Riley Shannon McCusker (born July 9, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast and a six-time member of the
United States women's national gymnastics team
The United States women's national artistic gymnastics team represents the United States in FIG international competitions. Currently, the U.S. team is the reigning World team champion and the reigning Olympic team silver medalists, with the four ...
(2016–2021). She is the
2019 Pan American Games
; ay, Taqinipuniw anatt’apxtanxa''
, nations participating = 41
, athletes participating = 6,680
, events = 419 in 38 sports
, opening ceremony = July 26
, closing ceremony = August 11
, officially opened by = Martín Vizcarra
, to ...
2019 Pan American Games
; ay, Taqinipuniw anatt’apxtanxa''
, nations participating = 41
, athletes participating = 6,680
, events = 419 in 38 sports
, opening ceremony = July 26
, closing ceremony = August 11
, officially opened by = Martín Vizcarra
, to ...
silver medalist and a two-time United States national bronze medalist (
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
). She has also won six medals at the
USA Gymnastics National Championships The USA Gymnastics National Championships is the annual artistic gymnastics national competition held in the United States for elite-level competition. It is currently organized by USA Gymnastics, the governing body for gymnastics in the United Stat ...
in her senior career. She was a member of the gold-medal-winning American team at the 2018 World Championships and the
2019 Pan American Games
; ay, Taqinipuniw anatt’apxtanxa''
, nations participating = 41
, athletes participating = 6,680
, events = 419 in 38 sports
, opening ceremony = July 26
, closing ceremony = August 11
, officially opened by = Martín Vizcarra
, to ...
. In 2019, she competed at the Birmingham FIG World Cup, earning a silver medal in the all-around behind Olympic champion
Aliya Mustafina
Aliya Farkhatovna Mustafina (russian: Алия Фархатовна Мустафина) is a Russian former artistic gymnast. With a combined total of 45 Olympic, World and European Championship medals, she is considered one of the most success ...
.
Personal life
McCusker was born to Tom and Jessica McCusker in 2001, and she has three siblings. They include an older brother, and a younger brother and sister. She began gymnastics in 2008 and was homeschooled. She lived in
Brielle, New Jersey
Brielle is a borough located in southern Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, along the Manasquan River. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 4,774,Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
as of February 2020.
Junior career
2014: Level 10
McCusker moved up to Level 10 in the 2014 season at age 12 – Level 10 is the highest level of the
USA Gymnastics
United States of America Gymnastics (USA Gymnastics or USAG) is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Established in 1963 as the U.S. Gymnastics Federation (USGF), USA Gymnastics is responsible for selecting and train ...
Junior Olympic program and one step below the elite level. At the time, she was training at Dynamic Gymnastics in
Mohegan Lake, New York
Lake Mohegan, commonly known as Mohegan Lake, is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the Town of Yorktown in Westchester County, New York, United States.
There is a private lake, Mohegan Lake, also known as "Lake Mohegan", with beaches ...
, under the tutelage of
Teodora Ungureanu
Teodora Ungureanu (born 13 November 1960) is a Romanian former gymnast who competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics. She is a three-time Olympic medalist (two silver and one bronze) and a world championships silver medalist. After retiring from gymn ...
. At the New York State Championships, she won the all-around title in the Junior A division, as well as titles on bars, beam, and floor. Two weeks later, she competed at the 2014 Region 6 Championships where she won the all-around and vault titles in the Junior A division and qualified for the J.O. National Championships. At Nationals, held in
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...
, McCusker placed 30th in the all-around.
2015
McCusker was absent from competition throughout the entire 2015 season. During that year, she and her family moved from
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
to
Brielle, New Jersey
Brielle is a borough located in southern Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, along the Manasquan River. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 4,774,Morganville, New Jersey
Morganville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) within Marlboro Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey.Maggie Haney and Victoria Levine. Her former club did not have the resources for high-level elite training. MG Elite had produced rising junior star
Laurie Hernandez
Lauren Zoe Hernandez (born June 9, 2000) is an American artistic gymnast. During her debut year as a senior gymnast, she competed as a member of the U.S. women's gymnastics team dubbed the " Final Five" at the 2016 Summer Olympics; Ultimately, ...
at the time.
