Meet Jade Carey, the gymnast and Olympic gold medalist known for her iconic floor routines and vaults

• Jade Carey, the 24-year-old Olympic gold medalist, has returned for her second Olympics in Paris.
• Carey is best known for her stunning floor routines, and her impressive vaults.

Jade Carey is well-versed in the art of the comeback.

Back in 2021, the 24-year-old took home a gold medal for her iconic floor routine at the Tokyo Olympics just 24 hours after a shaky performance in the vault final.

Now, she's returning to the 2024 Paris Olympics following a difficult season in 2023 in which she finished 15th in the all-around at the US Championships.

Carey, who is from Phoenix, Arizona, has followed an unusual career path, participating in both collegiate gymnastics and elite gymnastics — and doing both in an Olympic season.

Carey is unmissable on the mat, but not just because of her bouncy blonde ponytail or 5-foot-2 stature.

Carey is perhaps best known for her breathtaking floor routines, videos of which have gone viral. She also has a signature vault: a tucked Kasamatsu full that was renamed "the Carey" in 2016 in the Junior Olympic code of points.

Carey's early career and road to the Olympics

Carey was destined to become a gymnast. Both of her parents, Danielle Mitchell-Greenberg and Brian Carey, are former gymnasts, and they owned a gym in Phoenix while raising Carey.

Carey has been trained and coached by her father since a young age, and he is often seen at her competitions, coaching and supporting her from the sidelines.

Unlike many elite gymnasts, who start professionally as young as 12, Carey didn't make her debut until she was 17 years old in 2017.

From there, she went on to medal multiple times at the US Championships and World Championships, taking home a number of silver and bronze medals in vault and floor. It wasn't long before her skills and work ethic carried her all the way to the Olympic Games by age 20.

In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — which were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — Carey represented the US as an individual competitor.

The Paris Games in 2024 marks the first time she'll be competing in the Olympics as part of a team alongside Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, and Hezly Rivera.

Carey's post-Tokyo career and collegiate gymnastics

After Tokyo, Carey began her studies at Oregon State University, where she is pursuing a degree in Digital Communication Arts. She is also a member of the university's gymnastic team, where her father was hired as an assistant coach in 2023.

Carey was initially supposed to enroll before the Tokyo games, but deferred to focus on her training.

In her collegiate gymnastics career so far, Carey has racked up five NCAA medals — four silvers in all-around, floor, balance beam, and uneven bars, and a bronze in balance beam.

In 2024, Carey performed the unusual feat of competing in both the NCAA and making the Olympic team. Carey has said she felt confident in her abilities and her training, and compelled to do both.

The athlete's net worth is not known; however, Carey's earnings include $37,500 in winnings for her gold medal in Tokyo, and she has worked with major brands like Toyota, juice brand RW Knudsen Family, and Treehut. Carey also has a line of leotards with gymnastics apparel company GK Elite.