At the recent 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championship, the US women’s gymnastic team soared to a team victory. However, the road to victory wasn’t as smooth as it seemed. The six-women roster, led by Simone Biles, boasted greats like Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely, Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong. But just before the team finals kicked off, the youngest Worlds’ debutant faced a vault stumble, resulting in a lower left leg injury. Owing to that, the 19-year-old Wong stepped in as a deserving replacement.

After her 10th place finish in the Selection Event, Wong was declared as the second alternate. However, with Joscelyn’s unfortunate fall, Wong secured a position among the 9 vaulters for the finals. Essentially Sports reached out to Wong with their share of questions regarding the incident. Never failing to enlighten her fans, she talks about her instant mindset switch before her vault routine.

Leanne Wong uncovers the truth

In an exclusive interview with Essentially Sports, the 2021 World all-around silver medalist candidly shares her team’s final story. When asked, “Speaking of pressure, you were asked to cover for Joscelyn when she got injured at the last moment. Can you describe how that happened and what the conversation was like?” Without holding herself back, she replied, “During the Team Finals at this year?s World Championships, I had to step in on two additional events for Team USA. I warmed up in the back in case something happened, but when I was getting ready to cheer on the girls on their first event, Joscelyn took an uncharacteristic landing on vault.”?

She didn’t shy away from confessing her unpreparedness before the fall happened. “Within 10 seconds, I had to switch my mindset and get ready to vault. Kayla and Skye were standing next to me and helped me pull my warmups off. It was a hectic few minutes, but I was grateful to have gotten the chance to warm up two vaults before competing” Leanne added.

It’s no surprise that those last minutes for Wong were tough, but her 14.066 finish didn’t reflect the turmoil within. The 2023 season was nothing less than a dream for the 20-year-old.

A fearless rising star in gymnastics

Recently, Leanne displayed remarkable courage when confronting the dreaded ?Twisties.? Wong’s confession about the twisties took us back to Biles’ opening up about the condition during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.? Leanne Wong served as an alternate for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She made her Worlds debut at 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Japan. Since then, the world has been watching her flourish.

When she chose to work with her university coaches after Tokyo, people raised many questions. She confidently answered, ?I’m just really enjoying the sport and competing for fun and not putting too much pressure on myself. Right now, I feel like my coaches at Florida and I work really well together, so I’m just really enjoying this relationship.??

READ MORE: Stepping Up After Gruesome Injury, USA?s Leanne Wong Faces Heartbreaking Upset at World Artistic Gymnastics Championships?2023

Besides sharing great camaraderie with her trainers, her bond with her fellow gymnasts also shines through. Wong happens to be the only American female gymnast to make all three World teams in the 2021-2024 quadrennium. Gymnastics fans eagerly anticipate her next moves at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Watch this story:?Simone Biles Triumphs Over Defending Champ Reclaiming Us Glory at World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023