The United States Olympic trials for women's and men's artistic gymnastics begin Thursday night at Target Center and continues through Sunday night. It's the first time Minneapolis has hosted the most important gymnastics meet outside the Olympics.
The five men who will represent the U.S. in artistic gymnastics in Paris will be named 30 minutes after the end of the session Saturday, while the five women will be announced after the competition ends Sunday. Alternates also will be chosen for each team.
Schedule
Thursday: Men's Day 1, 5:30-8 p.m. Doors open at 4:15 p.m. for fans. (TV: USA Network, Peacock)
See the men's rotation schedule here.
Friday: Women's Day 1, 6:30-9:00 p.m. Doors open at 5:10 p.m. for fans. (TV: NBC, Peacock)
See the women's rotation schedule here.
Saturday: Men's Day 2, 2:00-5:00 p.m. Doors open at 12:45 p.m. for fans. (TV: NBC, Peacock)
See the men's rotation schedule here.
Sunday: Women's Day 2, 7:00-10:00 p.m. Doors open at 5:40 p.m. for fans. (TV: NBC, Peacock)
See the women's rotation schedule here.
Peacock and NBCSports.com will offer live streams for each apparatus.
Olympic selection process
Sixteen women and 20 men qualified for the Olympic trials, which consist of two days of competition each for men and women.
The men will do one rotation of six apparatuses (floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar) on Thursday and another on Saturday, with three groups of 5-6 gymnasts competing at the same time. The women will do one rotation of four apparatuses ((vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise) on Friday and another on Sunday. They will compete on two apparatus at the same time with eight gymnasts in each group.
What to watch for on every apparatus
The highest-scoring woman after two days of competition automatically will qualify for the Olympic team. A committee will choose the other four, factoring results from international competitions and four other American events, including the recent U.S. championships, over the past year. The committee also will weigh potential for team, all-around and individual event medals.
In the men's event, the all-around winner at trials automatically qualifies for the Olympics if he is among the top three on three of the six apparatus. A committee selects the other four, evaluating the highest scoring potential in the team event and individual medals, and looking in particular at performances at the U.S. championships last month and the trials.
Tickets
Very few all-session tickets are available on the official website, axs.com. They are all single seats in the second level of Target Center, starting at $450 for four days of action. Single-session tickets are available on the secondary market.
Fan events
Nicollet Mall has been transformed into a Parisian market, Promenade du Nord, with local vendors, street performers, music and gymnastics. It will be open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday,
Outside Target Center and Target Field, the city will host Flip Zone, the official fan fest. It includes a parkour course and 20-foot free fall into an airbag. The Flip Zone will be open from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday, 3 to 10 p.m. Friday, noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and 3 to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Both areas are free to access and have areas for fans to watch broadcasts of the trials.
