After U.S. gymnastics champion Simone Biles withdrew from the individual all-around event at the Tokyo Olympics, her teammate Jade Carey was given the chance to earn an extra Olympic medal.
At Monday's individual all-around qualifying event, Jade finished with the ninth-highest score in qualification, but only the third-highest among the U.S. gymnasts. Citing mental health issues, Simone, who ranked first, withdrew from the final. The move, which came soon after her departure from the team competition, allows Jade to compete in the all-around individual final on Thursday, July 29. The International Gymnastics Federation limits each country to two top competitors to be allowed to participate in each individual final.
This means Jade now has the opportunity to bring home up to three Olympic medals, after previous qualifying for floor and vault finals. This marks the 21-year-old's first Olympic Games, and she was one of two out of the six members of the U.S. women's gymnastics team who qualified to compete solely as an individual rather than in a team event. The other gymnast was MyKayla Skinner, whose Olympic journey ended abruptly this weekend when her scores did not rank high enough in the qualifying round.
Find out seven facts about Jade:
"Jaderade," she told NBC Olympics. "It was given to me at gym one day when I was younger."
She is from Phoenix Ariz. She graduated from Mountain Ridge High School in 2018.
Jade has been doing gymnastics since she was a toddler, according to USA Gymnastics.
"I have been in gymnastics for as long as I can remember," she told NBC Olympics. "My parents owned a gym when I was born so I was always in the gym playing. I love the feeling of learning new skills and flying through the air."
She continued, "My parents have been very influential. They were both gymnasts when they were kids and are both coaches now. My dad coaches me."
In addition, Jade's sister Taeva, one of her three siblings, is also a gymnast.
"At home he's just my dad and at the gym he's just my coach," Jade told The Arizona Republic newspaper in January 2020.
In 2017, Brian told Flogymnastics.com, "I knew a long time ago she had potential," adding that he "just didn't want to push her too fast for her, and so we just let her develop at her pace."
"We definitely leave everything gymnastics at the gym," he added. "So we walk out the door and we don't speak about it."
From 2017 to 2019, she earned one gold and three silver.
Jade will soon continue her gymnastics career at Oregon State University. She signed a letter of intent with the college in 2017 and deferred enrollment until the end of the 2020 Olympics. The school's Beavers women's gymnastics team already has her on their roster for the 2022 season.
Jade's favorite TV shows are Impractical Jokers and Full House, according to USA Gymnastics.