U.S. gymnastics Olympic trials were latest bonanza for Minnesota sports

If “quality of life” is measured by the options you have when you leave your front door every day, how should Minnesotans measure our sporting quality of life?

Here’s a hint: Forget about championships, and remind yourself how many options you have year-round in this underrated market.

Late Sunday night, a large group of journalists waited in the news conference room at Target Center to speak with Simone Biles and Suni Lee, the past two all-around Olympic gymnastics women’s gold medalists.

They had just taken the top two spots at the U.S. Olympic trials, the latest attention-getting event held in the Twin Cities. Both will compete in the Paris Olympics.

For four days, Minneapolis became the country’s gymnastics capital. On the first and third days, former Gopher Shane Wiskus thrilled the crowd while qualifying as an alternate for his second Olympics. On the fourth day, Lee, the daughter of Hmong immigrants who was raised and still lives in St. Paul, overcame three years of angst, illnesses and injuries to reassert herself as one of the best sports stories of the decade, here or anywhere.

Her competition in that realm is Biles, who overcame mental health challenges to reassert her status as the greatest gymnast ever.

These are international superstars who will command the world’s attention in Paris, and Minnesotans could buy a ticket and see them in person.

Such an opportunity is commonplace here, but shouldn’t be taken for granted.

In the last five years, the Twin Cities has played host to:

– Caitlin Clark, perhaps the greatest college basketball player of all time, at the Big Ten women’s basketball championships, as well as during Big Ten play at Williams Arena.

– Paige Bueckers, perhaps the best Minnesota basketball-born player since Lindsay Whalen, at the women’s Final Four at Target Center.

– Native Minnesotan Jesse Diggins, the greatest American cross-country skier ever, who used her fame and influence to bring World Cup skiing to Theodore Wirth Regional Park.

– The Timberwolves’ return to prominence — and the NBA Western Conference finals.

– The Twins winning three division titles in five years, their first playoff series victory since 2002 and the team currently with the third-best record in the American League.

– A Vikings home playoff game featuring Justin Jefferson, who has produced more receiving yards in his first four seasons than any receiver in NFL history.

– Wild star Kirill Kaprizov playing in front of sellout crowds at Xcel Energy Center.

– The Minnesota Aurora becoming one of the best grassroots, start-up sports stories in the country, while playing at the Vikings’ TCO Stadium.

– Legendary South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, who won a national title at Target Center by beating Bueckers and UConn, speaking at Macalester College.

– The Lynx, who have produced an Olympic head coach in Cheryl Reeve and two-time Olympian in Napheesa Collier, as well as the most surprising success story of the 2024 WNBA season.

And, as they say on infomercials, that’s not all.

Minnesota is home to Big Ten sports, the Minnesota Vixen, excellent high school and smaller-college sports, as well as excellent theaters, music venues, restaurants and green spaces.

This weekend, downtown Minneapolis and the North Loop were packed with gymnastics fans and attendees of Pride events, while Biles and Lee acted as ambassadors for their sport and mental health awareness.

“I feel like it’s only going to get better,” Lee said. “The past couple months, I’ve been trying to put myself first and really just think of myself, because I feel like I always try and take care of everyone, and I do everything for everyone else. With that, and having all of the injuries, it’s been really hard on my mental health.

“So I had to meet with my therapist yesterday [Saturday] and kind of get my mind right.”

After their news conference, Lee and Biles gathered with USA Gymnastics officials who asked whether they wanted to attend a party in the Target Center Lexus Club or leave the arena.

After all, there’s a lot to do around town these days.