A fierce battle took shape on Friday at the 2026 U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Claire Pease and Skye Blakely tied for the lead after Friday night’s competition in Phoenix, setting up a highly contested Sunday finale in the Valley of the Sun.

Pease, the 2024 U.S. Junior champion and Blakely, a two-time World Team Champion, both delivered exemplary routines in the final rotation to share the lead. First-year senior Charleigh Bullock followed close behind, scoring a huge 55.400 in her first national championships as a senior gymnast.

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Defending U.S. Champion and 2024 Olympic gold medalist Hezly Rivera finished in fourth, overcoming a significant deficit after falling on the uneven bars. 2024 Olympic teammate Jade Carey finished in fifth in her first U.S. Championships since the Paris Olympic Games.

U.S. Championships All-Around Standings

1. Skye Blakely & Claire Pease: 55.600

3. Charleigh Bullock: 55.400

4. Hezly Rivera: 55.000

5. Jade Carey: 54.400

For Blakely, the result almost elicited tears – “I almost cried a little bit,” she said to reporters after the meet. Today’s meet marked Blakely’s first elite all-around competition since she tore her Achilles tendon at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.

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Pease, a club teammate of Hezly Rivera, attributed today’s successes to her “positive attitude.” Like Blakely, Pease has a redemption arc of her own: in 2025, she missed an opportunity to make the 2025 World Championship team due to an untimely injury.

While scores carry over to Sunday’s finale, the title race remains highly contested. Should Rivera execute a comeback, the 18-year-old will join an elite list of American gymnasts to win multiple U.S. titles. Any other winner would join the history books as the U.S. national champion.

Here’s how the action unfolded on Friday in Phoenix.

The Phoenix Play-By Play

Rotation One: Blakely, Esponda Shine

Skye Blakely began her competition on uneven bars, an event where she is the reigning U.S National Champion and finalist at the 2025 World Championships. Blakely swung with power and difficulty to start the meet, cleanly landing her dismount for a strong 14.200.

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First-year senior elite Charleigh Bullock showed jitters in her U.S. Championships senior debut, bouncing out of her vault landing. Despite the landing error, Bullock received a strong score of 14.000 due to strong execution in her twists. Next up, U.S. Classic All-Around Champion Reese Esponda. While Esponda had directional issues on her vault, Esponda nailed the landing for a near-perfect stick, earning a 14.200 to tie with Blakely for the lead.

Reigning U.S. Champion and Olympic gold medalist Hezly Rivera’s night started on floor exercise, an event she won at the 2025 championships. Rivera showed strong power and artistry in her exercise, but struggled with endurance on her final tumbling pass. Nonetheless, a score of 14.000 marked a strong start.

In her first U.S. championships since winning two medals at the Paris Olympic games, Phoenix native Jade Carey returned to the beam. Though Carey began her routine with tentativeness, she showed her trademark composure to deliver a hit exercise. Carey clapped in celebration, opening her homecoming with a hit.

One of the top contenders for the AA title, reigning Pan American floor champion Claire Pease opened her night on floor exercise. Pease struggled with excess power on her landings, but showed remarkable flexibility in her dance elements.

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Top Five After One: 1. Reese Esponda & Skye Blakely: 14.200, 3. Charleigh Bullock & Hezly Rivera: 14.000, 5. Lavi Crain: 13.950

Rotation Two: Bullock Pulls Ahead, Rivera Holds Steady

Heading to her second-consecutive ‘legs event,’ Rivera powered through the vault after her strong opening on floor exercise. Despite a recent hamstring “aggravation,” Rivera delivered another hit exercise to score a 14.200.

Minutes later, Bullock took to the uneven bars – an event where she is the 2025 U.S. Junior champion. Bullock quickly proved why, nailing her release moves and sticking her dismount for a 14.250, the highest bars score of the night. Two routines in, the 16-year-old took the lead over the defending national champion.

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Over on the floor, former Olympic floor champion Jade Carey took to her signature event. Carey nailed her first three landings, only to bounce out of her final pass – a simple double back; perhaps, too easy for the three-time Olympic medalist. “She looks exceptionally better than [the] U.S. Classic,” commentator John Roethlisberger reflected. Carey received a strong 13.750, the highest floor score since Carey began her comeback.

Needing to capitalize on her two strongest events, Skye Blakely mounted the beam. Hitting her opening standing full twist, Blakely nearly fell off the beam on her acrobatic series but found her rhythm over the course of the routine. Despite the wobbles, she scored a strong 13.750. A world finalist on beam, Blakely has long battled with consistency.

At the halfway mark, Bullock took the lead, with Esponda dropping to fifth due to limited difficulty in her uneven bars routine. With less than a point separating the top five competitors, the all-around race quickly heated up.

Top Five After Two: 1. Charleigh Bullock: 28.250, 2. Hezly Rivera: 28.200, 3. Skye Blakely: 27.950, 4. Claire Pease: 27.500, 5. Reese Esponda: 27.300

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Rotation Three: Bullock Holds Strong

Sitting just outside the top five in the all-around race, Jade Carey went to vault, an event where she is a World Champion and Olympic medalist. Competing lower difficulty due to her recent comeback, Carey cruised through her two vaults to take a comfortable lead in the vault standings.

