Last Sunday, (July 13, 2025), Inside Gymnastics Magazine posted this message in caps:
“JADE CAREY IS NOT REGISTERED FOR THE 2025 U.S. CLASSIC IN JULY.”
Indeed, when we look into the U.S. Elite Competition event taking place this weekend, Jade Carey’s name is missing.
Carey is a three-time Olympic medalist who competed at Oregon State until her final collegiate event last April, in which she missed winning the all-around NCAA championship meet by one-tenth of a point.
Following that meet, she was awarded the 2025 American Athletic Inc. award, which signifies the top collegiate gymnast and is similar in stature to the Heisman award in college football.
That honor is the latest of many that include:
- Olympic gold in the floor exercise in Tokyo
- Six All-American awards
- 16 perfect-10 scores in college
- Only gymnast in 2025 to score a “GymSlam (perfect-10’s on every event)
- Two-time Winter Academic Honor Roll
- First gymnast in PAC-12 history to win the all-around and beam event titles in all of her regular season matches
- 168 career collegiate event titles
- Fifth-most-decorated female Olympian in U.S. history
- Fourth-highest all-around score in NCAA history, just (120 days ago)
Her list of awards is extensive.
With all of that and still only 25 years old, Jade Carey is at the pinnacle of her career. So, why is she missing from this week’s U.S. Classic Competition?
If you read Inside Gymnastics Magazine’s announcement, which is all in capital letters, your first response might be alarm.
Was she hurt? Gravely ill? Suddenly vanished?
However, none of the above applies, and it seems odd that Inside Gymnastics Magazine, an expert in the gymnastics world, posted such an alarming message, especially when a non-expert like me knew why she wouldn’t be there.
Many of us have known since last September when she said, “I’m not doing elite this year, so I just have them (Oregon State gymnastics) to focus on and that’s it. I’m really excited to jump in with them and be a leader and help get them (OSU Beavers) to where we want to go.”
Was Inside Gymnastics Magazine not paying attention? Did they forget?
The lesson to be learned here is: When Jade Carey speaks, it’s a good idea to listen.
It’s like the time my wife asked me to pass her lipstick. I was only casually paying attention, and I accidentally passed her a glue stick.
She still isn’t talking to me.
Carey’s plans for her senior year were to focus on Oregon State gymnastics and not let elite matches interfere.
That is precisely what she did, and she was rewarded with great success and the kind of fun that comes when you don’t have the pressure of elite matches in your plans.
As a result, she has fond memories of her time at Oregon State. She recently posted:
“A season i will cherish forever. so grateful for the incredible opportunity i have had the past four years to represent oregon state university. as always, go beavs for life 🧡🖤”
She added, “I was able to give more to college gymnastics and to my teammates than I’ve ever been able to do before. I think that’s really what’s ultimately led me to where I am this year and allowed me to have a lot of fun.”
While the world of elite gymnastics eagerly awaits the return of Carey in action, the 2024 Paris Olympics are likely to be her last elite event.
There are many options for her to consider, but for now, she is vacationing and traveling.
When asked if joining the Oregon State coaching staff was a possibility for her future, she smiled and said it “definitely could be a possibility. It would be really cool to, like, come back here someday and do that.”
If she does, Oregon State will become the envy of the collegiate gymnastics world.
She didn’t say she would; just that she might.
Jade is not missing or ill. Aliens haven’t abducted her; she’s just enjoying life, like she said she would. And now, we all know that.
We also know now that when Jade Carey speaks, we need to listen.
I plan to pay attention because if she were to ask me for hand-grip chalk, I don’t want to be the guy who hands her a glue stick.
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