13 years ago, Katelyn Ohashi announced herself as one of America’s brightest gymnastics talents by defeating a rising Simone Biles to win the American Cup all-around title. But a string of injuries soon brought her elite career to an abrupt end. Now, after making a surprise return to elite gymnastics in 2026 with her eyes on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Ohashi faces a big test at the U.S. Classic. But just days before the meet, she has suffered a blow.

On July 16, Ohashi arrived at Hartford, Connecticut Airport for the 2026 U.S. Classic, which will take place July 17-18. However, her trip did not go entirely as planned. Taking to her Instagram story, the former UCLA star shared that her luggage failed to arrive with her.

“Bag did not make it, so just pray that it comes before practice tomorrow,” Ohashi said in a video posted to her Instagram story. She also added the caption, “We learn things the hard way sometimes.”

A lost bag is a minor inconvenience, but the timing couldn’t be worse for the 29-year-old. The U.S. Classic is the last chance for Ohashi to compete to qualify for the 2026 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships. She will be competing only on balance beam and floor exercise and will need to score a combined 26.80 points in those two events in order to move on to nationals.

The challenge is no easy one. Ohashi has a score of 24.65 across beam and floor from the American Classic on June 28, her first elite meet since the 2019 NCAA Championships and her first since then at an elite level. To keep her comeback moving forward, she will need a stronger performance in Hartford against one of the deepest fields.

The competition features some of the top names in the sport, such as three-time Olympian Jade Carey, five-time World Championships medalist Leanne Wong, two-time World team champion Skye Blakely, and more.

The stakes are far more than those from this weekend’s outcome. Ohashi has previously spoken about her long-term ambitions of making the U.S. Olympic team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and the U.S. Championships is an important hurdle to clear along the way. If she fails to qualify in Hartford, the road to LA28 becomes considerably more difficult. If she succeeds, one of gymnastics’ most unlikely comeback stories will continue. But if there is one thing Ohashi’s career has shown, it is her ability to overcome setbacks.

Katelyn Ohashi rebuilt her career after elite gymnastics heartbreak

Ohashi started gymnastics at the age of three and soon became a promising young talent in the sport. She trained at GAGE in Missouri and later at WOGA in Texas under the tutelage of great coach Valeri Liukin and developed a stellar junior career. She was a four-time member of the U.S. Junior National Team, won the 2011 U.S. junior all-around championship and won numerous national event championships.

By the time she was 15, she was considered one of the top hopefuls in America for the Olympics. In 2013, she was able to fulfill that promise by defeating a rising Simone Biles for the American Cup all-around. But a string of injuries quickly derailed her career, and she never got to the top of gymnastics.

Instead of giving up on the sport, though, Ohashi was able to find a new starting point at UCLA. There, she rebuilt her career, as well as her passion for gymnastics, taking the Bruins to a 2018 NCAA team championship and the NCAA floor exercise title. She accumulated six All-American accolades during her college years, had a perfect seven at the Pac-12 level, and was the Pac-12 Specialist of the Year.

In 2019, her floor routine scored a 10 and went viral all over the world! It was later that year that she retired from NCAA competition, and few could have guessed that she’d make a comeback to the top level. But this idea was never far away from her mind. After the excitement of the prospect of a home Olympics in Los Angeles, and his renewed love for the sport, Ohashi decided to give elite gymnastics another try.