Heading to the beam, Reese Esponda needed to hit before heading to her strongest event, floor exercise. Esponda almost came off the beam on two occasions, but showed incredible fight to salvage the routine. Though she scored just a 12.350, she avoided counting a fall.

Entering the rotation in third, Skye Blakely returned to the elite floor for the first time since tearing her Achilles tendon at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. Nailing her intricate double front pass, Blakely performed three front-tumbling passes to minimize wear on her ankles.

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Next up: Claire Pease and Hezly Rivera on the uneven bars. After two jittery routines to start her competition, Claire triumphed with a stick to rocket ahead of Blakely and Carey. Minutes later, Rivera hoped to follow her teammate’s lead. However, Rivera’s stellar start came to a halt after a fall on her new release move. She received just a 12.500, dropping her off the podium – for now.

Needing a 13.450 to maintain her all-around lead, Bullock went to the balance beam. Though one of the youngest in the field, Bullock carried herself with veteranlike focus, moving through her routine with confidence. Landing her difficult 2.5-twisting layout with ease, Bulllock let out a dramatic sigh of relief. She received a 13.700 – just like that, Bullock entered the final rotation ahead of three World or Olympic champions.

Top Five After Three: 1. Charleigh Bullock: 41.950, 2. Claire Pease: 41.700, 3. Skye Blakely: 41.400, 4. Jade Carey: 41.050, 5. Hezly Rivera: 40.700

Rotation Four:

Finishing her night on her weakest event, the uneven bars, Jade Carey did what Jade Carey does best: hit. While she committed form errors in her transition skills, the Olympian nailed her new dismount to the loudest crowd roar of the night. “She’s such a gamer,” Rothlisberger remarked. In her first championships since 2024, Carey was back in contention.

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Next up of the contenders: Skye Blakely on vault. Known for her power and execution, Blakely could vault into the top spot with a strong landing. Hitting her vault to near perfection, Blakely received a 9.4 execution score – the best of the night, launching the 21-year-old into the lead.

Needed nearly a 14.000 to take the lead from Blakely, Pease finished her night on balance beam. With some of the most intricate beam work in the competition, Pease did exactly what she needed. Putting her “best foot forward,” Pease received a huge 13.900 – putting her in a dead heat for the lead.

Up next, Hezly Rivera. Before saluting the judges, Rivera embraced her coach Anna Liukin for a long-winded hug. After a disastrous bar routine, the Olympian had to hit. Floating through her series and leaps with confidence, Rivera closed her competition with a spectacular effort to stay in contention.

Needing a 13.650 to take the lead, Charleigh Bullock looked to finish her stellar debut with a hit. Despite lower difficulty, Bullock showcased impeccable leaps and twisting form, earning a strong 13.450 to clinch third place behind Blakely and Pease.

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Though U.S. Classic champion Reese Esponda dropped in the standings after a disappointing beam routine, she closed the competition with one of the night’s highlights on floor. Esponda nailed her highly difficult tumbling, soaring to the highest floor score of the night.

Next Up: Day Two in Phoenix

The athletes will enjoy a rest day tomorrow before returning to Mortgage Matchup Center for the second and final day of competition. On Sunday, national champions will be crowned.

Day two of the 2026 U.S. Championships begins at 6 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on NBC and Peacock.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

Betfred Super League

Wakefield (16) 22

Tries: Vagana, Hamlin-Uele, Myers, Sinfield Goals: Sinfield 3

Leeds (6) 24

Tries: Croft, McDonnell, Smith, Hankinson Goals: Connor 4

Leeds Rhinos edged a thrilling top-of-the-table clash against Wakefield Trinity with late drama to go four points clear in Super League.

A sell-out crowd at DIY Kitchens Stadium were royally entertained as the top two served up a match worthy of a Grand Final, but it was the Rhinos fans who were celebrating at the death.

Despite trailing for all but three minutes of the contest, Leeds held their nerve to land a sucker punch with two moments of skill from the boot of Jake Connor to snatch victory.

With 77 minutes on the clock, Connor’s grubber-kick was pounced on by Chris Hankinson to level the scores at 22-22. Connor then held his nerve to kick the extras from five yards inside the touchline as Leeds claimed a memorable success and remain on course to win the League Leaders’ Shield.

This was a match in which Leeds showed grit, discipline and character to hold on to Wakefield’s tail as the hosts withstood early pressure before stretching out into a 16-0 lead with three tries all converted by Jack Sinfield.

They came from Isaiah Vagana after a clever kick from Sinfield, a bullocking run from Caius Faatili, who broke two tackles and offloaded to Caleb Hamlin-Uele, while Jayden Myers went over in the corner as Wakefield delivered a commanding yet surprising advantage.

But Leeds have shown they rarely lie down so far this season and after Brodie Croft’s 25th Super League try of the campaign gave them hope, a stunning second-half comeback, in which Cam Smith was irresistible off the bench, helped them grab the win late on.

