Gymnastics and…a fresh, juicy, square-shaped burger?! That’s what it feels like. Jade Carey had a marvellous season in her last year as an NCAA gymnast. Carey finished fourth in the all-around at the 2025 NCAA Championships and tied for third on the balance beam. She maintained a flawless 100% hit rate throughout the season, completing all 205 routines without a single fall or major error. But then she didn’t show up at the US Classic, nor the Xfinity Championships. In fact, she won’t be there in the World Championships either.
“I think I just want to take the year to kind of come down a little bit,” Carey told Olympics.com on 20 September ahead of the show in Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, later saying she “probably” wouldn’t try for a spot at the 2025 World Championships. She continued, “I’m not doing elite this year, so I just have them to focus on and that’s it. I’m really excited to jump in with them and be a leader and help get them (OSU Beavers) to where we want to go.” But does that mean it’s the end of her career? An American brand has its say.
A fan made a tweet on August 10, saying, “They just announced that nationals next year are in PHOENIX… In AUGUST. What is going on?” The 2026 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships are scheduled to take place in Phoenix, Arizona, from August 6 to August 9, 2026. This announcement was made during the 2025 event broadcast. Guess who responded to the tweet. Wendy’s itself.
They just announced that nationals next year are in PHOENIX…
In AUGUST.
What is going on
— RAP (@richlallen) August 11, 2025
The official X handle of the American fast food chain brand wrote, “What is going on is that Jade Carey isn’t done. She will be back. You can quote me on that.”
Carey had stated that she is not going to be a part of elite gymnastics this year, but when the championship goes to Phoenix the next year, Jade Carey might not only return to gymnastics but also retire from pranks.
Surprisingly enough, the brand has invested in the sport for quite some time now, making tweets about it. In May 2025, a post by Planet of Gymnastics highlighted Wendy as a significant fan of gymnastics, noting their active participation in the gymnastics community on social media.
Meanwhile, Jade Carey remains off the mat but not away from it.
Jade Carey’s presence at the 2025 Xfinity championships
On August 7, Jade Carey shared a clip of Hezly Rivera’s performance on her IG story with a simple, heartfelt message. “Go Hez!! .” Before going for day 2, Rivera made a post on Instagram, captioned, “day 1, ready for day 2 Isaiah 40:31 .” And Carey took to the comment section to say, “so proud!!” Then, on August 10, she made sure she also had a message recorded for her.
Via Inside Gymnastics, the 25-year-old resting artistic athlete said, “I just want to say good luck to everyone tonight. You’ve been working so hard. And so, this is your moment to just let it all go, and shine out there, and have so much fun. So, good luck, and I can’t wait to watch you guys.” And guess what? Hez Won!
Hezly Rivera clinched her first senior all-around title at the 2025 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans, scoring a total of 112.000 over two days.
She secured golds on balance beam (28.350), floor exercise (28.200), and uneven bars (27.600), tying with Skye Blakely for the bars title. Later, she talked of how much it meant to her. USA Gymnastics made an Instagram post about it, and once again, the post was up on Carey’s IG story, with the caption, “a star ” Leanne Wong finished as the runner-up with a combined score of 111.200, trailing Rivera by just 0.800 points.
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