Rivera relishes underdog role, lands Olympic berth
At 16 years old, Rivera will be the youngest member of the team in Paris, and coming into competition at Minneapolis, the talented first-year senior athlete might have been under the radar.
But as injuries piled up, Rivera delivered solid performance after solid performance from what she called an underdog role.
“I don’t think there was so much pressure on me, which is also good,” she said. “You know, it feels really good to just do my own thing and just be here.”
To this point, Rivera’s biggest competition has been the Junior World Championships a year ago where she won team and floor exercise silvers.
But, with four Olympic veterans alongside her, she knows she’ll have plenty of guidance when she heads to France in under one month.
“It’s super comforting. You know, they’ve already been through it. They’ve been through the journey, they’ve been to the Olympic Games, they’ve been through the pressure,” Rivera said. “I think they’ll be able to mentor me and help me so much, especially not just during the competition, but throughout the whole process of training, going out. I think they will be such great help for me.”
