The following is excerpted from LDS Living. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
Seven days ago, a headline on ESPN read, “MyKayla Skinner’s Olympic gymnastics experience did not have to happen this way.” It seemed that after dedicating the majority of her young life to the sport of gymnastics and after battling back from injury as well as COVID-19 in the last two years, Skinner’s Olympic dream was over after just one night of competition. It appeared she would return home before the Games were even finished. She described it as “devastating.” But on Sunday in Tokyo, Skinner became an Olympic silver medalist.
As one sports reporter put it, “Considering she had already been eliminated from the Olympics, Skinner’s silver has to go down as one of the least likely medals in the sport’s history.”
So, how did Skinner go from being eliminated to the medal podium?
Skinner was reportedly packed and ready to head home when Simone Biles unexpectedly pulled out of the team competition. Almost immediately Biles thought of Skinner.
“Simone was like, ‘Text MyKayla and tell her not to go home in case she has to step in,’” Skinner told reporters. “She was on it like that.”
When her chance to represent the United States one last time came, Skinner was ready. “Looks like I get to put a competition leo on just one more time,” she wrote on Instagram. On Sunday in Tokyo, Skinner delivered in a big way receiving a 15.033 on one vault and a 14.800 on the other for a final score of 14.916. The score landed Skinner just behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade who won the event final with a score of 15.083.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
