Kayla DiCello

Kayla Kecia DiCello ( or or di-CHELL-o) (born January 25, 2004) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2021 World bronze medalist and the 2023 Pan American Games champion in the all-around. On the junior level, she is the 2019 Junior World vault champion and the 2019 U.S. Junior national all-around champion. She was an alternate for the 2020 Olympic team and the gold medal-winning 2023 World Championships team. She also competes for the University of Florida women's gymnastics team.

Personal life

DiCello was born to Matt and Kecia DiCello in 2004, and has three siblings, two sisters named Karleigh and Kyra and a brother named Hunter. She began gymnastics when she was two. Kayla is of German & Italian descent, her mother being German & father Italian. Kayla is a 2022 graduate of Northwest High School in Germantown, Maryland.

Junior gymnastics career

DiCello was a HOPES gymnast in 2016 and became junior elite in 2017 after qualifying at the Brestyan’s National Qualifier.

2018

DiCello was officially added to the junior national team after she was named to the team to compete at the 2018 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships. There she won gold in the team, vault, and uneven bars and silver in the all-around behind Jordan Bowers. She finished 4th on balance beam. In early July, DiCello competed at the American Classic where she finished first in the all-around with a score of 55.400, posting the highest score of the competition amongst both juniors and seniors. She also finished first on vault and balance beam, second on floor, and third on uneven bars. On July 28, DiCello competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic where she finished second behind Leanne Wong after falling off the balance beam.

With her placements at these three competitions, DiCello entered the August 2018 U.S. National Championships in Boston as one of the favorites for the Junior national title along with Wong, Bowers, and Sunisa Lee. After two days of competition in which she tallied an impressive score of 111.200, DiCello won the silver medal in the all-around competition, once again behind Wong. She performed well on both days of the competition and was the only junior gymnast to score in the top four on all four individual events: fourth on balance beam, third on uneven bars and floor exercise, and first on vault, where she stuck her double-twisting Yurchenko vault on the second day of competition to edge out Wong, the defending champion on the event. After her performance, she was once again named to the national team.

In November, DiCello announced that she had verbally committed to attend the University of Florida on a gymnastics scholarship.

2019

DiCello competed at the WOGA Classic in early February. She won the Junior All-Around title with a score of 55.700, outscoring the senior field as well. Later that month DiCello was named to the team to compete at the 2019 City of Jesolo Trophy. While there she sustained a calf injury and was only able to compete on uneven bars. During team finals, she helped the USA win silver behind Russia.

In June DiCello competed at the Junior World Championship Trials. She placed second behind Skye Blakely and was named to the team to compete at the 2019 Junior World Championships alongside Blakely and Sydney Barros. Together the team won bronze, finishing behind Russia and China. Individually she finished fourth in the all-around behind Russians Viktoria Listunova and Vladislava Urazova and Ou Yushan of China. She was the only competitor that qualified to all four event finals. On the first day of event finals DiCello won gold on vault, finishing ahead of competitors Jennifer Gadirova of Great Britain and Urazova and finished sixth on uneven bars. On the second day of event finals she won bronze on balance beam behind Elena Gerasimova of Russia and Wei Xiaoyuan of China and placed seventh on floor exercise.

In July DiCello competed at the U.S. Classic where uncharacteristic falls on the balance beam and floor exercise resulted in an eleventh place finish in the all-around. She won bronze on uneven bars behind Olivia Greaves and Sydney Morris and placed seventh on vault.

In August DiCello competed at the U.S. National Championships. After the first day of competition she recorded a score of 56.000 and was in second behind Konnor McClain. During the second day of competition scored a 56.700, giving her a total combined score of 112.700 which was enough to win the gold in the all-around by one tenth over silver medalist McClain. This score would have placed her third all-around in the senior competition. Additionally DiCello won gold on vault and floor exercise, bronze on uneven bars behind Olivia Greaves and McClain, and placed fourth on balance beam behind McClain, Ciena Alipio, and Skye Blakely. At this competition, DiCello increased her floor difficulty by debuting a full-twisting double layout, or Chusovitina as her first tumbling pass.

Senior gymnastics career

2020

In January it was announced that DiCello would make her senior debut at the American Cup, taking place on March 7. She finished in second place behind compatriot Morgan Hurd, with a score of 55.132 in the all-around. She posted the second highest score on vault behind Great Britain’s Jennifer Gadirova and the third highest on floor behind Gadirova and Hurd.

2021

DiCello competed at the American Classic in April. She only competed on the uneven bars and on balance beam where she placed second behind Sunisa Lee and fifth respectively.

