Doubling up at Olympics: Texarkana’s Roberson is Paris Games alternate
Texarkana native gymnast Joscelyn Roberson mirrors her idol growing up, Simone Biles. Both stand 4-foot-8 and weigh 104 pounds. And both are in Paris for the Summer Olympic Games. Biles heads the five-woman U.S. Olympic team, and Roberson was named a traveling alternate, so she is on the U.S. sideline and able to compete if needed. Roberson is the second athlete from Texarkana to compete in the Olympics. Jarrion Lawson, a Liberty-Eylau all-state track and field champion and former University of Arkansas All-American, competes in his second Olympic Games. The 30-year-old is entered in the men’s jump after leaping 8.18 meters (26-10 feet) at the U.S. trials in Eugene, Oregon. He placed fourth in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Biles, the reigning world champion, will become the fourth American woman gymnast to compete in three Olympic Games after placing first in the all-around competition at the U.S. trials in Minneapolis. “She’s (Biles) just insane. All the stuff that she can do and make it look so effortless,” Roberson said of the U.S. team captain. The four-time Olympic gold medalist finished with an overall score of 117.225. Suni Lee came in second with a score of 111.675, and Jordan Chiles in third with 111.425. The 27-year-old Biles, who became the most decorated gymnast ever at last year’s world championships, clinched an automatic spot on the Olympic team after placing first.
