Chippewa Valley Times

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women’s head gymnastics coach, Jessie DeZiel, is one of three members of the Team USA Gymnastics Athletes’ Council/Selection Committee responsible for selecting the women's Olympic team. The team comprises five members and two alternates.

“I will be watching every single women’s gymnastics competition, cheering my heart out for these incredible people and athletes that have worked incredibly hard to get to where they are now,” DeZiel said. “I got up at 4:30 a.m. Sunday to watch the qualification round. They did awesome and I am looking forward to team finals on Tuesday.”

DeZiel was also on the panel that selected the team for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where the U.S. team secured two individual gold medals and an overall silver medal. Those Olympics were postponed by a year due to the pandemic, with almost no spectators allowed in venues. Four of this year’s five team members also competed in Tokyo.

“After having to compete at the Olympics during the pandemic, it is so incredible that they will get the full Olympic experience; it is well deserved for them all,” DeZiel said.

DeZiel, now in her fourth year as UW-Eau Claire’s head gymnastics coach, was a nine-time All-American at the University of Nebraska and a gold medalist at the 2011 Pan American Games.

Since 2019, DeZiel has been involved with USA Gymnastics and noted that the routines performed at the June Olympic Trials in Minneapolis were “just incredible.” She acknowledged that selecting a team from such talented athletes was challenging.

“Selecting any team is always hard,” DeZiel said. “All these athletes work so hard for a spot, and it is absolutely heartbreaking when we only get to choose five athletes.”

Under DeZiel's coaching at UW-Eau Claire, her teams have produced a national champion and three All-Americans while setting multiple program records in both individual and team competitions.

Jason Verdugo, UW-Eau Claire director of athletics, described DeZiel as “a tremendous ambassador” for USA Gymnastics and expressed no surprise at her involvement in selecting the Olympic team.

“The quality of our coaches is undoubtedly one of our greatest strengths in our department, and Jessie certainly falls into that category,” Verdugo said. “The gymnastics program experienced some tremendous growth last year, and I anticipate we will continue to see that moving forward.”