It was not supposed to shift so quickly. Claire Pease, who had never competed in a senior meet before this summer, stood atop the podium on Saturday night. Hands clasped, expressions still catching up to the outcome. In a field containing an Olympic champion and athletes with global credentials, the 16-year-old from Texas did not merely place well. She won. In doing so, she did something more consequential than score totals might reveal. She placed herself in the elite list of gymnasts like Simone Biles and more.
This victory came at the Saatva U.S. Classic in Illinois, the sport’s most significant prelude to the national championships. Pease delivered 54.6 points across four routines, overtaking Simone Rose in the final rotation. That effort put her four-tenths ahead of the field and placed her into a tier of American gymnasts whose success at Classic has often foreshadowed much larger achievements. It is the first time since 2017 that a first-year senior has taken the title. And she did so while outscoring Hezly Rivera, the lone Paris gold medalist Olympian in the field, who finished well down the standings after falling on bars and beam.
Only in her first season at the senior level, Pease is now aligned with the path previously carved by champions such as Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, and Carly Patterson. Liukin, notably, now helps guide Pease as part of the coaching staff that includes her father, Valeri. That detail connects more than eras. It suggests Pease is already situated in a lineage where expectations are defined not just by talent but by precedent. This win, and particularly who she beat to get it, moves her past prospect status. She is now competing in the same conversation as the names that anchor U.S. women’s gymnastics.
Claire Pease wins the Senior Women’s Competition at the 2025 #USClassic presented by Saatva!
She also takes Gold on Vault! Simone Rose & Joscelyn Roberson round out the All-Around podium! pic.twitter.com/JEfyAgowG4
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) July 20, 2025
Her junior résumé hinted at this trajectory. Over the past two years, Pease has accumulated podium finishes at every major domestic event in her division. She swept all-around titles at the 2024 Winter Cup, Core Hydration Classic, and U.S. Championships as a junior, frequently placing first on beam and bars. Her beam work, notably crisp and centered, carried her again this weekend. At Classic, she showed that consistency can matter as much as flair, especially in a meet where Rivera, the youngest American athlete headed to Paris, could not recover from early errors. With this result, Pease has not only booked her place among the contenders for Worlds this fall, she has also placed herself within reach of the echelon Biles and others once climbed.
This is a developing story…
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