Hezly Esther Rivera OLY (born June 4, 2008) is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the gold medal-winning team at the 2024 Olympic Games, nicknamed the "Golden Girls", and was the youngest athlete on Team USA at the 2024 Olympics.[1][2] Additionally, she is the 2025 U.S. national champion, the 2023 junior U.S. national champion, and a silver medalist with the U.S. team and on floor exercise at the 2023 Junior World Championships.
Rivera was born in Hackensack, New Jersey in 2008 to Heidy Ruiz and Henry Rivera, an engineer originally from the Dominican Republic.[3][4] She was raised in nearby Oradell and has two siblings, older sister Carhelis and younger brother Hanly. She began gymnastics in 2013 after attending a friend's birthday party that was held in a gymnastics facility.[5] Rivera started her gymnastics career at ENA in Paramus under Craig Zappa. She then briefly trained under Maggie Haney until 2020, when her family moved to Texas to train under Valeri Liukin.[6] She attended an online high school.[7]
Rivera competed at the 2022 Winter Cup where she placed third in the all-around.[8] As a result, she was selected to compete at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge.[9] While there, she helped the USA win gold.[5]
In July, Rivera competed at the U.S. Classic where she finished second in the all-around behind Jayla Hang. Additionally she won gold on balance beam, silver on floor exercise, and finished fourth on vault.[10] The following month Rivera competed at the National Championships where she finished sixth in the all-around and won bronze on floor exercise.[11]
Rivera competed at the 2023 Winter Cup where she won the all-around competition. Additionally she placed first on balance beam and floor exercise.[12] As a result, on winning the competition, Rivera was named to the team to compete at the 2023 Junior World Championships.[13][14]
On the first day of the Junior World Championships, Rivera helped the U.S. finish second behind Japan. However, during the vault rotation, Rivera's hand slipped on the vaulting table resulting in her scoring a 0 on the apparatus; therefore, she never qualified for the all-around final. She did qualify for the uneven bars and floor exercise finals.[15][16] During event finals, Rivera placed eighth on uneven bars; she won silver on floor exercise behind Italian Giulia Perotti.[17]
At 15, Rivera became age-eligible for senior level competition in 2024. She made her debut at the 2024 Winter Cup where she placed third in the all-around and tied for first on balance beam.[5] She made her international debut at the City of Jesolo Trophy where she helped the U.S. win bronze behind Italy and Brazil. At the National Championships, Rivera placed sixth in the all-around. As a result she qualified to the Olympic Trials.[18]
At the Olympic Trials, Rivera placed fifth in the all-around, tied for first on balance beam, fourth on uneven bars, and eighth on floor exercise. As a result she was selected to represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics alongside Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, and Sunisa Lee.[19]
During the qualification round at the Olympics, Rivera competed on the uneven bars and balance beam. During the team final, Hezly did not compete but still won a gold medal as the team placed first.[20][21] Following the Olympics, Rivera took part in the Gold Over America Tour.[22] In September, Rivera verbally committed to compete for the LSU Tigers.[23]
Rivera returned to competition at the 2025 Winter Cup, where she only competed on balance beam; she finished ninth.[24] In May Rivera was selected to compete at the 2025 Pan American Championships alongside Dulcy Caylor, Jayla Hang, Gabrielle Hardie, Tiana Sumanasekera, and alternate Alessia Rosa.[25] On the first day of competition, she won bronze in the all-around behind compatriot Hang and Lia Monica Fontaine of Canada; additionally she qualified to the balance beam final in first place.[26] During the team final, Rivera contributed scores on all four apparatuses towards the United States' first place finish.[27] During the balance beam event final, she won bronze behind Lia Redick and Hang.[28]
At the 2025 U.S. Classic, Rivera competed in all four events, finishing in a tie for 12th place after two falls on balance beam and uneven bars, but earned 2nd place on floor exercise.[29] She would go on to win all-around title at the National Championship, finishing 0.8 points over runner-up Leanne Wong, and also became national champion on uneven bars (shared with Skye Blakely), balance beam, and floor exercise.[30]
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Winter Cup |  |
8 | 6 | 11 | 6 | |
| DTB Pokal Team Challenge |  |
||||||
| U.S. Classic |  |
4 | 11 | |
| ||
| U.S. National Championships | 6 | 11 | 6 | 12 |
| ||
| 2023 | Winter Cup | |
4 | 7 | |
| |
| Junior World Championships | |
8 |
| ||||
| U.S. Classic | 6 | 20 | |||||
| U.S. National Championships | |
5 | |
|
15 |
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Winter Cup | |
20 | |
| ||
| City of Jesolo Trophy | |
9 | 4 | ||||
| U.S. Classic | 24 | 28 | 26 | 29 | |||
| U.S. National Championships | 6 | 5 | 4 | 13 | |||
| Olympic Trials | 5 | 4 | |
8 | |||
| Olympic Games | |
||||||
| 2025 | Winter Cup | 9 | |||||
| Pan American Championships | |
|
|
||||
| U.S. Classic | 12 | 23 | 15 |
| |||
| U.S. National Championships | |
|
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| Men's artistic gymnastics athletes |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women's artistic gymnastics athletes |
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| Rhythmic gymnastics athletes |
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| Trampoline athletes |
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| Coaches |
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