PHOENIX (AP) — Jade Carey doesn't need to be at the U.S. gymnastics championships. At least, not like this.
That's part of what makes it all so sweet.
The 26-year-old knows she could have walked away following her final season at Oregon State in the spring of 2025, with a resume stuffed with Olympic and world championship medals and her place in the history of the storied U.S. women's program secure.
She tried, kind of. The athlete who had been going nonstop for the better part of 20 years gave her body a bit of a break after her NCAA career ended. It lasted a handful of weeks.
Then one day, she popped into the gym and, in the words of her father and longtime coach Brian, “started playing again.”
Emphasis on “playing.”
If there's anything the two-time Olympic gold medalist has learned, it's that taking this too seriously can quickly rob you of the joy that brought you to it in the first place.
Asked if she feels the weight of living up to the standard she's set for herself as the Phoenix native prepares to salute the judges at the national championships for a seventh time when the women's competition begins at Mortgage Matchup Center, Carey shrugs.
“I just feel like right now I have one more opportunity to just have fun with it,” she said. “No expectations, no pressure."
Maturing means understanding who she was in 2021 is not who she is in 2026. There have been times she'll randomly come across a video of her gold medal-winning floor exercise routine at the Tokyo Olympics five years ago and think “that was pretty hard.”
Whether she can get back to that level as she makes a bid for a third trip to the Olympics is anyone's guess, Carey's included. Her body has held up remarkably well through the years, thanks in large part to the pragmatic approach she and Brian Carey have taken toward her training.
“I don’t know if that’s coming back,” she said. “But you never know. And I feel like training, getting back into it this year, was really hard. But I’ve kind of hit my stride, and it’s getting a little easier and feeling a little more familiar.”
Carey finished second in the all-around to 17-year-old Reese Esponda at the U.S. Classic a few weeks ago in her first elite competition since leaving the 2024 Paris Games with a pair of Olympic medals. She did it with routines that are designed to serve as a foundation as she methodically builds toward the summer of 2028.
The plan is to add difficulty as she goes along, but only when she's ready. In her mid-20s, Carey is not the same gymnast who took a circuitous path to the Tokyo Olympics that ended with the floor routine of a lifetime and the most precious of medals around her neck.
The amount of time she spends in the gym on a given day depends on how she's feeling. She and her father have an understanding that as long as she hits her numbers — meaning, how many times she works on an assignment — it doesn't matter how long she's there.
Some days she can knock it out in three hours. Some days, it's more like eight. On the days she's not feeling it at all, they'll work on a plan that spreads the workload out over a longer period of time, though that remains a rarity.
“Normally, it’s like she’s so fine-tuned with her skill, she just gets up and knocks it out,” Brian Carey said.
That's kind of what she does. What's perhaps the most remarkable thing about Carey's career is the way she simply keeps going. While some of her Olympic teammates have opted to take time off and recover after a triumphant performance — Tokyo Olympic champion Suni Lee announced last month she is preparing for a return after a two-year hiatus — Carey largely has not.
Her father credits an internal “fire” that doesn't need much to be stoked. He ordered her to take a vacation after her senior year at Oregon State. It lasted a month. There was never any formal discussion about pushing toward the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. It just sort of happened.
That doesn't mean slipping back into her routine was easy.
“I could tell my body was like, ‘What are you doing? You haven’t gone upside down in a while, like we don’t do this anymore,’” she said with a laugh. “But I’m like, ‘No, we’re going to, trust me.’”
She's well aware some of the skills she once mastered may never come back, so she'll need to evolve. That could mean opting for slightly easier (at least by gymnastics standards) elements and combinations, hoping to make up for in execution what she might lack in difficulty.
Brian Carey's job is to make sure she isn't in a rush to find out. Sometimes he still has to tell his daughter to “pump the brakes a little bit." There are days when Carey feels she's ahead of schedule. That doesn't mean the schedule is going to be adjusted. The short-term goal is to build toward earning a spot on the world championship team in October.
Yes, she understands the prospect of competing in a home Olympics is out there in the ether. And sure, it played a factor in her decision to give it a shot. The reality is, she probably would be here anyway, no matter if the Olympics were in Los Angeles or London or somebody's backyard.
The fire inside continues to burn brightly. She learned to respect it long ago. She has the rest of her life to not do gymnastics. Why douse the flames before she's ready?
“I’ve done so much that I just, I don’t know,” she said. "I just want to do this round again for fun and see how far I can push myself.”
