![]() representative in the uneven bars final following Biles’ withdrawal. Lee, who is the reigning Olympic women’s all-around champion, was the lone U.S. Jade Carey of Phoenix, Ariz., finished eighth and will be back in action Monday in the floor exercise final. She was topped only by Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade who claimed gold with a 15.083. Skinner – the veteran World team gold medalist who replaced teammate Simone Biles of Spring, Texas, in the vault final following her withdrawal on Saturday – delivered first and second vault scores of 15.033 and 14.800 for a combined 14.916. Thinking about it today still makes me sick to my stomach.TOKYO, Aug– MyKayla Skinner of Gilbert, Ariz., vaulted her way to the silver medal on the first night of individual event finals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, while Sunisa Lee of St. I wish I could have helped or been there for my friends. I guess it made sense in retrospect, but it was still hard to comprehend because nothing ever happened to me. Don’t go around saying anything.” The news about Larry broke a couple months later. Two years later, Steve Penny brought a group of us gymnasts into a room together, and said, “There’s stuff going on right now, and it’s not looking very good for us. Then he paced back and forth, before handing us ice cream cones and leaving. He knocked on the door of the hotel room where Madison and I were staying, and scurried inside. It wasn’t until Worlds in 2014 that it got really weird. It was strange, but I never thought much about it because he was super nice and so good at what he did. When Larry Nassar was at camp and a girl got hurt, he would take them into the training room, close the blinds, and shut the door. Skinner on the vault at the 2016 P&G Gymnastics Championships in St. I have to push through a little big longer. I know it’s going to be hard, but I’ve already come so far. ![]() I'm feeling stressed ahead of Olympic trials. But in that time, I’ve injured my foot, tested positive for COVID, and spent some time in the hospital recovering from pneumonia. An extra year might be good to polish up my skills. I was so pissed off that I actually had a really good practice that day-fueled, I think, by my anger.Īt first I saw the silver linings. Everything I’d worked so hard for, and for so many years, seemed to be falling apart in front of me. “How could this be happening?” I though to myself. The Tokyo Games are my last shot to compete as a gymnast for Team USA, and my last shot at winning a gold medal. I’m 24, which I know doesn’t sound very old. I was driving to the gym last year when my husband called and broke the news: “The Olympics have been postponed.” I almost swerved into oncoming traffic. She made the most of the opportunity, and won silver.īack in June, Skinner opened up to about her long journey to Tokyo ( including overcoming a foot injury and a positive COVID test)-and how she keeps her "head in the game." team) stepped up to compete in the vault. When S imone Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time, withdrew from the competition, Skinner (who was initially selected as an individual-not as a member of the U.S. "I had come so close to living out my lifelong dream of winning gold," Skinner says, "and in that moment I realized I couldn’t give up just yet."įour years later, Skinner's dream finally came true at the Tokyo Summer Olympics. She was one of three alternates at the Rio Games, where she cheered on her teammates Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Laurie Hernandez from the sidelines. In 2016, gymnast MyKayla Skinner ranked fourth at the Olympic trials, the highest finisher not named to that year's Olympic team.
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