and will give everything once she’s on the competition floor, we can only hope to see all her effort and beauty turned into Olympic medals.
Rebecca Downie (GBR)
Becky is a returning Olympian but not from London but from Beijing. The current European Bars champion was hampered with injury when the London Olympics rolled around missing out on the once-in-a-life-time opportunity of competing at home Olympics. Yet Becky will have another once-in-a-life-time opportunity as she will be competing in Rio next to her sister Elissa who is 8 years younger than she is. This is a privilege few siblings ever get to experience.
Alexandra Raisman (USA)
The last time an American Team had returning Olympians was in 2000 when Dominique Dawes and Amy Chow, part of the Magnificent 7 attended the Sydney Olympics, 16 years later is the turn of Alexandra Raisman and Gabrielle Douglas.
For Alexandra it will be a second chance to fight for the all-around medal that slipped through her hands in London 2012 after a tie-breaker did not favour her. She is also the defending champion on Floor, however her chances for gold are slim given the dominance of her teammate Simone Biles but a medal, most likely silver, is guaranteed for her.
Gabrielle Douglas (USA)
Gabrielle Douglas has broken another record, no all-around champion had returned to the Olympics since 1980 when Nadia Comaneci, the 1976 all-around Champion, competed in Moscow. However for Gabrielle getting into the podium will be difficult as her toughest task will be qualifying to the final. She needs to place ahead of teammate Alexandra Raisman, as only two gymnasts per country can compete and Simone Biles has her spot secured thanks to her massive difficulty. Will Gabrielle be able to make it?
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