Annie Beard was just a three-year-old infant flipping around the house when her parents were convinced to move out of Baton Rouge. And seven years later, not-a-typical fifth grader, Beard had already turned out to be a Level-9 Texas Dreams gymnast and a top five for the 2014 International Gymnast Magazine Gymnast of the Year. Little did she know at the time that it would need a lot of sacrifices… sacrifices that would take her over 300 miles away in Texas from her hometown Alexandria for over a decade! “It took dedication; this is all I’ve known that I’ve to do,” said the then 15-year-old when she signed up to be an LSU commit.

In the ten years she was away, she did soak it all up, for better or worse. For one, she was a product of Texas Dreams that eventually became a subject of national criticism for overworking its athletes to the point where they suffered major injuries. Secondly, crisis at home was unprecedented. Her elder sister Caroline was battling cancer at the time, and Annie would visit her often at the Jude Children’s Research Hospital. So, when she finally got to represent the LSU, it was nothing like it.

Fate played a hard bargain as the LSU Tiger had been riddled with a difficult elbow surgery and at least nine instances of injuries that even saw her out for the last season. Of recent too, it has been a case of touch-and-go really. On Tuesday, in the third rotation of the LSU Gymnastics 101 event, Annie represented the purple team on the balance beam, and considering it was the same balance beam event that helped LSU Tigers clinch the national title, the hype was understandable. Just 17 seconds into her mount, the inevitable happened.

She fell. That most certainly took a few breaths away as the audience tried adjusting what they had just seen. She took a few seconds to get herself composed but ultimately decided to walk away. From the looks of it, it didn’t look like she was injured in the process but was quite taken by the moment when she smiled as the gathering tried lifting her spirits. Now, one week on, Beard shared a carousel of pictures that has put ideas of the worst kind in her followers: retirement.

A Reddit user opened up the discussion, “Anyone else get the feeling Annie Beard is about to retire? She posted some pics on Instagram (don’t know why I can’t link it) that really give that impression, and there’s a lot of “so proud of you comments.” It would be a shame. She has a lot of potential but just doesn’t seem like she could put it together in college. Texas nightmare alum after all.”

A lot of the users felt that this was long coming. One comment said, “I don’t know why it just hasn’t really clicked for Annie in college. I have no doubt she has injuries galore as a Texas Nightmares survivor, but I’ve always wondered if she maybe would have benefited from a sports psychologist or if something else was at play. She had so much potential. It’s just odd. However it goes, I hope she’s happy and healthy and makes choices on her own terms.”

‘Texas Nightmare Alum’s career taken for a toss as fan speculations run rampant

Many users were unhappy at the sight of the retirement rumors. While most of them agreed that the signs were definitely pointing towards her stepping away from gymnastics, there were talks about the fact that her college career couldn’t live up to its hype and expectations because of her injury-stricken career. One user said,

“Oh yeah, that post definitely gives retirement vibes. It’s too bad It feels like she committed to LSU a decade ago and was really rooting for her to have a good college career.”

The main thing that seems to corroborate the retirement rumors further is her performance at the LSU preview meet, where she fell off the beam. This seemed to be quite disappointing for her, as she didn’t finish her routine. Many thought this was the time that she had decided to leave the sport. Now, with the Instagram post, the fans’ doubts seem to have been true. One user said, “Yeah, I reckon so based on those comments. She looked quite over it all at the LSU preview.”

Others suggested she could benefit from a transfer to a different college, which has less pressure and intensity. “At first I thought transfer, but the kid photos scream retirement. She always struck me as a sweet, spunky athlete that just had a rough go of it with injury and confidence—not sure which is more hampering to her now given how packed with talent LSU is. I honestly wish she would transfer somewhere else where she could shine in a less intense pressure situation, but maybe that’s not what makes her happy,” said one user.

What do you make out of the speculations? Let us know in the comments below.