why did konnor mcclain switch gyms

I am thrilled to see former Olympians working for large media outlets and promoting the sport. After an honest conversation with her parents, McClain decided to relocate from Revolution in West Virginia to WOGA in Texas to train with Valeri Liukin, who coached 2008 Olympic champion Nastia Liukin. She's a great sister, she's a great daughter, she's the easiest kid. Boston died Sunday morning after recently suffering a stroke, according to the Tennessean. It has been a long year," Lorinda McClain said. Like what you see? U.S. all-around championKonnor McClainposted that she will miss the world gymnastics championships that start in three weeks due to a back injury, writing that her season is officially over.. Finally, McClain began to feel the weight of expectations, leaving her with a sense that she wasn't doing it for the right reasons anymore. In fact, it was not supposed to happen this year at all. At one point last spring, she felt she was "the most garbage gymnast ever." Takahashi, 37, and Muramoto, 30, won a national title and placed 11th and 16th at the last two world championships after teaming up during the pandemic in 2020. Susan and Lorinda have been friends since grade school, working at the local pool, doing gymnastics together, and going to college and cheerleading together. Boston leaped 8.21 meters, eight centimeters better than Owens. Muramoto and Takahashi made their competitive debut as a dance couple in November 2020 and missed the 2022 Olympic team by one spot. Her sister was doing some backbend kick overs, and Konnor started doing backbend kick overs at 20 months oldthat's a little freaky for 20 months old and we have videos of it because I was like, no one will ever believe us, Lorinda shared. As the National Anthem is sung, the athletes are making their entrance. Theres nothing for fourth place, so I just said, OK, thats enough.'. By submitting my information, I agree to the, DiCello, Wong Headline 2021 Women's Artistic World Championships Team, Konnor McClain - Floor, WOGA Gymnastics - 2021 Women's World Championships Selection Event, Konnor McClain - Beam, WOGA Gymnastics - 2021 Women's World Championships Selection Event, Konnor McClain - Bars, WOGA Gymnastics - 2021 Women's World Championships Selection Event, Konnor McClain - Vault, WOGA Gymnastics - 2021 Women's World Championships Selection Event, U.S. The two gyms will be well represented in Louisville . Consider donating to support our efforts throughout the year! Wrestlers' anguished plea: Can't PM Modi listen to our 'mann ki baat'? Boston was reportedly an inspiration for Beamon, having spoken in front of Beamon and his classmates in a high school gym in 1964. Maybe, just maybe, the best for her was not letting her compete while she was throwing up in a bag. As a child I idolized him and he was a major influence in my life. He would be so proud of me, she said. Theres a conversation about the price of gymnastics and the sacrifices many families make to afford it. Konnor and her mom have been living in and out of hotels since she got to Texas. Many elite gymnasts move to well-established legacy gyms once their training picks up, but Konnor has always attended the small program at Revolution gymnastics right in her hometown of Cross Lanes, West Virginia. Konnors dad said he asked Konnor what she would do if Valeri said she had to lose five pounds, and she said shed do it. He died in late December. I wasnt expecting this year to happen, so going into this year, it was hard on my mind, she said. Favorite us! The night she got home from Classic, she cleared everything out of her locker, which is commemorated in a TikTok, obviously. McClain never gave the lead back, though there were some nail-biting moments late. It was more, Wow. The process has been arduous, both inside and outside the gym. After the fall, the routine is solid. In the beginning, warmup is definitely always very nerve wracking for me. It has been a long year, Lorinda McClain said. I showed her the rotation, and we just laughed, a fun laugh, like a good, Are you kidding me, type of How cool is this? PLANO Konnor McClain wanted to quit. Her older sister Liv was on pre-team at the time, and everything Liv came home and did from class, Konnor mimicked. Susan's crazy, and she's been my friend for a long time. The family moved to West Virginia when McClain was 3. She left Revolution to be coached by Liukin McClain, 17, was due to vie for a spot on the five-woman world team at a selection camp in two weeks. I was like, Oh my gosh, what do I do now? And then each day, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is actually real.. The transformation that began when she switched gyms in a rush last spring ended with the 17-year-old . Her unconventional path started when an infamous video of Konnor became well-known in the gymnastics community completely by accident. College Gym News was founded in 2015 by Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Grimsley. Behind the scenes, it wasnt always going so well. I didn't really have the love for gymnastics," McClain said. The first day I was definitely nervous since it was like seven years since I've gone, but it's definitely been great my past two weeks, she shared. She wanted to move gyms. Lorinda's really like my sister, now that I think about it. A post shared by Konnor McClain (@konnormcclain_). I feel like I'm really nervous at first when I salute and then I get up there