In May, DiCello competed at the GK US Classic, finishing third in the all-around behind Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles. She also placed first on the uneven bars, tied for ninth on balance beam with Emma Malabuyo, and placed third on floor exercise behind Biles and Chiles. At the National Championships DiCello finished 11th in the all-around after errors on uneven bars and balance beam on both days of the competition. She won silver on floor exercise behind Simone Biles. As a result, she was named to the national team and selected to compete at the Olympic Trials. At the Olympic Trials DiCello finished sixth in the all-around and was named as an alternate for the Olympic team alongside Leanne Wong, Kara Eaker, and Emma Malabuyo.

In October DiCello was selected to compete at the 2021 World Championships alongside Leanne Wong, Konnor McClain, and eMjae Frazier. While there she qualified for the all-around final in third place behind Angelina Melnikova and teammate Wong, the floor exercise final in fourth place, and the balance beam final in seventh place. She won third in the all-around final behind Angelina Melnikova and Leanne Wong.

In November DiCello signed her national letter of intent to compete for the Florida Gators.

2022

After not competing for the first half of the year, in July, DiCello was selected to compete at the Pan American Championships alongside Skye Blakely, Zoe Miller, Elle Mueller, and Lexi Zeiss. On the first day of competition she won gold on floor exercise and helped the United States qualify to the team final in second place. DiCello finished in only fifth place in the all-around due to downgrading on vault and falling on balance beam. During the team final DiCello competed on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise, helping the United States win silver behind Brazil.

In August, DiCello competed at the National Championships with upgraded routines, most notably restoring her Baitova (double-twisting Yurchenko) on vault. She finished fourth in the all-around and third on balance beam, earning a spot on the national team. Despite her placement making her an early favorite for the 2022 World Championships team, DiCello did not compete at the selection camp, as she had begun training for the NCAA collegiate season at the University of Florida.

2023

In late April, DiCello announced that she would take a gap year from the University of Florida and return to elite-level training with coach Kelli Hill in order to pursue her goal of making the 2024 Olympic team. DiCello placed eighth at the 2023 National Championships, earning an automatic spot on the national team for the sixth straight year.

In September DiCello was named to the team for the 2023 World Championships alongside Simone Biles, Shilese Jones, Leanne Wong, Skye Blakely, and Joscelyn Roberson; DiCello was designated as the traveling alternate. Additionally, she was named to the team to compete at the 2023 Pan American Games alongside Jordan Chiles, Kaliya Lincoln, Zoe Miller, and Tiana Sumanasekera. At the World Championships, DiCello was on the competition floor supporting the team during team finals as the United States won their record-breaking seventh consecutive World team title. As the alternate DiCello, was also awarded the medal.

At the Pan American Games, the United States won the gold medal in the team competition; DiCello also qualified to the all-around and floor exercise finals in second place and the balance beam final in fifth place. Additionally, she earned the fourth highest-score on uneven bars behind teammates Miller and Chiles, but was excluded from the final by the two-per-country rule.

In the all-around final, DiCello won the gold medal ahead of Flávia Saraiva and Chiles with a score of 54.699, her highest all-around mark of the year. She earned the highest scores of the day on uneven bars and floor exercise. In event finals, DiCello placed fourth on balance beam and won silver on floor exercise behind Lincoln, tying with reigning World bronze medalist Saraiva.

2024

DiCello made her Olympic season debut in late February at the 2024 Winter Cup. She hit all four routines, debuting new upgrades on the uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise, to take the all-around title with a score of 56.850, more than two points ahead of World Championships teammate Skye Blakely and reigning US junior national champion Hezly Rivera. This score was her highest all-around mark ever recorded, and the third highest all-around mark recorded by an American woman in the 2022-2024 quadrennium after reigning World all-around medalists Simone Biles and Shilese Jones.

DiCello also won the gold medals on uneven bars, ahead of University of Florida NCAA teammate Trinity Thomas in her return to elite competition, and on floor exercise, ahead of reigning Pan American Games champion Kaliya Lincoln, who had defeated DiCello at that event, and Rivera. She placed third on balance beam behind Blakely and Rivera, and tied with Blakely for the highest vault score. This performance solidified DiCello's status as a contender for the Olympic team.

At the National Championships DiCello placed third in the all-around and second on uneven bars behind Simone Biles and Skye Blakely. Additionally she finished second on floor exercise behind Biles. As a result she qualified to the upcoming Olympic Trials. One the first day of competition, DiCello injured her Achilles and withdrew from the competition, thus ending her Olympic bid.

Collegiate gymnastics career

2022–2023 season

DiCello is a member of the University of Florida Women’s Gymnastics Team. She made her collegiate debut on January 6, 2023, in a meet against West Virginia, Ball State, and Lindenwood University. She competed in the all-around, earning the highest all-around score of the night with a 39.475. DiCello was named 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year.

Selected competitive skills

Competitive history

References

External links