Artistic gymnast Jade Carey shocked fans at the 2024 Olympics in Paris when she fell while performing a floor routine — an event in which she previously dominated at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. However, the 24-year-old athlete later explained that a mystery illness had thrown her off her game.
What Happened to Jade Carey at the 2024 Olympics?
During the Women’s Gymnastics Qualifiers on July 28, 2024, many fans of Jade noticed that the gymnast wasn’t performing as well as she typically does in the floor routine event. A few jumps took her out of bounds, and her final leap even ended in a fall at the corner of the mat.
In a follow-up interview with Olympics.com, Jade explained that she had “not been feeling well.” Though she didn’t state an exact illness, she clarified that it wasn’t nerves holding her back.
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“I just have not been feeling well the past few days and haven’t been able to eat or anything,” she continued. “I had, like, no energy today and didn’t really have a sense of what was going on in my head. So, I just kind of wanted people to know that so, they know that there’s actually something wrong.”
Jade also took to X with a message for fans after the Qualifiers. “I haven’t been feeling the best the past few days, but I gave it everything I had today. thank you for all the support I have received. I’m so grateful,” she wrote.
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Meanwhile, on Instagram, the athlete added alongside photos from her floor routine, “Not the day I was expecting to have but I can’t thank you all enough for the love and support. I am so proud of this team and what we accomplished today. We’re not done yet.”
Olympics.com reported that Jade’s father and coach, Brian Carey, missed the team’s practice on July 25, 2024, because he was also not feeling well.
“Coach Brian Carey is not feeling well today and will miss Women’s Podium Training. He will return to the team soon,” USA Gymnastics wrote on X at the time.
In an interview with Today on July 29, 2024, Jade’s mom, Danielle Greenberg, shared that her daughter was “doing much better.”
“Trying to hydrate, get some food in, ready to go,” she added.
Jade Carey and Team USA Win Gold in Team Final at 2024 Olympics
Though Jade did not get to compete in the floor routine, balance beam or bars in the team final on July 30, 2024, she did participate in the vault event. The gymnast had an epic comeback and earned a score of 14.800. Jade and her fellow women’s Team USA members — Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles and Hezly Rivera — ultimately went on to win gold in the team final.
Speaking to Olympics.com, retired gymnast Aly Raisman, who has detailed her own frightening health experiences in the past, praised Jade for powering through her illness to dominate in the team final.
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“One of the hardest things about sports is that no matter how much you prepare you, sometimes the morning that you wake up for a meet, you might not be feeling well. You might be jet lagged, you may not have slept well, and fluke things can happen. It’s just so devastating to hear that she hasn’t been feeling well,” she said. “I hope that she knows that she did an unbelievable job.”
Aly continued, “She should be so proud of herself. Gymnastics is already hard enough when you’re feeling your peak, at your best. So the fact that she said she hasn’t eaten in a few days and has been sick and was able to perform at that level, is truly remarkable.”
As for how Jade was feeling at the team final, commentator Laurie Hernandez revealed that she had been texting with the gymnast that morning. According to Laurie, Jade said she was still feeling dizzy and hadn’t been able to eat yet.
The Golden Girls celebrated their gold medals on social media by making TikToks that they had pre-planned before their win. Jade was noticeably missing from the now-viral videos, leading fans to ask where she was.
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“WHERE IS MISS JADE??”, a fan wrote in the comment section of teammate Simone’s TikTok posted later that day.
Simone replied, “She went to the bathroom & then we haven’t seen her since.”
Will Jade Carey Compete in Individual Event Finals?
Jade did not qualify to move on to the individual event finals after her floor routine, however, she will still compete in the vault final after landing third during qualifiers.