and I'm like, "Oh, I'm good." It's a goal that appears in reach if she can build on two days that showcased her power, precision and maturity. Ngl, that seems like a blast. Wearing a bedazzled red leotard with her bun held in place by a matching red scrunchie, McClain was up by a half-point going into the final rotation but lost her balance while trying to complete a wolf turn spin on floor exercise. In March 2020, Reed died of a sudden cardiac issue at age 30. Outwardly, McClain was progressing nicely as a gymnast in early 2022, winning the all-around at the Winter Cup in Frisco, Texas, and the City of Jesolo Trophy, an international team event held in Italy. Why did konnor McClain leave her gym? The pair tell us how their friendship helped McClain get back on the mat. Boston broke the mens long jump world record six times between 1960-65 and shared the record going into the 1968 Mexico City Games. Then, at the U.S. Classic in May 2021, she struggled. This is a blessing, Susan shared. Jess Graba and Alison Lim, Sunis coaches, are getting their kids out the door and to the gym. On vault, MyKayla has a solid landing, with a 14.975. College, however, will have to wait until the fall of 2024, as before then McClain will seek to finally achieve that Olympic dream shes had since she was a child. Learn how your comment data is processed. Why is it a big deal? Even with reigning Olympic champion Sunisa Lee waiting before returning to elite competition and Simone Biles on a sabbatical, the Americans appear to be in good position to reclaim the top of the podium at the 2022 world championships. Today were talking about the recently dropped episode five. The next step for McClain and the other top gymnasts will be a selection camp, where five women will be named to the U.S. team for the world championships that start in late October in Liverpool, England. Picking up the pieces to rebuild the 16-year-old, regarded as one of the most talented gymnasts in the country, would be a gargantuan task for her new coaches, Valeri and Anna Liukin. Those three, along with McClain, Jones, DiCello and Skye Blakely appear to be the top contenders to make the five-woman team that will head to Liverpool for the world championships in late October. An organic, homegrown gymnast through and through, her success has come from her own methods, rather than from following the usual formula. For the time being, however, shes looking forward to competing again at the DTB Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, and then, hopefully, later this year at the World Championships in Liverpool. She feels like Tom and the Olympic Committee always see her injured, so she may not seem reliable. Maybe I cant do it all the time, maybe Im not perfect all the time. I loved them almost more than anyone in the world.. She wore a small patch with the letters MM on the back of her leotard, a tribute to the painful reality shed been living. This article is not a criticism of Shawn. 2) Konnor is a rare breed. Since then, the site has transformed into a one-stop-shop for college gymnastics news, from recruiting analysis to meet coverage at the NCAA national championships thanks to the hard work of 15-plus contributors. Konnor just traveled to see Livs first game in person, and hopes to go to more this season. It was a difficult ending to an otherwise encouraging meet for the resilient 20-year-old, who promised her father Sylvester before his death from kidney disease last December that she would press on in hopes of reaching the 2024 Olympics. I really want to do it for myself, she said, and for that little 11-year-old girl who wanted it, too., READ THIS NEXT: After Elite Heartbreak, Aleah Finnegan Is Ready for Fresh Start at LSU. Required fields are marked *. Everything. Uncertain. Besides gymnastics, Konnor is just your average teenager, getting her drivers permit and attending public schoolwell, as of two weeks ago at least. Also in qualifying, Beamon fouled his first two of three jumps, giving him one last chance to make the final. You would have never known. People are going to hate me Because I wasnt even acting like myself.. Continued Lee, I was like, There's going to be a part of you that's missing, but you're just going to have to rebuild. She amazes me that everything she does is tight with pointed toes. One gymnast, however, is not performing the way shes capable. So that was definitely fun for us, Lorinda said. McClains father, Marc, passed away on 27 December due to COVID-19. Creating a Level 10+ Focused Team Program (Finances / Coaching / Athlete Selection / Facility / Etc), Daughter just turned 11, wants to hit lvl 10. After a while, MyKayla grew to enjoy the sport, but it was taxing on their family. I think that is so good because sometimes Konnor can be shy. The pressure is palpable in the arena as the meet is the first of three competitions that will end up selecting the U.S. Olympic team for Tokyo 2020. For 2024, we had everything worked out, we were feeling good about it, we have plenty of time. It doesn't matter where are you're going to end up,' she said. It's definitely really weird because they always call me the baby and they always call me Baby Konnor, and, so, when we went to Winter Cup, everybody was younger than me and I was like, Oh my gosh, they're so tiny and cute, she said. July 6, 2021 College Gym News Elite, Featured, Musings, Recap. So as an example informed Australian, this seems like a big deal. Instead, she