Riley McCusker

Riley McCusker (born July 9, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast. She qualified for junior elite status in 2016 and won the all-around silver medal in the US Nationals junior competition. The following year, as a senior, she won the all-around gold medal at the City of Jesolo Trophy.

McCusker was born to Tom and Jessica McCusker in 2001, and she has three siblings. McCusker began gymnastics in 2008. She is home schooled.

2014: Level 10

McCusker moved up to Level 10 in 2014, at the age of 14 – Level 10 is the highest level of the USA Gymnastics JO Program. At the time she was training at Dynamic Gymnastics in Mohegan Lake, New York under the tutelage of Teodora Ungureanu. At the New York State Championships, she won the all-around title for the Junior A division, as well as titles on bars, beam and floor. Two weeks later she participated in the 2014 Region 6 Championships where she won the all-around and vault title for the Junior A division. She consequently qualified to the 2014 J.O. Nationals. At Nationals, held in Jackson, Mississippi, McCusker finished 30th in the all-around.

2015

McCusker was absent from competition throughout the entire 2015 season; she and her family moved from Connecticut to Brielle, New Jersey so that she was able to train at MG Elite Gymnastics in Morganville, New Jersey to receive better coaching as her former club did not have the resources. MG Elite had produced rising junior star Laurie Hernandez at the time.

2016: Junior Elite

In January 2016, McCusker participated in the 2016 Parkettes Invitational in Allentown, Pennsylvania; she competed as a junior elite. She won the all-around title, in addition to all four other event titles. On February 4, 2016, she committed to the University of Florida and the Florida Gators gymnastics program. She received full Junior International Elite status in March when she passed the optionals stage with a 52.000 at the 2016 KPAC Cup.

McCusker participated in the 2016 American Classic in May at the Karolyi Ranch in Huntsville, Texas – she finished in a tie for fifth. On June 4, 2016, she participated in the 2016 U.S. Classic in Hartford, Connecticut where she finished ninth in the all-around, receiving qualification to Nationals.

At the 2016 U.S. National Championships in St. Louis, Missouri, she was second in the all-around after day one of competition with a 56.450. She managed to sustain the result on the second day, finishing second in the all-around with a combined total score of 112.000. She also won silver medals on bars, beam, and floor. Consequently, she was named to the U.S. Junior National Team.

2017–present: Senior Elite

In February 2017, McCusker was named as the wildcard athlete for the 2017 AT&T American Cup, an FIG event held on March 4 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. McCusker represented the United States alongside 2016 Olympic alternate Ragan Smith. In her senior international debut, McCusker finished 5th overall with a 52.966, behind Kim Bui of Germany, Melanie De Jesus dos Santos of France, Asuka Teramoto of Japan, and Smith, after a fall off of the uneven bars and a scary fall in her dismount off the beam, landing on her neck.

McCusker then competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy in April, where she won the all-around gold medal and helped the US team win the team gold medal.