U.S. Women Claim All-Around Gold And Silver At 2026 Pan American Championships

Gold medalist Claire Pease, silver medalist Charleigh Bullock and bronze medalist Thais Fidelis pose with their medals at the 2026 Pan American Championships.

USA Gymnastics/Ricardo Bufolin

Team USA’s women’s gymnasts collected more hardware on Friday at the 2026 Pan American Gymnastics Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The American women came away with gold and silver medals in the all-around final.

After leading Team USA to gold in Wednesday’s team final, 17-year-old Claire Pease claimed individual all-around gold and first-year senior Charleigh Bullock secured silver. Brazil’s Thais Fidelis shared the podium with the American duo, winning bronze in a distant third place.

The result marked the first 1-2 finish for the U.S. women since 2018, when Grace McCallum and Trinity Thomas claimed gold and silver, respectively.

Team USA’s Yul Moldauer claimed bronze in the men’s all-around final later that Friday in Rio, joining his bronze from the men’s team final. Competition is far from over for Moldauer, who qualified for five of seven individual finals.

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Claire Pease (United States) 54.498

Charleigh Bullock (United States) 54.032

Thais Fidelis (Brazil) 52.232

Sophia Weisberg (Brazil) 51.365

Lia Monica Fontaine (Canada) 51.166

Rio de Janeiro Play-by-Play

The top qualifiers began Friday morning’s competition on the vault, where Pease took an early lead after a strong Yurchenko double full, earning the highest vault score of the day (14.166).

Though Bullock was the highest-scoring American in the qualifying round, she scored just a 13.133 on Friday, a one-point decrease from her team final result.

Though her vault was near-perfect, the rookie balked on her first attempt, incurring a full-point neutral deduction. Per the World Gymnastics (FIG) code, Bullock was allowed a second attempt, which she completed successfully. Without the neutral deduction, Bullock would have scored a 14.133.

USA - Artistic Gymnastics Pan American Championshiops 2026, Jun 19 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Photo: RICARDO BUFOLIN / USAGYM

USA Gymnastics/Ricardo Bufolin

Known for her prowess on the uneven bars, Bullock redeemed her qualifying-round mistakes with a massive effort, hitting her difficult connections for a competition-best 14.266. Pease also delivered strong bars work, tallying a 13.666. She will contend for the women’s uneven bars title on Sunday.

On beam, Pease posted the highest score of the day (13.533) while showcasing her trademark elegance. Bullock posted a strong 13.333 just behind Pease, positioning the 15-year-old for more medal potential in Sunday’s event final.

Closing the event on floor, Pease simply needed to perform without major error to claim her first senior international title. While the former U.S. junior champion came up short on her difficult first tumbling pass, she closed her individual all-around effort with a serviceable 13.133, good enough for gold.

Though Bullock’s floor routine gained nearly two-tenths on Pease in the final rotation, it was not enough to overcome the one-point neutral deduction.

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Next up, Pease, Bullock, and U.S. teammate Simone Rose will take on the individual event finals this Sunday. Pease will compete on vault, bars, and floor, Bullock on beam and floor, and Rose on vault, bars, and beam.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com