16-Year-Old Olympic Gymnast Hezly Rivera Says It's an 'Honor' to Wear Team USA Leotard (Exclusive)

The youngest U.S. athlete in Paris just marked her milestone birthday last month, weeks before she also celebrated making the Olympic gymnastics team

Hezly Rivera’s first official trip to Paris is underway!

The teen Team USA gymnastics phenom, who claimed the fifth spot at the U.S. Olympic Trials, exclusively tells PEOPLE that she achieved the historic feat in part by focusing on herself — and not thinking about the unexpected events that changed the scope of last month's meet.

“My mindset was kind of like I had nothing to lose, so I told myself, 'Just go out there and do what you've been doing in the gym,' ” Rivera, 16, says, referring to the injuries of leading contenders for the team, including Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello.

She added, “I also think of my events as kind of event finals where, if I'm on beam, that's the only event I'm on, that's what I'm doing. I'm not thinking about anything else. If I'm on vault, I'm only thinking about vault, and I kind of just move through the events like that and it becomes way easier, and my mind just becomes more settled and more calm.”

Related: 'Spunky' Jordan Chiles Keeping It All in Perspective as She Vies for Olympics: 'I Always Have Fun' (Exclusive)

All of which are words more likely to come from a veteran in the sport, not someone who turned 16 six weeks ago.

She continues, “I'm kind of just very focused on myself and I don't like to look around at what other people are doing. I just like to stay locked in and focused on myself. So obviously I don't want to see anybody get hurt. It was so heartbreaking because everybody has worked so hard to get here.”

Rivera’s unlikely road to Paris — for the record, she had previously only been to its airport, not to the city itself — has so far been one filled with joy and maybe a little chaos.

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“It's been crazy,” she tells PEOPLE. “Just making the team is just such an amazing experience and I'm so happy to be here. And obviously I made the Olympics, so I have to still work very hard to achieve my dreams at the Olympics, which I'm very excited for."

The New Jersey native began the sport at age 5 as an outlet, she says, because her “flipping around the house” doing cartwheels and roundoffs scared her mom, Heidy.

The training stuck, and Rivera eventually moved to North Texas to work with legendary coach Valeri Liukin (father to 2008 Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liukin) at WOGA Gymnastics.

Adapting to a new home base took some getting used to, the rising 11th-grader says. But in competition, Rivera is known for her consistency, something which she theorizes helped land her a spot alongside Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee and Jade Carey.

“My strengths that I bring to Team USA are my bars and my beam because I think my form sets me apart,” she tells PEOPLE. “I think I'm a very clean gymnast. I have some difficulty — obviously not the highest difficulty — but I'm working my way up there and I think that my execution really sets me apart.”

Related: Simone Biles and Team USA Gymnastics Jet Off to Paris: ‘Can’t Believe I’m Heading to My 3rd Olympic Games’

When the Olympic women’s gymnastics competition begins on July 28, the five women, and alternates Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong, will be united, however, wearing the same leotards to represent USA.

“It's insane," Rivera says. "It is such an honor because I've always said, 'I want to wear that leo and compete at the Olympics.' So now that it's actually here and it's real and I've achieved my dreams, that's so incredible. I'm so happy, and honestly, unboxing the leos brought me so much joy because I made it and I'm here to represent my team, USA, so it's such an incredible experience and such an honor."

She pauses and then adds: “They’re so sparkly. I love all the gems on it.”

Spoken like a true 16-year-old.

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