Sloane Blakely

Blakely was born to Steven and Stephanie Blakely in 2002 in Dallas, Texas, and has one sibling, Skye. She originally did ballet and tap dancing prior to starting gymnastics training.^[1]

Blakely qualified as a junior elite gymnast in 2016. She made her elite debut at the 2016 U.S. Classic where she placed 21st in the all-around.^[2] She next competed at the U.S. National Championships where she finished 18th.^[3]

Blakely became age-eligible for senior level competition in 2018. She made her senior debut at the American Classic where she placed sixth in the all-around.^[4] Later that month she competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic where she placed seventh in the all-around and fourth on balance beam.^[5] In August Blakely competed at the 2018 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships. She finished 16th in the all-around.^[6]

In February Blakely was named to the team to compete at 2019 L'International Gymnix in Montreal, alongside Kara Eaker, Aleah Finnegan, and Alyona Shchennikova. As a result, she was named to the national team for the first time.^[7] While there she helped the USA win team gold and individually she won silver on balance beam behind Eaker and finished fourth on floor exercise.^[8]

In June Blakely competed at the American Classic where she placed first on balance beam, second on vault behind Faith Torrez, and fifth on floor exercise. After the conclusion of the American Classic, Blakely was named as one of the eight athletes being considered for the team that would compete at the 2019 Pan American Games, along with Kara Eaker, Aleah Finnegan, Morgan Hurd, Shilese Jones, Sunisa Lee, Riley McCusker and Leanne Wong.^[9] The following month Blakely competed at the U.S. Classic where she only competed on vault, balance beam, and floor exercise. She was not selected to compete at the Pan American Games.^[10]

In August Blakely competed at the U.S. National Championships where she once again only competed on vault, balance beam, and floor exercise. She finished ninth and sixteenth on the latter two events.^[11]

Blakely competed at the 2020 L'International Gymnix as a Challenger and not part of national team. She finished first in the all-around and on balance beam.^[12] In November Blakely signed her National Letter of Intent with the Florida Gators.^[13]

Blakely dropped down to level 10 in 2021. She qualified to^[14] and competed at the Nastia Liukin Cup where she finished 13th.^[15] In May Blakely competed at the Developmental National Championships where she placed first in the senior-F division and swept titles on all apparatuses. In doing so Blakely became the first level 10 gymnast to sweep all of the titles at a National Championships.^[16]

Blakely made her NCAA debut on January 7 in a quad meet against Rutgers, Northern Illinois, and Texas Women's. She competed on all four apparatuses and had the highest all-around and balance beam scores of the meet.^[17] Blakely became the first Florida Gator gymnast since Kytra Hunter in 2012 to win the all-around in a debut collegiate meet.^[18] As a result, Blakely was named SEC Gymnast of the Week. In doing so she became the first freshman to earn the opening SEC Gymnast of the Week honor of a season since the honor began in 2000.^[19]