2016: Junior Elite
In January 2016, McCusker competed as a junior elite at the 2016 Parkettes Invitational in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She won the all-around title in addition to all four event titles. On February 4, 2016, she committed to the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
and the
Florida Gators gymnastics
The Florida Gators women's gymnastics team represents the University of Florida in the sport of gymnastics. The team competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gator ...
program. She qualified for the Junior International Elite level in March at the 2016 KPAC Cup.
In May, McCusker competed as a junior at the 2016 American Classic at the Karolyi Ranch in
Huntsville, Texas
Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas. The population was 45,941 as of the 2020 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area. Huntsville is in the East Texas Piney Woods on Interstate 45 and home ...
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, McCusker was in second place in the junior all-around after day one of competition with a 56.450. She maintained her placement on Day 2, winning the silver medal in the all-around with a combined total score of 112.000. She also won the silver medal on bars, beam, and floor. Consequently, she was named to the U.S. Junior National Team.
Senior career
2017
In February McCusker was named as the wildcard athlete for the 2017 AT&T American Cup, an
FIG
The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...
event held on March 4 at the
Prudential Center
Prudential Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the men's basketball program of Seton Hal ...
in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Ragan Smith
Ragan Elizabeth Smith (born August 8, 2000) is an American collegiate gymnast. She is a five-time member of the US National Team (2014–2019). She is the 2017 United States national all-around champion and was an alternate for the 2016 Olymp ...
. In her senior international debut, McCusker placed 5th overall with a 52.966, behind Kim Bui of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos
Mélanie Johanna de Jesus dos Santos (born 5 March 2000) is a French artistic gymnast. She is the 2019 European all-around champion, a two time European champion on the floor exercise (2018, 2019), and the 2021 European champion on the balanc ...
of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
,
Asuka Teramoto
is a Japanese gymnast.
Teramoto was born in Komaki, Aichi. Her first major international senior competition was the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. In the team all-around finals, she contributed on vaulting, uneven ...
of Japan, and Smith, after a fall off of the uneven bars and a scary fall on her beam dismount, landing on her neck. Despite her struggles on bars and beam, McCusker recorded the second highest scores of the competition (behind Smith) on vault and floor.
In April, McCusker competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy, where she won the all-around gold medal with a score of 56.600, finishing ahead of
Rebeca Andrade
Rebeca Rodrigues de Andrade (born 8 May 1999) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic and 2021 World champion on the vault and 2022 World all-around champion. Andrade is the first Brazilian female gymnast to medal at an Olym ...
of Brazil. She also helped the U.S. win the team gold medal, and she won the gold medal on beam and the silver medal on bars behind Elena Eremina of Russia. After returning from Italy, McCusker suffered both an ankle injury and a wrist injury and was forced to stop regular training for a few months. At the end of July, she competed at the 2017 U.S. Classic. Due to her injury, she did not compete at her highest level and placed eighth on bars, thirteenth on beam, and fourth on floor.
In August at the 2017 U.S. National Championships, McCusker won the bronze medal in the all-around behind
Ragan Smith
Ragan Elizabeth Smith (born August 8, 2000) is an American collegiate gymnast. She is a five-time member of the US National Team (2014–2019). She is the 2017 United States national all-around champion and was an alternate for the 2016 Olymp ...
and
Jordan Chiles
Jordan Lucella Elizabeth Chiles (born April 15, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the team event. She was a member of the team that won gold at the ...
. She became the uneven bars national champion and won the silver medal on beam behind Smith. She also tied for fourth place on floor.
Due to her results at the City of Jesolo Trophy and the National Championships, McCusker was placed on the nominative roster for the 2017 World Championships, but in September she was once again injured and had to withdraw from the Worlds Selection Camp, relinquishing her chance at making that year's World team.
