By Sarah Firth, USAG Creator Program

Every season, USA Gymnastics puts on some of the biggest domestic competitions of the year for nearly every gymnastics discipline. This year’s domestic season concludes today in Phoenix with the final day of competition at the 2026 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships.

For those who make the trip to attend a USA Gymnastics event in person, the appeal of watching the sport extends far beyond the routines themselves. Seeing elite gymnastics in person offers an experience the television broadcast simply cannot match, and many supporters are willing to travel great distances to attend.

For Canadian fans Jordyn Dixon and her mother, Laura Partridge, attending the U.S. Classic this year in Hartford, Connecticut was a spontaneous decision made the week before the event.

The pair travelled from Dundas, Ontario, making the roughly seven-hour drive along with Dixon’s aunt and sister after deciding the opportunity was simply too good to miss. They arrived Friday and stayed through the weekend until Sunday. U.S. Classic is the first time Dixon and Partridge have attended an elite competition outside of Canada.

“We figured it was close enough,” Partridge said. “We could drive down, had some time, and [Dixon] loves watching gymnastics.”

Thirteen-year-old Dixon, a Level 8 gymnast who trains in Burlington, Ontario, said she was especially excited to watch two-time Olympian Jade Carey and former UCLA star Katelyn Ohashi compete.

Beyond seeing routines live, Partridge enjoys witnessing the moments fans at home may never get to see.

“Watching the coaches engage with [the gymnasts], that kind of stuff is neat,” Partridge said. “On TV, you just get to see the actual routine, but here, you get to see the befores and afters.”

The excitement of the competition extends beyond just spectating in the stands. With so many of the country’s best gymnasts in town for the weekend, the odds of running into someone is high.

“[Depending] where your hotel is, maybe you could see the gymnasts competing walking around town,” Dixon said.

The Dixon family wasn’t the only group willing to travel to Hartford.

Kiran Misra, Carrie Mecca, and Madelyn Majors made the two-hour trip from Boston with three other friends to attend the competition. The six are members of Jurassic Gymnastics, an adult men’s and women’s gymnastics team based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that competes through the National Association of Intercollegiate Gymnastics Clubs (NAIGC).

Misra, who is spending the summer in Washington, D.C., travelled back to New England so she could make the trip to Hartford. Beyond the opportunity to watch some of the sport’s biggest names, seeing veteran competitors such as Leanne Wong, Jade Carey, and Katelyn Ohashi continue to compete at the elite level reminds Misra that athletic goals do not have to end at a specific age.

“As an adult, it’s hard sometimes for me to accept that the gymnastics I see on TV is not the gymnastics I will be achieving anymore, but it’s still really motivational to see people who are actually my age still doing gymnastics at a really high level,” Misra said. “I’m turning 30 next week, and to see people my age who are still competing [elite] makes me feel like I can still achieve my goals as a gymnast.”

A live gymnastics event gives spectators a chance to further immerse themselves in the sport and support the U.S. gymnastics landscape.

For fans who travelled hours across state lines or international borders, USAG premier events are an opportunity to experience the atmosphere, watch the sport’s biggest stars up close, and reconnect with a community that shares the same passion for gymnastics.

For more information on national events on the USA Gymnastics calendar and how to attend, visit usagym.org/events.