The second half began with Wakefield extending their advantage through Sinfield, who wrestled the ball over the line and then added the extras in an impressive overall display.

But in keeping with plenty of his team-mates, they faded as Leeds surged and after Cam Scott and Hamlin-Uele had rescued Wakefield with brilliant last-ditch tackles to deny two tries, the dam burst.

James McDonnell bullied his way through the home defence to make it 22-10 with Connor’s boot adding another two to put them within 10 points of Wakefield.

The excellent Smith – who will join Wakefield next season – was again aided by Connor as he powered through three minutes later as Leeds closed the gap to four points.

With the comeback definitely on, Wakefield were creaking under huge pressure, but to their credit they held on to their advantage until three minutes from time.

Connor’s kick to set up Hankinson out wide pulled the scores level, but last year’s Man of Steel is looking as shiny as ever and he produced a nerveless kick from the left flank to seal a remarkable turnaround.

Victory delivered a major step towards a top-two finish for Leeds, who are four points clear with five games remaining in the regular season and have a points difference of over 200 on Wakefield and Wigan Warriors, in second and third respectively.

Andrew Flintoff has stepped down as head coach of the England Lions as the coaching upheaval at the ECB continues.

Flintoff, one of England’s greatest all-rounders, had spent nearly two years in charge of the second-string side after being persuaded into coaching by Rob Key, the ECB’s managing director of men’s cricket.

Well liked by the players, Flintoff had drawn plaudits for his work in developing some of the brightest young talents in England, but is due to take up a new role with the Sydney Thunder in Australia’s Big Bash this winter.

“Unfortunately I’ve made the decision to step away from my role with the Lions. Not only have I enjoyed my time having the opportunity to work with the best young cricketers in the country, but have taken great pride in seeing them develop.

“I’d like to thank the coaches and staff for all their passion, tireless work and support they give everyday. In particular, Ed Barney who I’ve loved working with and was so lucky to have as a performance director, and obviously Rob (Key) for trusting me with one of the most important roles in English cricket.

“I can’t wait to get started with the Thunder later in the year and see where coaching takes me.”

His exit follows the removal of Brendon McCullum as Test head coach, with fellow New Zealander Stephen Fleming appointed. McCullum continues to oversee England’s white-ball teams, while Marcus Trescothick is in interim charge of the Test team for the upcoming Pakistan series.

While no replacement for Flintoff has yet been confirmed, Mike Yardy – the former Sussex and England all-rounder – will step in for the four-day Professional County Club Select XI match against Pakistan, which begins at Beckenham on Wednesday 12 August.

Flintoff’s departure comes just a week after Key had praised his coaching talent highly, and suggested he could well be a contender to be England coach in the future.

“It [the Test vacancy] just came too soon, but he should be someone that goes on to become an outstanding head coach,” Key said of his former teammate. “When you talk about who could be the best person, Andrew Flintoff – in the future, with a bit more experience under him – could do it, and him not being there at times in the Lions gives opportunity for other coaches, and it’s for us to choose who comes in to do that.

“I think he’s an unsung hero. A lot of these young players that are coming through, you think how hard it is when they’ve got T10s, T20s, ILT20, SA20. We’ve got to go to a player and say, ‘We want you to come and commit to a red-ball tour of Australia, we want you to come and play 50-over cricket in Abu Dhabi’.

“Having Andrew Flintoff there has made a massive, massive difference in being able to do that, and I think he deserves the respect and the thanks for doing it.”

Flintoff, known as “Freddie”, has forged a successful career as a television host and personality since his retirement from playing. He reached a settlement with the BBC after suffering serious injuries following a crash while filming Top Gear in 2022.

Best friends broke apart on WWE SmackDown, as two all-time friends and rivals left their situation tense on the blue brand. It’s uncertain what’s next between the two stars, as things currently are very heated and tense.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn had a major confrontation on WWE SmackDown

Kevin Owens arrived on the scene on WWE SmackDown just as Sami Zayn was confronting Nick Aldis backstage. Zayn was naturally unhappy with the addition of Kevin Owens and Gunther to what was supposed to be his singles match against Finn Balor. But with Owens’ arrival, things were thrown out of whack, and it was the returning star who got the win and the opportunity to face CM Punk.

The backstage face-off between the two was tense. Despite them being best friends, Zayn felt wronged and demanded that Owens apologize to him for what happened and acknowledge that it ruined things for him. While the No.1 Contender did exactly that, the fact that he then didn’t go on to say that he wanted Zayn’s help to face CM Punk didn’t sit right with the star, and he left offended.

Owens was left frustrated, walking off alone and muttering that he had only been back for six days.

Owens and Zayn also subtly acknowledged that the star had been waiting to face Punk forever, referring to the real-life heat between the two stars.

Zayn is unlikely to be happy to let the title picture not involve him after Kevin Owens’ return. Now, though, the star’s best friend is in the way of him getting another title shot, so it’s likely that he will inadvertently, or on purpose, cost Owens the chance to win the title when he gets his title shot in two weeks’ time. Fans will have to wait and see what happens.