2018
In June, McCusker competed at the Brestyan's National Qualifier, where she had the highest score on uneven bars and the second highest score on balance beam. She then competed on only two events at the American Classic on July 7. She won the silver medal on beam behind
Kara Eaker
Kara Eaker (born November 7, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. On the balance beam she is the 2018 Pan American and 2019 Pan American Games champion and a two-time United States national silver medalist (2018, 2019). On floor exercise she ...
with a score of 14.000, and she placed seventh on bars after scoring 13.500 with a fall. On July 28, she competed at the
2018 U.S. Classic
The 2018 U.S. Classic, known as the 2018 GK U.S. Classic for sponsorship reasons, is the 35th edition of the U.S. Classic gymnastics tournament. The competition was held on July 28, 2018, at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Medalist ...
where she won the silver medal in the all-around and on balance beam, behind
Simone Biles
Simone Arianne Biles (; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most de ...
on both. She also won the gold medal on bars, one tenth of a point ahead of Alyona Shchennikova, and she placed fourth on floor behind Biles, Jade Carey, and
Morgan Hurd
Morgan Elizabeth Hurd (born July 18, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast and a five-time member of the United States women's national team (2016–21). She is the 2017 World all-around champion and balance beam silver medalist and the 2018 ...
Morgan Hurd
Morgan Elizabeth Hurd (born July 18, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast and a five-time member of the United States women's national team (2016–21). She is the 2017 World all-around champion and balance beam silver medalist and the 2018 ...
. She also won the silver medal on bars behind Biles, the bronze medal on beam behind Biles and
Kara Eaker
Kara Eaker (born November 7, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. On the balance beam she is the 2018 Pan American and 2019 Pan American Games champion and a two-time United States national silver medalist (2018, 2019). On floor exercise she ...
, and she placed seventh on floor. In October, McCusker participated in the World Team Selection Camp. She placed first on bars, second in the all-around behind Biles, second on beam behind Eaker, third on floor behind Biles and
Grace McCallum
Grace Ann McCallum (born October 30, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the team event. She is the 2018 Pan American and 2018 Pacific Rim individual al ...
, and seventh on vault. The following day, she was named to the 2018 World team alongside Biles, Hurd, McCallum, Eaker, and alternate
Ragan Smith
Ragan Elizabeth Smith (born August 8, 2000) is an American collegiate gymnast. She is a five-time member of the US National Team (2014–2019). She is the 2017 United States national all-around champion and was an alternate for the 2016 Olymp ...
.
During the qualification round at the 2018 World Championships, McCusker placed eighth in the all-around after falling off beam and having a sub-par bars performance. She did not qualify to the All-Around Final due to teammates Biles and Hurd placing higher than her. During the Team Final, McCusker competed on bars and beam. She rebounded from her troubles in the qualification round to contribute scores of 14.500 on bars and 13.733 on beam towards the U.S. team's total. Her bars score was the second highest of the day behind Biles and tied with two-time Olympic bars champion
Aliya Mustafina
Aliya Farkhatovna Mustafina (russian: Алия Фархатовна Мустафина) is a Russian former artistic gymnast. With a combined total of 45 Olympic, World and European Championship medals, she is considered one of the most success ...
. The U.S. won the gold medal with a score of 171.629, 8.766 points ahead of second place Russia, beating previous margin of victory records set in the open-ended code of points era at the 2014 World Championships (6.693) and the
2016 Olympic Games
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...
(8.209).
2019
In February,
USA Gymnastics
United States of America Gymnastics (USA Gymnastics or USAG) is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Established in 1963 as the U.S. Gymnastics Federation (USGF), USA Gymnastics is responsible for selecting and train ...
announced that McCusker was selected to compete at the Birmingham World Cup in March. There, she won the silver medal in the all-around behind Russian gymnast
Aliya Mustafina
Aliya Farkhatovna Mustafina (russian: Алия Фархатовна Мустафина) is a Russian former artistic gymnast. With a combined total of 45 Olympic, World and European Championship medals, she is considered one of the most success ...
after counting falls on vault and beam. She recorded the highest scores on bars and floor.
In June, after the conclusion of the American Classic, McCusker was named as one of the eight athletes being considered for the team that would compete at the
2019 Pan American Games
; ay, Taqinipuniw anatt’apxtanxa''
, nations participating = 41
, athletes participating = 6,680
, events = 419 in 38 sports
, opening ceremony = July 26
, closing ceremony = August 11
, officially opened by = Martín Vizcarra
, to ...
