On February 16, Oregon Beavers had their gymnastics battle set in Denver Quad. The program had to face No. 21 Denver, Texas Women’s University, and Ball State in Denver’s home turf, Magness Arena. The battle was, however, tough for the Beavers, despite their high-scoring ability. Was there any way to claim something respectable from the Quad meet? Fortunately, the program has someone named Jade Carey. The senior has been in fiery form this season and the Quad meet was no exception.

Meanwhile, in the Quad meet, Jade Carey’s all-around score of 39.725 was a gift, helping Oregon finish second. Also, the remarkable score landed Carey her seventh all-around title. Wait! There’s more. The 39.725 score was the third time this season that she put up such a score or went beyond that. In fact, on January 4 this year, she maintained a similar form against Jordan Chiles’ UCLA gymnastics. Can you guess her score that day? 39.625. Unbelievable, right? But do you have any idea regarding her future goal, something beyond the boundary of gymnastics? Well, her answer might give you goosebumps. 

Jade Carey has something amazing in her store 

Jade Carey is in her last collegiate gymnastics season. She will not have an option to represent the Oregon Beavers starting next season. So, what lies for the 24-year-old in the future? She didn’t take much time to respond to Guillermo Motta’s question. In her reply, Jade initially said, “I have no idea, honestly.” Later, she gathered herself and added, “I feel like I haven’t had a whole lot of time to think about what I want to do. Exactly, but I do know that I’m going to want to be involved with sports in some capacity, especially female sports, aside from the medals, trophies, and records.” Those lines came from someone who has had equal excellence in college and elite gymnastics. But what about her legacy? After all, winning Olympic gold and all-around titles in NCAA matches doesn’t come daily.

 In her interaction with Guillermo Motta, the three-time Olympic medalist revealed the legacy she always wanted to leave behind. “What kind of person I was, what kind of teammate I was, and the leader that I was and I want to be able to help and inspire the younger generation to not be so hard on themselves and not have the only thing that matters in their life, is sports,” Speaking of her leadership role, she has been someone who has proved her mettle in both elite and college gymnastics.

In the Tokyo Olympics, Jade Carey was the one to lead Team USA’s women’s gymnastics team in Simone Biles’ absence. She kept the fame unscathed by winning the gold medal in the women’s floor exercise event. But all such things might not have been possible had the Arizona native didn’t love the sport. What’s more? she has grown her love for the sport not by playing star-filled elite global matches, but somewhere else. 

The NCAA gymnastics circuits are perfect to bring joy to sport 

After the Paris Olympics, Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles returned to the NCAA Championship. They were there in Tokyo together . And here they are again, in the NCAA gymnastics circuit for one last time. Their love for this circuit goes so strong that both Jade and Jordan have not registered for the Winter Cup, just to continue their play in the college season. Is the experience of competing in college gymnastics so good for the Olympic gold medalist? Well apparently, it is!

In her interaction with Olympics.com this year, Carey claimed, “I think [NCAA] really made me fall back in love with gymnastic.” However, the Tokyo Olympics was special for her– her first appearance on the grandest stage. But college gymnastics has always been special. That emotion echoed in her, “Tokyo was obviously really awesome for me, but also really hard at the same time. Going to college brought me out of my shell more, gave me a little bit more confidence. It just made me love gymnastics and realize I had more to give.” This mindset has goes a long way to show her love for college gymnastics. Now we can hope this 24-year-old gymnast achieves everything she has planned for.