performed wearing a patch with his initials on it, dedicating her performance to her biggest supporter. TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Konnor McClain arrived in Texas last spring adrift, her confidence shattered. And on top of that, she's super smart, very intelligent, makes corrections quickly, just really has the whole package.. Granted, Gabby switched her head coach within a closer time frame before Rio, but Christian had already been coaching her. Konnor McClain, who recently moved to Texas to train at WOGA under Valeri Liukin, competes at the 2019 U.S. Championships. McClain and Jones were followed in the U.S. Championships all-around standings by Tokyo Olympic team silver medalist Jordan Chiles, University of Florida freshman Kayla DiCello(who said at nationals that she did not plan to go for the world team) and Tokyo Olympic floor exercise championJade Carey. We get an explanation as to why its so important that gymnasts peak at certain times, and how challenging that makes the sport. Until then, I saw myself as just another local yokel, Boston, who called Owens a mentor and dear friend, said last year. Even in Mommy and Me class, Konnor McClain was precocious. The process seemed to be working. Thousands of miles away as Marc clung to life on a ventilator, McClain was despondent. Getting to know Konnor McClain - one of Team USA's fastest rising stars. She did far more than that, taking the lead through one rotation on Sunday night and never letting go. McClain learned the Olympics were postponed in March 2020, this making her age-eligible for Tokyo, while watching The Hunger Games: Catching Fire., Just to make it to the Olympic Trials would be such an accomplishment, especially for her being young, her mom said in April 2020. I just loved going along with it because they started it, she said. Menu. A couple of weeks after I switched [gyms] I really started doing it for me and not doing it for other people, because I just enjoyed it again, she said. When she walked between six and a half and seven months old, Lorinda was concerned it was too early and even called a physical therapist to make sure it was okay. Growing up in a family of athletes, Lorinda played soccer and cheered in college, Konnors dad played college football at Southern Utah, and her uncle was in the Olympic Trials for boxing. A star on the junior level, McClain won the U.S. all-around silver medal in 2019, then went on to the inaugural junior world championships as the alternate for the American team. Her grandma passed less than a week later. Follow on . Honestly, I'm not going to lie, [competing beam is] terrifying. We were working for 2024, so this kind of threw a wrench in our spokes.. And just get out of the house - she has more energy now. She had reached out to me and asked me how did I stay motivated when my dad had his accident? Whether the E panel thinks this is a switch ring where the foot is too low or a switch leap where the foot is too high, she's losing 0.3 on the element. Um, no. Let's not take this camp for granted. The thought of uprooting her family also weighed on her mind. All signs were pointing her toward the Olympic Games Paris 2024 the first shed be eligible for based on her age. Its not a coachs place to say what someones weight should be. Her coach knows her so welljust from her emotions, from her facial expressions, from her body language, Lorinda shared. McClain says she didnt have expectations to win the Winter Cup, just getting back into the gym and then competition had been hard enough. She's the one who wanted to do it. McClain became the sixth woman to win the all-around in her senior nationals debut since 2000. Reed retired in 2019. Takahashis greatest success came in 2010, when he became the first Japanese man to win an Olympic figure skating medal (bronze) and a world title. Although this is very upsetting after such a successful year, she posted. Elite-level gymnastics. At least until her dismount, which Jones underrotated, forcing her to sit on the mat, her hopes of a national championship gone. Guess what? she said. Two officials banned over fake long jump results, Positive test costs U.S. long jumper national title, IOC urged to ban Russia, Belarus from '24 Games, Supreme Court accepts wrestlers' case, hearing on Friday, Podium to footpath: India's best wrestlers seek support from all quarters, 1948 Olympic medalist Herb Douglas dies at 101, TdF champion Pogacar fractured wrist in crash. Ongoing problems at her gym exacerbated, making her struggle with motivation. TAMPA, Fla. -- Konnor McClain arrived in Texas last spring adrift, her confidence shattered. Konnor is no outlier to the family trade - shes been athletically gifted since birth; sitting, crawling, and walking before her peers. Lee had been through hard times herself, including in August 2019 when her father, John, fell and was paralyzed from the waist down just prior to the U.S. Championships. At the U.S. Championships in August, McClain edged Shilese Jonesby .75 of a point after Jones fell on the last skill of her last routine of the competition. Boston leaped 8.21 meters, eight centimeters better than Owens. I just tried to make it to this competition because coming here was a really hard road for me. In 2018, he returned to singles skating after a four-year retirement. Randy, her husband, says he did talk politics in the gym. "Like, there's . Going back to school at the peak of her gymnastics career is another