, along with
Sloane Blakely
Sloane Blakely (born December 23, 2002) is an American collegiate artistic gymnast and was a member of the United States women's national gymnastics team. She is currently competing for the Florida Gators in NCAA gymnastics. She is the older si ...
,
Kara Eaker
Kara Eaker (born November 7, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. On the balance beam she is the 2018 Pan American and 2019 Pan American Games champion and a two-time United States national silver medalist (2018, 2019). On floor exercise she ...
,
Aleah Finnegan
Aleah Finnegan (born January 4, 2003) is a Filipino-American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the United States' women's national gymnastics team from 2019–21 and was part of the team that won gold at the 2019 Pan American Games. She is ...
,
Morgan Hurd
Morgan Elizabeth Hurd (born July 18, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast and a five-time member of the United States women's national team (2016–21). She is the 2017 World all-around champion and balance beam silver medalist and the 2018 ...
,
Shilese Jones
Shilese Jones (born July 26, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the teams that won gold at the 2022 World Championships and the 2018 Pan American Championships. Individually she is the 2022 World all-around silver meda ...
,
Sunisa Lee
Sunisa "Suni" Lee (born Sunisa Phabsomphou; March 9, 2003) is a Hmong American artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic all-around champion and uneven bars bronze medalist. She was a member of the teams that won gold at the 2019 World Champi ...
Simone Biles
Simone Arianne Biles (; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most de ...
with a score of 57.900. In addition, she won the bronze medal on bars behind Hurd and Lee, the silver medal on beam behind Eaker, and she placed fifth on floor behind Biles, Jade Carey,
Grace McCallum
Grace Ann McCallum (born October 30, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the team event. She is the 2018 Pan American and 2018 Pacific Rim individual al ...
, and Eaker. After the competition, she was officially named to the
2019 Pan American Games
; ay, Taqinipuniw anatt’apxtanxa''
, nations participating = 41
, athletes participating = 6,680
, events = 419 in 38 sports
, opening ceremony = July 26
, closing ceremony = August 11
, officially opened by = Martín Vizcarra
, to ...
team alongside Eaker, Finnegan, Hurd, and Wong.
At the
2019 Pan American Games
; ay, Taqinipuniw anatt’apxtanxa''
, nations participating = 41
, athletes participating = 6,680
, events = 419 in 38 sports
, opening ceremony = July 26
, closing ceremony = August 11
, officially opened by = Martín Vizcarra
, to ...
, Riley competed on all four events during the team final/qualification round. She contributed scores on bars, beam, and floor to the U.S. team's gold medal winning performance. She qualified to the all-around final in first place with a total of 57.050, just over three tenths ahead of Eaker. Additionally, she also qualified to the uneven bars and floor exercise finals in first place and the balance beam final in second place behind Eaker. During the all-around final, McCusker won the silver medal behind
Ellie Black
Elsabeth Ann "Ellie" Black (born September 8, 1995) is a Canadian artistic gymnast. She is a three-time Olympian, having represented her country at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Olympic Games. She is the 2017 World all-around silver medalist, ma ...
of Canada after she fell off bars while performing her Ricna. On the first day of event finals, McCusker rebounded from her fall in the all-around to win the gold medal on bars ahead of Wong and Black. On the second day of event finals, McCusker won the bronze medal on beam behind Eaker and Black after she fell on her dismount, and she placed fifth on floor after going out of bounds twice.
At the 2019 U.S. National Championships, McCusker competed on all four events on the first day of competition and was in second place on balance beam behind Biles and in fourth place in the all-around behind Biles,
Sunisa Lee
Sunisa "Suni" Lee (born Sunisa Phabsomphou; March 9, 2003) is a Hmong American artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic all-around champion and uneven bars bronze medalist. She was a member of the teams that won gold at the 2019 World Champi ...
