Prairie High alum Jordan Chiles wins Winter Cup

Prairie High grad Jordan Chiles — who contemplated leaving elite gymnastics to focus on her impending college career at UCLA — posted the highest all-around score of 57.050 on Saturday at the Winter Cup in Indianapolis.

It was a performance that served as validation of her decision to make a run for the Olympic team, a path made even more difficult with athletes turning 16 this year — including Konnor McClain and Skye Blakely — now eligible to compete in Tokyo.

“I just went out there and did what I did and showed people what they needed to see,” Chiles said.

Chiles posted the top score of the day both on vault (14.900) and floor (13.600), and moved into the lead after a standout performance on uneven bars — historically not her strongest event — where she scored 14.050.

She wrapped things up on balance beam, landing a full twisting, double-somersault dismount for a score of 14.500 that tied for highest on the day.

“The message today was just to go out and have fun,” Chiles said. “I know we haven’t competed for over a year and a half, and having that ability to take that into so much consideration, I put what I know and how I am as a person, my hard work, my mental and physical health throughout the whole thing.”

According to USA Gymnastics, the Winter Cup won’t have any bearing on Olympic gymnastics team selections.