U.S. gymnasts hold private opening ceremony to usher in 2021 Tokyo Olympics

MyKayla Skinner, center right, Simone Biles, center left, and the rest of the U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team pose for a photo in a private opening ceremony on Friday, July 23, 2021. | Simone Biles Twitter screenshot

The men’s and women’s gymnastics teams compete Friday and Saturday night, respectively.

Olympians from across the world participated in the Opening Ceremony of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics early Friday morning, including those from Team USA. Not among them, however, were the U.S. men’s and women’s gymnastics teams.

That is because the American gymnasts held their own private opening ceremony.

Love it! Sam Mikulak gets flagbearer honors as the Women’s and Men’s gymnastics teams from the USA hold their own private Opening Ceremony, since they won’t be able to be in the Stadium tonight. #tokyo2020 #gymnastics #olympics

Lisa Spini pic.twitter.com/Auruiq67Tc

— Inside Gymnastics (@InsideGym) July 23, 2021

It isn’t unusual for gymnasts to not take part in the opening ceremony. Gymnasts regularly don’t attend the celebration because they compete so early in the Games and the long and intensive proceedings aren’t conducive to them being at their physical peaks.

The men are slated to compete in their qualification round Friday night, while the women — including former Utah gymnast MyKayla Skinner and future Utah gymnast Grace McCallum — will start late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, with the women’s qualification competition slated for late Saturday night/early Sunday morning.

With the ever present threat of COVID-19, both the men’s and women’s teams are staying in a hotel away from the athlete’s village in an attempt to limit potential exposure.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN ✨ pic.twitter.com/6jYpzT0min

— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) July 23, 2021

The complete competition schedule for gymnastics can be found at NBCOlympics.com.

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