, and Jade Carey after falling off the uneven bars. On the second day of competition, she competed on vault and uneven bars before her coach decided to pull her from the remaining two events due to McCusker feeling sick to her stomach. She ended up placing seventh on uneven bars, tied with
Jordan Chiles
Jordan Lucella Elizabeth Chiles (born April 15, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the team event. She was a member of the team that won gold at the ...
. She was added to the national team for the fourth time.
McCusker was one of fifteen gymnasts invited to worlds selection camp and was a frontrunner to make the team. However, one day before the first day of camp, it was announced she had withdrawn from contention due to a case of "mild rhabdomyolysis".
In November McCusker signed her National Letter of Intent with the Florida Gators, starting in the 2020–21 school year.
2020
In February McCusker's coach Maggie Haney was suspended pending the outcome of a hearing into alleged abuse. As a result McCusker announced on Instagram that she would finish her elite career training at Arizona Sunrays alongside fellow
national team
A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport.
The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...
member Jade Carey. It was later revealed that McCusker testified against Haney via a letter read at the hearing, with their relationship starting to worsen after McCusker's loss to
Aliya Mustafina
Aliya Farkhatovna Mustafina (russian: Алия Фархатовна Мустафина) is a Russian former artistic gymnast. With a combined total of 45 Olympic, World and European Championship medals, she is considered one of the most success ...
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
until after the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
, which were postponed until 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, starting in the 2021–22 school year.
In November news broke that McCusker had sued her former coaches, Maggie Haney and Victoria Levine, for
negligence
Negligence (Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as ''negligence'' involves harm caused by failing to act as a ...
,
intentional infliction of emotional distress
Intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED; sometimes called the tort of outrage) is a common law tort that allows individuals to recover for severe emotional distress caused by another individual who intentionally or recklessly inflicted ...
, and assault. McCusker cited how Haney forced her to train with an injured wrist in April 2017, an injured
hamstring
In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury.
In quadrupe ...
2019 Pan American Games
; ay, Taqinipuniw anatt’apxtanxa''
, nations participating = 41
, athletes participating = 6,680
, events = 419 in 38 sports
, opening ceremony = July 26
, closing ceremony = August 11
, officially opened by = Martín Vizcarra
, to ...
while being diagnosed with exercise-induced rhabdomyolysis.
2021
McCusker returned to gymnastics at the
2021 Winter Cup
The 2021 Winter Cup was an artistic gymnastics competition held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. In past iterations it was only for Men's Artistic Gymnastics, however, this competition was the first time that Women's Artistic Gymn ...
, marking her first competition since switching gyms to Arizona Sunrays. She competed every event but floor exercise, finishing second on bars behind reigning national champion on the event,
Sunisa Lee
Sunisa "Suni" Lee (born Sunisa Phabsomphou; March 9, 2003) is a Hmong American artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic all-around champion and uneven bars bronze medalist. She was a member of the teams that won gold at the 2019 World Champi ...
. The following month at a National Team camp McCusker was named to the National Team for the fifth time. In May McCusker competed at the
U.S. Classic
The U.S. Classic is an annual summer gymnastics meet for elite artistic gymnasts of the United States. The meet occurs before Nationals and is a qualifier for it. In Olympic years, the aforementioned meets along with the U.S. Olympic Trials are u ...
. She got injured during the first rotation after a bad landing on vault and withdrew from the rest of the competition. At the
National Championships
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...
McCusker only competed on uneven bars. She finished second behind
Sunisa Lee
Sunisa "Suni" Lee (born Sunisa Phabsomphou; March 9, 2003) is a Hmong American artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic all-around champion and uneven bars bronze medalist. She was a member of the teams that won gold at the 2019 World Champi ...
, achieving the top score on the apparatus on day 2 of the competition. As a result she was added to the national team and selected to compete at the upcoming Olympic Trials. At the Olympic Trials McCusker finished fourth on uneven bars after falling off the apparatus on day two of the competition; she was not added to the Olympic team.
NCAA career
2021–2022 season
McCusker made her NCAA debut on January 7 in a quad meet against
Rutgers
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...
,
Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010.
Economics
Northern Illinois is dominated by t ...
, and Texas Women's. She only competed on the uneven bars where she scored a 9.825 to help Florida win the meet.