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.
Early life Heron was born in Panama in 2004 to Ricardo Heron and Yaroslavi Soto. 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.
Junior gymnastics career 2017–18 Heron made her international debut at the 2017 South American Junior Championships. She finished eighth in the all-around, seventh on vault, and eighth on floor exercise.
Heron started the 2018 season competing at the Pacific Rim Championships where she finished 16th in the all-around and fourth on vault. 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. Additionally, she finished seventh on the floor exercise.
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. Her final event of the year was the Top Gym Tournament where she finished 13th on the uneven bars.
2019 Heron was selected to compete at the inaugural Junior World Championships alongside Karla Navas. Together they finished 23rd as a team. Individually, Heron finished 44th in the all-around. 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.
Senior gymnastics career 2020–21 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. She returned to competition at the 2021 Pan American Championships where she helped Panama place fourth as a team, and individually, she placed 15th in the all-around. During event finals, she placed second on vault behind Natalia Escalera.
2022 Heron competed at the Bolivarian Games and was Panama's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. 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. 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. 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.
2023 Heron competed at the Cairo World Cup where she won bronze on vault behind Joscelyn Roberson and Asia D'Amato. Additionally, she placed fifth on floor exercise. At the Pan American Championships, she helped Panama qualify for the team final and finish seventh. Then at the Central American & Caribbean Games, she helped Panama win the silver medal behind Mexico. She won the all-around bronze medal behind teammate Karla Navas and Mexico's Alexa Moreno. She also won the bronze medal on the floor exercise.
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. 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. At the World Championships, she finished 41st in the all-around, qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics as an individual. 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.
After the World Championships, Heron represented Panama at the 2023 Pan American Games. She helped the team finish seventh, and individually, she placed tenth in the all-around final and sixth in the floor exercise final.
2024 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. During the floor exercise final, she finished sixth. She also competed at the Cottbus World Cup but did not advance into any finals. Then at the Baku World Cup, she placed eighth on the floor exercise. At the 2024 Olympic Games Heron finished forty-forth during qualifications and did not advance to any finals.
Eponymous skill 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. Apparatus Name Description Difficulty Added to the Code of Points Floor exercise Heron Double salto backward tucked with 1½ twist (540) F 2024 Cairo World Cup
Competitive history +Competitive history of Hillary Heron at the junior levelYearEvent 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
+Competitive history of Hillary Heron at the senior levelYearEvent 2021 Pan American Championships 4 15 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 2025 Pan American Championships 6 8 World Championships 42 Bolivarian Games 2026 Baku World Cup 8 Cairo World Cup Osijek World Cup 4 Pan American Championships 6 10 5 South American Games 4 7 5
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