choice Konnor and her family made that was right for her at the time, even though it wasnt the status quo. Muramoto was a singles skater through her teens, then competed in the 2018 Olympics in dance with Chris Reed. Ralph Boston, who in 1960 brokeJesse Owens world record in the long jump and then won the Olympic title, died at age 83, according to Tennessee State, his alma mater, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic alumni association. She starts crying, hates everything, and at the end of the meet, even thinks of quitting gymnastics for good. I teared up a little bit because I was just so sweet and so special. [Top athletes] are pulling their coaches to the next level too, in a lot of ways. A committee will choose the five-woman world team after the selection camp. The only thing missing from this weekend was being able to celebrate with her dad. AndLaurie Hernandez, the 2015 U.S. junior all-around champion who made the 2016 Olympic team. She committed to an elite schedule that she hopes will take her to the world championships this fall and eventually to Paris 2024, and she chose LSU as her future NCAA team. Boston won silver and bronze at the next two Olympics and remains the lone person to win an Olympic long jump medal of every color. We thought we were on the slow and steady. Per communication with her mother, Konnor McClain will not be competing this weekend at the U.S. Championships or at the Olympic Trials in a few weeks. She wanted to go and see her friends that she hadn't seen since third grade. That's my number one priority, Susan shared. Chrs McDougall has covered the Olympic and Paralympic Movement for TeamUSA.org since 2009 on behalf of. She says Morgan inspired her to speak up. But I was not expecting the outcome that happened.. If she bends her knees, I'm like, Oh my God, that's not Konnor. Her fundamentals are just so soundI think that's probably the most awesome thing about Konnor is her execution, Lorinda stated. To see Konnor McClain compete today, many people would happily pay a good amount of money. With McClain, her confidence restored, on the cusp of an opportunity she feared would never come. The video was originally uploaded by Konnor's mom, Lorinda McClain, because Konnor liked watching herself after practice. At one point, MyKaylas fathers pay was cut and they didnt think they were going to be able to afford gymnastics, but her coach created a position in the gyms office for her mom. Goodbye candle mounts, multiple wolf turns, split leaps, and 1/2 jumps from . Though McClain had some uncharacteristic struggles on beam and missed one of her skills, her lead held up going into the final rotation. In the run-up to the 1968 Olympics, Boston reportedly became Beamons unofficial coach after Beamon and other UTEP track athletes lost their scholarships for boycotting a meet against BYU because of the Mormon churchs historically racist views. After the first rotation, Sunis in second and MyKaylas in fourth. Ralph Boston, Olympic long jump champion, dies at 83 On the first rotation Sunday, McClain turned a .8 deficit into a 1.1-point lead after Jones fell on beam and McClain nailed her double twisting Yurchenko vault. These two were the most amazing people I knew. Its a hard task for a 17-year-old. In August 1960, Boston broke Owens world record in the long jump that stood since 1935. And then the Olympics is definitely there in the back of my mind, but I don't want to think about it too much right now, calling the 2024 Olympics her final goal, something shes been saying since she was at least 11. An ankle injury delayed her preparation and left her unable to compete consistently in the all around. When I started filming it, I felt I wasnt even myself In the gym, I was so down, and I looked so dead, McClain said. 2022 United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. At first [driving] was definitely scarier than gymnastics. You're going to have to refocus. When the Tokyo Olympics were postponed a year, she suddenly found herself eligible for a Games shed never thought about. I'm devastated about Ralph Boston's passing. Konnor is very close with her sister, and credits her as the main thing thats helped her mentally survive the difficulties of the pandemic, including that moment. A week later, her grandmother also passed. "I felt forced going into the gym. Three weeks later, Boston took gold at the Rome Olympics. The video was originally uploaded by Konnors mom, Lorinda McClain, because Konnor liked watching herself after practice. I would say I had very low goals for myself at this competition, so I went in really thinking, 'Just do your best. The world of Olympic gold medalists is small. This is your anonymous test thread reply now and try it out! In the few months she spent at WOGA, McClain has already made two important decisions. b) she was upset about it being her last competition with Revolution (because her parents are pushing a move to WOGA with the intention of furthering her Tokyo chances). She doesn't talk a lot still, but it's so good that Susan knows her. Then, last December, Marc contracted COVID-19. She gets a 12.550. At least one woman who turned 16 or younger in the Olympic year made the last 10 U.S. Olympic teams. MyKayla talks about how she didnt like gymnastics as a kid, but her mom kept her in it. Their WOGA gym has produced two Olympic all-around champions, including their daughter Nastia Liukin in 2008. Luckenbach Music Schedule, Articles W