Skye Blakely is stepping back into elite competition this weekend at the 2026 U.S. Classic — her first elite meet of 2026 — and she’s doing it on her own terms. Already qualified for next month’s U.S. Championships, this weekend is less about the stakes and more about testing the water again.

Blakely joined a media call earlier this week to talk about her season so far, her plans for this weekend, and what she’s been working through both on and off the competition floor.

Dipping back into elite

Since Blakely automatically qualified to championships as a member of the 2025 world team, the U.S. Classic carries lower stakes than it would otherwise. It’s a chance to ease back into elite after a long NCAA season without the pressure of needing to hit a certain score.

She won’t compete all-around this weekend. She’ll compete bars and beam only, according to Olympics.com, though the all-around remains her goal for the season, likely at championships next month.

The calculated approach comes after Blakely helped the Florida to a third place finish at the NCAA championships in April.

Blakely described this past season – when she also earned the first perfect 10 of her career – as “the most fun I think I’ve had in a long time in gymnastics.”

A busy, grounding summer

Beyond the gym, Blakely’s summer has included a trip to the Black Student Athlete Summit in Oregon, national team camp, and a coaching trip to Singapore, where she worked a camp at Mokara Gymnastics Academy alongside her Florida teammates and coaches. (Read our story on Mokara here.)

Routine updates from Blakely

Vault: Blakely’s vault this season is the Lopez. She’s not planning to add a second vault at championships, but per Olympics.com, she is still working two vaults. The second is a double-twisting Yurchenko, and further down the road, the goal is for the Lopez to become a Cheng. The Cheng, she said, is probably a project for the future rather than this season.

Bars: Bars remains Blakely’s favorite event, and her coach, Owen Field, recently teased a “dream” routine with a difficulty value of 6.6 — 6.7 if she can add one more viable connection. Blakely didn’t break down the specifics but said the construction is similar to her Worlds routine last year, which carried a 6.2 difficulty and helped her finish fourth in the final. There’s one new skill in the routine that she’s keeping under wraps for now. She sees next season as her real window to chase that 6.6/6.7 number.

“It’ll be fun to see if that dream routine can come together.”

Floor: Her elite floor routine is a reworked version of her NCAA routine, adjusted for three passes.

Finding identity beyond the sport

Blakely spoke candidly about separating her sense of self from her results, something she said she’s been actively working on.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen. It just happens. It’s also just removing some of the pressure of like, yes, going to the Olympics is my goal, but it’s not who I am, and that’s what I’ve really been building right now. Is finding what my identity is, and my identity is not being a gymnast.”

She also spoke about where her joy comes from outside competition.

“That joy comes from God…. He has given me the strength to come back each time and to be passionate in what I do, so joy is just being a light, smiling, being grateful for where I am now, and knowing that what has happened to me in the past has shaped me and grown me to be the person that I am today, and that’s okay.”

An inspiring training group

Blakely, now 21, trains at Florida alongside the likes of Leanne Wong and Riley McCusker. Blakely, who would be 23 by the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, said watching them has shifted her own thinking about what’s possible.

“I thought I would be done with elite at 19 and then starting my collegiate career, so to see so many people do it at different ages after college, during college, it’s been really cool because it definitely opens the doors in your mind to see that it’s not impossible, it’s doable, and you’re still capable of doing such high difficulty.”

On Kaylia Nemour

Asked about reigning Olympic and world champion Kaylia Nemour, Blakely pointed to her bar work as a source of inspiration.

“I think what’s really cool is her ability to connect so much, and I just feel like there’s not a limit on how she views her bar routine… I feel like that’s encouraging for me to look at my bar routine. Like, there doesn’t have to be any sort of cap on what I see my difficulty being or what I could change or add in… She’s definitely different in a good way.”

Follow Gymnastics Now for on-site coverage of the U.S. Classic from July 17-18.