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports
FILE - Jade Carey, of the United States, celebrates after performing on the vault during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 30, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
FILE - Jade Carey, of the United States, is introduced during the women's artistic gymnastics individual vault finals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Aug. 3, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A new Tennessee congressional map that carved up a majority Black district in Memphis is making its electoral debut Thursday in a primary election that will determine the nominees for a Republican attempt at a clean sweep of the state's U.S. House districts in the midterms.
The primaries were upended just three months before the vote when the Republican-led Legislature redrew congressional districts following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened federal Voting Rights Act protection for minorities. President Donald Trump cheered the redistricting as part of a national plan to try to help Republicans hold on to their slim House majority.
Trump has endorsed state Sen. Brent Taylor in the four-person Republican primary for the significantly reshaped 9th Congressional District, which now stretches about 200 miles (320 kilometers) east from Memphis before reaching north toward the Nashville area. The district, which previously favored Democrats, now tilts toward Republicans, and some Memphis voters have raised concerns that their representation has been diminished.
After the redistricting, longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen announced that he would no longer seek reelection in the 9th District. Cohen's primary challenger, Democratic state Rep. Justin Pearson, then was joined by state Sen. London Lamar in what became a four-person contest.
Pearson gained national attention in 2023 when he was expelled by the Republican-led state House for protesting in support of gun control measures following a deadly school shooting in Nashville. Memphis voters later reelected him.
Republicans currently hold eight of the state's nine congressional seats.
For decades Memphis, the most populous city in Shelby County, formed the base of its own congressional district. Now the county is split among three districts that extend outward like spokes into rural areas.
Lonzo Taylor, a retired postal worker and military veteran, said Black voters like himself have had their voices diluted.
“We only had one district in the whole state of Tennessee, and you don’t even want that to be fair? It’s just terrible,” said Taylor, 72. “I love this state, but I am very disappointed in our governor,” who called lawmakers into a special session for the redistricting.
Milla Meiman, 23, who voted early in the Democratic primary, said she did not realize the congressional map had changed until receiving a letter about it in the mail.
“It’s a drastic change to have your district sort of switched around like that,” said Meiman, who works part time at an ice cream shop and public library. Meiman added: “I think it’s a voter suppression tactic.”
Terrice Thomas, 45, an educator who votes for Democrats, had to learn a lot more about the candidates when she got switched from District 9 to District 8. She is concerned Memphis constituents could get overlooked.
“Is everybody going to have an equal say on what’s happening in their communities or even the people that you’re voting for?” Thomas said. “Are they going to really take into account the different areas and what makes us unique?”
The cracking apart of Memphis sent ripples throughout the state, also significantly reshaping the 5th Congressional District held by Republican Rep. Andy Ogles, a conservative Freedom Caucus member who is seeking reelection and was endorsed by Trump.
He faces a primary challenge from Charlie Hatcher, a former state agriculture commissioner under Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who has endorsed Hatcher for Congress.
Previously centered on Nashville and central Tennessee, the district now extends to the northwest corner of the state before snaking south along the Mississippi River to Memphis. Along the way it touches the borders of Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi.
Ogles has faced controversy. His cellphone was seized by the FBI in 2024 as part of an investigation into his campaign finance reporting. But the Justice Department recently agreed to return the device, signaling that it was abandoning the probe, which began under the Biden administration.
On the Democratic side, the five-way primary features Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, who has continued to run in the reshaped district despite being drawn out of it.
Republican U.S. Rep. John Rose is forgoing reelection in the 6th District to run for governor instead. That created a contentious primary for the Republican-leaning district, which stretches east from Nashville.
The four Republican candidates include state Rep. Johnny Garrett and Rose’s recent chief of staff, former U.S. Rep. Van Hilleary, who served eight years in Congress before losing a gubernatorial bid in 2002. Five Democrats also are seeking the seat.
Rose and U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn are among three Republicans and five Democrats running to succeed Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who is barred by term limits from seeking reelection. Blackburn, who won her second six-year Senate term in 2024, would have to give the seat up if elected.
Republicans have held the governor's office since 2011 and won every U.S. Senate election since 1994. Sen. Bill Hagerty is unopposed in this year's Republican primary, though numerous Democrats and independents are battling for the chance to challenge him.
The story has been updated to correct the day of the primary election to Thursday, from Tuesday.
Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri.
Helen Plummer walks into a polling place to cast her ballot in a primary election Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Two voters fill out their ballots in Memphis, Tenn., Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kristin M. Hall)
FILE - Republican congressional candidate State Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, speaks to a supporter outside an early voting polling place Friday, July 24, 2026, in Brentwood, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
FILE - Democratic congressional candidate State Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis, speaks to potential voters during a political event Thursday, July 23, 2026, in Franklin, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
