Oregon State’s Jade Carey heads to Paris Olympics chasing more than just gymnastics gold

CORVALLIS — Jade Carey will be seeking something rather unexpected when she travels to Paris later this month for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Redemption.

While everyone remembers that the most decorated gymnast in Oregon State history won a gold medal at the last Summer Games, Carey recalls that she also flopped in the vault.

While most remember that she participated on a United States team that earned a silver medal, she recalls that she did so as an individual competitor rather than as a part of the team competition.

And while many remember the cornucopia of medals she has earned from various elite and college competitions over the years, Carey can’t help but recall the one she didn’t win at the U.S. championships last year, when she finished a surprising 15th in the all-around.

So, yeah, Carey isn’t just looking to add more bling to her trophy case when she represents the Beavers and the red, white and blue in Paris.

“Me and the four of us who were (at the Olympics) last time, we all have been talking about how we want redemption,” Carey said Wednesday at the Oregon State gymnastics practice facility in Corvallis. “There was always something that could have gone better for each and every one of us. So that was definitely a big motivator.

“In 2021, I wanted a gold (medal) on vault and floor and didn’t get it on vault. So I think for me, vault is one of my biggest redemptions, just making that final again and proving that I belong there and can medal again.”

But the pursuit of redemption isn’t the only thing Carey is looking forward to during her second trip to the Olympics, when she joins fellow gymnasts Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Hezly Rivera on the U.S. Olympic team.

She’s also chasing normalcy.

Her first Olympic go-around came in the throes of COVID, a year later than planned, amid stringent health and safety protocols related to the pandemic. Events were marred by protests from Japanese citizens, who were calling for the Games to be canceled because of the pandemic, and the experience was unlike any other in the history of the Olympics.

Fans were forbidden from attending events. Family members were not allowed to travel to support competitors. Athletes were required to quarantine in hotels by themselves rather than stay in the Olympic Village, where Olympians typically reside during the Games.

When Carey won gold in the floor competition, she did so in a lifeless, empty gym without cheering family — except for her father, Brian Carey, who is also her coach — and she was forced to celebrate afterward in virtual solitude.

“I feel like one of the biggest motivators for going again is to have a normal experience,” Carey said. “Just having a crowd in the arena is going to be really cool. We did a test event two years ago in the actual arena that the Olympics are going to be in and that was really packed and electric and fun. So I can only imagine how even more exciting it will be for the Olympics. And just being able to stay in the village … we’re going to be in the village and meet other athletes and kind of just experience that whole normal experience.”

Carey said “a lot of my family” will be attending this time around. And they will watch a much more experienced and hardened gymnast who will face increased scrutiny and expectations.

Carey is the sixth-most decorated U.S. female gymnast of all time, having earned eight Olympic and world championship medals. She’s a two-time world medalist and a four-time national silver medalist, as well as the 2022 world champion in vault. What’s more, she went against the norm by competing in college gymnastics for Oregon State — in addition to elite international competition — and she’s part of an evolving sport that no longer relies almost exclusively on teenage competitors.

“We’re just proving that you don’t have to stop when you’re 18 years old,” Carey said. “You can keep going if you want to. I think just kind of pacing out your career longer, being smart with your gymnastics. You don’t have to peak when you’re 16 years old, you can take a little bit more time with it or keep going as long as you’re feeling healthy and strong.”

There were times last year when Carey didn’t feel particularly healthy or strong, when the demands of training and competing for both college and elite competition tested her endurance and strength. It finally seemed to take its toll at the U.S. championships, when she logged that 15th-place finish in the all-around — her first outside the top eight at the event in her career — and an 11th-place finish on floor.

The disappointing showing prompted her to wonder whether she was taking on too much.

“I was like, ‘I don’t know if I made the right decision,’” she said. “Because I was left off the worlds team and I didn’t have a great year in elite. So I started to kind of second-guess myself and my gymnastics. I didn’t know if everything I had been working for was going to work out the way that I hoped.

“But I am grateful for that year now, because it just taught me lessons and we learned from it and how to be better the next time around. I’m glad that that happened the year before — and not this year — because I was able to go back and make changes to the plan.”

When asked if she would return to Oregon State next season, an OSU sports information staffer intervened to say she would “give it a little bit more time” before making a decision.

For now, the most decorated gymnast in Oregon State history is focused on Paris, enjoying a return to Olympic normalcy, winning more medals — and chasing redemption.

“There’s a lot of expectations on us being part of Team USA,” Carey said. “So I’m just really excited to embrace that opportunity. And we want to come home with a team gold, so I know every single one of us is really motivated — and me especially — to just be a part of that this time.”

— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories