ST. LOUIS — Ashton Locklear, a member of the Lumbee tribe, added another accomplishment to her resume on Sunday in hopes of reaching her Olympic dreams.
The 18-year-old finished first on the uneven bars at the P&G Championships in St. Louis, scoring a total score of 31.30 during the two-day competition.
The video of Locklear’s performance can be found linked to the story at www.robesonian.com.
Locklear will now be vying for a chance to be added to Team USA as she heads to the Olympic Trials, which will be held July 8 to July 10 in San Jose, California. The team members are competing for five spots on the 2016 U.S. Olympic gymnastics team.
The Olympics will be held from Aug. 5 to Aug. 21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Locklear would be the first ever Hamlet native to participate in the games. She competes on the uneven bars and balance beam, with the uneven bars being her top event.
After being sidelined with a torn rotator cuff in 2015, Locklear has rebounded this year with a several top performances, including a gold medal and record score as part of the gold medal-winning Team USA at the Jeselo Trophy competition in Italy. She also had a golden performance at the Pacific Rim Championships in Washington and the U.S. Secret Classic in Connecticut.
Simone Biles and Aly Raisman are expected to be locks for the Olympics. Biles claimed her fourth straight all-around championship on Sunday night to edge out Raisman, a three-time Olympic medalist.
Reach sports editor Rodd Baxley at 910-416-5182 and follow him on Twitter @RoddBaxley.