RIO DE JANEIRO (June 18, 2026) – The U.S. junior delegation opened Pan American Championships competition strong on Thursday, winning four medals, three of them gold. Americans won team and all-around medals while also qualifying through to individual apparatus finals.
The junior women tallied two gold and one silver medal in team and all-around competition on Thursday. Amia Pugh-Banks (Newport News, Va./World Class Gymnastics), Vivi Crain (Blue Springs, Mo./World Champions Centre), Addalye VanGrinsven (Champlin, Minn./Pacific Reign Gymnastics) and Sydney Williams (Frisco, Texas/Metroplex Gymnastics) claimed the team title with a 153.264, topping the podium more than six points ahead of second-place Canada (147.030) and host-country Brazil in third (141.931).
American women were dominant in the all-around, posting the four highest scores of the competition. Pugh-Banks took the all-around title with a 51.066, also qualifying through to the vault final in first (13.516; 13.600, 13.433) and the floor exercise final in second (12.800). Crain slotted in just behind Pugh-Banks in the all-around to win the silver medal with a 50.965. She also was the top qualifier on balance beam with a 13.200…