Jade Carey won floor exercise Sunday at the International Gymnastics Federation individual apparatus World Cup in Melbourne.

The Phoenix 19-year-old now has a maximum 90 points on two events, floor and vaulting, in individual qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics. Individual World Cup champions qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, July 24-Aug. 9, then are allowed to compete in all four events.

On vault, gymnasts from China and Brazil potentially could reach 90 at the remaining two World Cups but would need very high scores to win a tiebreaker (higher combined score) over Carey.

Carey might compete at a World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, March 12-15, to block any tiebreaker scenario. The final World Cup qualifier at Doha, Qatar, March 18-21.

In the Melbourne final, Carey scored 14.366 with her floor routine. Italians Vanessa Ferrari (13.700) and Lara Mori (12.900) were second and third.

Carey now has a 15-point lead over Ferrari and Mori in World Cup overall floor standings. Ferrari, Ukraine’s Anastasiia Bachynska and and Brazil’s Jade Barbosa still potentially could get to 90.

Since last year, Carey has won six consecutive World Cup titles on vault or floor.

Carey trains at Arizona Sunrays, where she is coached by her father Brian, Dan Witenstein and Pam Evans. She plans to compete in college at Oregon State after the Olympics.

Jade Carey wins in Melbourne to virtually lock up Olympic berth

Jade Carey won vaulting Saturday at an International Gymnastics Federation individual apparatus World Cup in Melbourne, all but assuring her of a berth at the Tokyo Olympics.

Carey, 19, of Phoenix now has a maximum 90 points off three vaulting wins in the World Cup series and an almost insurmountable lead if a tiebreaker is necessary.

China’s Yu Linmin or Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade still could get to 90 points by winning World Cups in Baku, Azerbaijen, March 12-15, and Doha, Qatar, March 18-21. Yu would need to score higher than 14.900 and Andrade almost that high in both meets to surpass Carey’s combined vault total (44.465) to win a tiebreaker.

In Melbourne, where Yu and Andrade were not competing, Carey won with a 14.866 average for her two vaults. France’s Coline Devillard was second (14.249) and Japan’s Shoko Miyata third (14.149).

Carey’s win was her fifth straight on vault and floor exercise since last year. She will try for a sixth on floor Sunday, another event she leads overall in the series.

Winners of each event in the World Cup series qualify for the Olympics, July 24-Aug. 9, and are eligible to compete in every event in Tokyo.

Carey could compete in Baku or Doha, where another vault win would eliminate any tiebreaker scenario.

Carey trains at Arizona Sunrays and is coached by her father Brian, Dan Witenstein and Pam Evans. She was a team gold and vault silver medalist for the U.S. at the 2019 World Championships and 2017 World vault and floor silver medalist.

Through the 2016 Rio Olympics, Arizona has never had a female gymnast training in Arizona qualify as a U.S. Olympian. Kerri Strug of Tucson was training outside of the state when she qualified for the 1992 and 1996 Olympics.

MyKayla Skinner of Desert Lights and Riley McCusker, now training with Carey at Arizona Sunrays, also are U.S. Olympic contenders for Tokyo.

Carey still could compete at U.S. Championships, June 4-7 in Fort Worth, and Olympic Trials, June 25-28 in St. Louis, trying to qualify for the four-woman U.S. team in Tokyo. If she made the team, though, the U.S. would lose her individual berth in Tokyo. The U.S. also can qualify an individual all-around for Tokyo through a World Cup series that begins in March.

Jade Carey debuts new floor routine, leads qualifying again in Melbourne

Phoenix gymnast Jade Carey again finished first in qualifying, this time on floor exercise, Friday at the International Gymnastics Federation individual apparatus World Cup in Melbourne.

Carey, 19, debuted a new floor routine and 14.366, well ahead of the Italian duo of Vanessa Ferrari (13.733) and Lara Mori (13.541). Eight advanced to Sunday’s final.

Carey also was the qualifying leader on vault Thursday, going into a Saturday final where she could clinch no worse than a tie for first on that event in the individual World Cup series.

Individual event champions in the series qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, July 24-Aug. 9, where they are allowed to compete in all four events.

Carey is No. 1 in individual apparatus world ranking on vault and floor. Mori and Ferrari are tied for second on floor, six points behind Carey.

Carey trains at Arizona Sunrays. She was a team gold and vault silver medalist at the 2019 World Championships as well as vault/floor silver medalist at 2017 Worlds.

Jade Carey leads vault qualifying at World Cup in Melbourne

Phoenix gymnast Jade Carey led qualifying in vault Thursday at the International Gymnastics Federation individual apparatus World Cup in Melbourne, Australia.

Carey had a 15.049 average for two vaults at Melbourne Arena, well ahead of Japan’s Shoko Miyata (14.166) and France’s Coline Devillard (14.050). 

The 19-year-old, who trains at Arizona Sunrays, is seeking to clinch an individual berth at the Tokyo Olympics by winning vault for the third time in four World Cup appearances. She is a two-time World vault silver medalist.

Carey is ranked No. 1 in individual apparatus world ranking on vault and floor exercise. Russia’s Maria Paseka, ranked No. 4 in the world on vault, tied for fifth in Melbourne qualifying at 13.883.

Chinese athletes are not competing in Melbourne due to Australian travel restrictions on foreign nationals travelling from mainland China because of coronavirus. China’s Yu Linmin is fifth in world vault rankings still could compete at upcoming World Cups in Baku and Doha, Qatar, needing two wins to tie Carey (higher combined score is the tiebreaker).

If necessary, Carey could compete in Baku, Azerbaijen, on March 12-15 looking for a win to block Yu from a possible tiebreaker. The Doha World Cup is March18-21. Carey won vault and floor at Baku and Doha last year. 

Floor qualifying in Melbourne is Friday followed by eight-woman finals Saturday (vault) and Sunday (floor).

By winning one individual apparatus World Cup overall title, Carey is eligible to compete in Tokyo in all four events.

More: Carey seeking to clinch Olympics gymnastics berth, McCusker joins her at Arizona Sunrays

More: Building Team Arizona for Tokyo Olympics: Local connections in 2020 Games

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8053. Follow him on Twitter @jeffmetcalfe.

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