Wikipedia

Hillary Heron

For the Irish sculptor, see Hilary Heron.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Heron and the second or maternal family name is Soto.

Hillary Alexandra Heron Soto (born 29 January 2004) is a Panamanian artistic gymnast. She is the 2023 South American champion and the 2021 and 2024 Pan American silver medalist on vault. She represented Panama at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Hillary Heron
Heron at the 2019 Junior World Championships
Personal information
Full nameHillary Alexandra Heron Soto
Nickname(s)Hilly
Country represented Panama
Born (2004-01-29) 29 January 2004 (age 20)
Panama City, Panama
Years on national team2017–present
ClubNo Limits Gymnastics
Head coach(es)Carlos Rafael Gil
Eponymous skillsHeron (F): (Floor exercise) Double salto backward tucked with 1½ twist
Medal record
Representing  Panama
Pan American Championships
Silver medal – second place 2021 Rio de Janeiro Vault
Silver medal – second place 2024 Santa Marta Vault
South American Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Asunción Vault
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Asunción Floor exercise
South American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Cali Vault
Silver medal – second place 2023 Cali Uneven bars
Silver medal – second place 2024 Aracaju All-around
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Cali All-around
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Aracaju Team
Central American and Caribbean Games
Silver medal – second place 2023 San Salvador Team
Bronze medal – third place 2023 San Salvador All-around
Bronze medal – third place 2023 San Salvador Floor exercise
Bolivarian Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Valledupar Floor exercise
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Valledupar Team
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Valledupar All-around
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Valledupar Vault
FIG World Cup Series
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Apparatus World Cup 0 0 1
Total 0 0 1

Early life

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Heron was born in Panama in 2004 to Ricardo Heron and Yaroslavi Soto.[1] She is the granddaughter of the late New York Yankees scout Karl Heron. The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing inspired her love for the sport of gymnastics.[2]

Junior gymnastics career

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2017–18

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Heron made her international debut at the 2017 South American Junior Championships.[3] She finished eighth in the all-around, seventh on vault, and eighth on floor exercise.[4]

Heron started the 2018 season competing at the Pacific Rim Championships where she finished 16th in the all-around and fourth on vault.[5] She next competed at the Junior Pan American Championships, where she helped Panama finish seventh as team; Heron finished 11th in the all-around and fourth on vault.[6] Additionally, she finished seventh on the floor exercise.[7]

In October, Heron competed at the Junior South American Championships, where she placed fourth in the all-around. During event finals, she placed second on vault and balance beam, fourth on uneven bars, and fifth on floor exercise.[8] Her final event of the year was the Top Gym Tournament where she finished 13th on the uneven bars.[9]

2019

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Heron was selected to compete at the inaugural Junior World Championships alongside Karla Navas. Together they finished 23rd as a team.[10] Individually, Heron finished 44th in the all-around.[11] Heron ended the season competing at the Junior South American Championships. She placed fourth in the all-around and helped Panama place third as a team. During event finals, she placed first on vault, third on uneven bars, fourth on balance beam, and eighth on floor exercise.[12]

 
Floor exercise
 
Uneven bars
 
Balance beam
 
Floor exercise
Heron at the 2019 Junior World Championships

Senior gymnastics career

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2020–21

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Heron became age-eligible for senior competition in 2020; however, most competitions were canceled or postponed in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, Heron did not compete that year.[3] She returned to competition at the 2021 Pan American Championships where she helped Panama place fourth as a team, and individually, she placed 12th in the all-around. During event finals, she placed second on vault behind Natalia Escalera.[13]

2022

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Heron competed at the Bolivarian Games and was Panama's flag bearer in the opening ceremony.[14] She helped Panama finish third as a team. Individually, she finished third in the all-around and on vault and won silver on floor exercise.[15] She next competed at the Pan American Championships where she helped Panama finish tenth as a team during qualifications. Individually, she placed 29th in the all-around.[16] At the South American Games, Heron won the silver medal on vault and the bronze medal on floor exercise. She also placed fifth with the Panamanian team and 12th in the all-around.[17]

2023

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Heron competed at the Cairo World Cup where she won bronze on vault behind Joscelyn Roberson and Asia D'Amato.[18] Additionally, she placed fifth on floor exercise.[19] At the Pan American Championships, she helped Panama qualify for the team final and finish seventh.[20] Then at the Central American & Caribbean Games, she helped Panama win the silver medal behind Mexico.[21] She won the all-around bronze medal behind teammate Karla Navas and Mexico's Alexa Moreno.[22] She also won the bronze medal on the floor exercise.[23]

Heron won the all-around bronze medal at the South American Championships behind Brazilians Gabriela Barbosa and Josiany Calixto. She won the vault title and also won silver on the uneven bars behind Calixto.[24] Mistakes at the Pan American Championships prevented her from receiving an all-around qualification spot to the World Championships, but she was still able to perform on every event due to qualifying through the World Cup series.[25][26] At the World Championships, she finished 41st in the all-around, qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics as an individual.[27][28] On the floor exercise, she performed a double layout half out, also known as the Biles, becoming the first gymnast other than Simone Biles to perform one of Biles' named skills at a World Championships.[29]

After the World Championships, Heron represented Panama at the 2023 Pan American Games. She helped the team finish seventh,[30] and individually, she placed tenth in the all-around final and sixth in the floor exercise final.[31][32]

