Knee Injury Forces Gymnast Nichols Out of Pacific Rims

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Maggie Nichols' bid to make the U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team hit a roadblock on Tuesday when she was forced to withdraw from Saturday's Pacific Rim championships with a knee injury.

Ragan Smith will replace Nichols on the six-woman U.S. team at the international event in suburban Seattle. USA Gymnastics said Nichols is dealing with a "slight" knee issue suffered after national team coordinator Martha Karolyi announced the team for Pacific Rims last Sunday.

The 18-year-old Nichols was part of the gold-medal winning U.S. squad at the 2015 world championships. She competed in all four events during team finals, the only American to do so, as the U.S. rolled to its third straight world title.

Smith finished second in the all-around to defending Olympic champion Gabby Douglas at the Jesolo Cup in Italy last month.