The men's trials are due to take place from June 24 to 26 in the same Chaifetz Arena at St Louis University in which the 2012 National Championships were held, while the women's trials are scheduled for July 8 to 10 at the SAP Centre in San Jose.

Male and female events are being held separately, for the first time since before the Montreal 1976 Games, in order to accommodate differences in scheduling needed to "properly identify and prepare athletes for Rio 2016".  

Men and women will still compete in both events, with the P&G Gymnastics Championships for women taking place from June 23 to 25 in conjunction with the men's trials in St. Louis.

The P&G Gymnastics Championships for senior men, meanwhile, will be staged from June 3 to 5 at the XL Centre in Hartford, Connecticut, along with the Secret US Classic for women's gymnastics.

But they will not be Rio 2016 qualifying events. 

Teenage prodigy Simone Biles will be expected to lead the US team at Rio 2016
©Getty Images



"San Jose and St. Louis knocked it out of the park with these two premier championship events in 2012," said Steve Penny, President of USA Gymnastics.

"We are confident that these two cities are the perfect setting for determining the gymnasts who will represent the United States at the 2016 Olympic Games.

"Our ultimate goal is to prepare our men and women to perform at their best at the Olympics in Rio.

"The demands for the final preparations are different for men's and women's gymnastics, and we have split both the Trials and Championships to provide the desired scheduling leading up to the Olympics."

The US squad will be hoping to improve upon the three gold medals they won at London 2012.

All three came in female artistic events, for the women's team, Gabby Douglas in the all-around event and Aly Raisman on the floor.

At the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, the US women won four gold medals, largely thanks to 17-year-old Simon Biles, who won all around, floor and beam titles and also helped the team to gold. 

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