2024

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Heron began her season at the Cairo World Cup. During the qualification round, she performed a new element in her floor exercise, a double back tucked salto with one and a half twists, which was named after her.[33] During the floor exercise final, she finished sixth.[34] She also competed at the Cottbus World Cup but did not advance into any finals.[35] Then at the Baku World Cup, she placed eighth on the floor exercise.[36] At the 2024 Olympic Games Heron finished forty-forth during qualifications and did not advance to any finals.[14]

Eponymous skill

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Heron has a floor exercise skill named after her in the Code of Points, a double back tucked salto on floor with 1.5 twists.[33]

Apparatus Name Description Difficulty[a] Added to the Code of Points
Floor exercise Heron Double salto backward tucked with 1½ twist (540) F 2024 Cairo World Cup
  1. ^ Valid for the 2022–2024 Code of Points

Competitive history

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Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
Junior
2017 South American Championships 8 7 8
2018 Pacific Rim Championships 16 4
Pan American Championships 7 11 4
South American Championships 4   4   5
Top Gym Tournament 13
2019
Junior World Championships 23 44
South American Championships   4     4 8
Senior
2021
Pan American Championships 4 12  
2022 Bolivarian Games       7  
Pan American Championships 10 29
South American Games 5 12    
2023 Cairo World Cup   5
Pan American Championships 7 9 25 16 10
Central American & Caribbean Games     5  
South American Championships 4       4
World Championships 41
Pan American Games 7 10 6
2024 Cairo World Cup 6
Baku World Cup 8
Pan American Championships 5  
RomGym Trophy 8 5 8 5
Olympic Games 44
South American Championships    

[3]

References

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  1. ^ Espinosa, Allan (11 April 2013). "Una niña prodigio de la gimnasia en Panamá" [A child prodigy of gymnastics in Panama]. Panamá América (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Hillary Heron, entre la gimnasia y la tradición beisbolera familiar" [Hillary Heron, between gymnastics and the family baseball tradition]. ABC Color (in Spanish). 23 June 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Hillary Heron". The Gymternet. 11 January 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  4. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (23 September 2017). "2017 South American Junior Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  5. ^ "U.S. women, McCallum, Bowers take gold at Pac Rim Championships". USA Gymnastics. 28 April 2018. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  6. ^ "2018 Artistic Gymnastics Junior Pan American Championships 10–15 June 2018 Buenos Aires, ARG WAG Individual Qualifications" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  7. ^ "2018 Artistic Gymnastics Junior Pan American Championships 10–15 June 2018 Buenos Aires, ARG WAG Event Finals" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  8. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (22 October 2018). "2018 South American Junior Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  9. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (1 December 2018). "2018 Top Gym Tournament Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  10. ^ "1st FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships Gyor (HUN), 27 June – 30 June 2019 Women's Team Final Ranking" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  11. ^ "1st FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships Gyor (HUN), 27 June – 30 June 2019 Women's All-Around Final Ranking" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  12. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (21 October 2019). "2019 South American Junior Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  13. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (8 June 2021). "2021 Pan American Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Heron Hillary". International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  15. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (29 June 2022). "2022 Bolivarian Games Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  16. ^ "U.S. senior men win team title, women capture silver as Pan American Championships end". USA Gymnastics. 18 July 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  17. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (9 October 2022). "2022 South American Games Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  18. ^ "Kovtun, Roberson adorned in gold at Cairo World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  19. ^ "FIG Artistic Apparatus World Cup Cairo, Egypt 27th– 30th April 2023 WAG Finals Floor Exercise" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. 30 April 2023. p. 4. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  20. ^ "2023 Pan American Gymnastics Championships Team Final Results" (PDF). USA Gymnastics (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  21. ^ "XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023 Women Artistic Gymnastics Team Medalists" (PDF). San Salvador 2023. 25 June 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  22. ^ "XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023 Women Artistic Gymnastics All-Around Final Individual" (PDF). San Salvador 2023. 26 June 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  23. ^ "XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023 Women Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus Final Floor exercise" (PDF). San Salvador 2023. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  24. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (11 September 2023). "2023 South American Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  25. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (30 May 2023). "2023 World Championships WAG Qualifiers". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  26. ^ "Panama's Heron heralds first World Championships with happiness and hope". International Gymnastics Federation. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  27. ^ "Hillary Heron clasificó a los Juegos Olímpicos de París 2024" [Hillary Heron qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games]. Eco TV Panama (in Spanish). 2 October 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  28. ^ "Rendez-vous Paris 2024: See who qualified to the women's team competition!". International Gymnastics Federation. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  29. ^ "This Panamanian Gymnast Managed to Do Something Only Simone BiIes Has Ever Done". Remezcla. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  30. ^ "American women clinch sixth-consecutive team gold at Pan Am Games". USA Gymnastics. 22 October 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  31. ^ "Women's All-Around Results". Santiago 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  32. ^ "Women's Floor Exercise Results". Santiago 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  33. ^ a b "Hillary Heron hace un doble mortal con giro y medio; su nombre queda escrito en la historia de la gimnasia artística" [Hillary Heron does a double somersault with a twist and a half; Her name is written in the history of artistic gymnastics]. La Prensa (in Spanish). 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  34. ^ "Olympic qualification is on as 2024 Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus World Cup series comes alive in Cairo". International Gymnastics Federation. 20 February 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  35. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (26 February 2024). "2024 Cottbus World Cup Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  36. ^ "FIG Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus World Cup AGF Trophy Women Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus Final" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 10 March 2024. p. 4. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
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Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for   Panama
Paris 2024
with
Franklin Archibold 		Succeeded by
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