Konnor McClain’s 2024 looked like a promising start but soon went downhill. Creating history by helping the LSU Tigers to win their maiden NCAA title, McClain was one of the biggest draws at this year’s gymnastics event, the Core Hydration Classic. And she started off her campaign in style. Competing on the beam, McClain put up an impressive 14.2. With her chances looking bright, what happened next was pretty much heartbreaking. Going through her floor warm-ups, McClain had a nasty fall and injured her Achilles. 

The injury dashed her Paris hopes and sidelined the promising 19-year-old for a significant amount of time. Now it has been more than six months since McClain was escorted out of the arena. Fortunately for her fans, there has been a glimmer of hope as the year draws to a close. In a recent update, LSU has announced that the young gymnast will finally be making her return to the mat for the 2024-25 season. And appearing at a recent press conference, coach Jay Clark further cleared the clouds of confusion as to when exactly she would be available to enthrall her fans. 

LSU Sports uploaded a presser dated December 30 on YouTube. With questions coming in about a variety of topics, the unavoidable query regarding Konnor McClain popped up too. While Clark stated that McClain might not be available for this week, he was certain that fans would be able to watch her in action very soon. Giving a major update on her injury, the LSU Tigers coach stated, “So I think she’s ready to go on bars and beam. We’ve started adding a little bit on the leg events just to kind of reintroduce her body to some of those functions and impact and that kind of thing, but very we’re gonna go very easy and very slow on those and not try to go too quickly getting her back on.”

LSU gymnastics coach Jay Clark also delved deep into which routine he would like McClain to make a comeback in. “If I had to pick one of the two events that are remaining for her to get back, my guess is that vault would be the one that she comes back on first,” opined Clark. And this was not all. Going through a tough time, McClain also had some recurring issues with her back. Addressing the same, Clark mentioned that it was not something of serious concern. While the back injury does come back once in a while, it is far less than something ‘season-ending’.

Now, it’s not only Jay Clark who looks certain about the 19-year-old’s comeback. Back on November 22, it was McClain herself who assured the fans of her next big tournament. Set to participate in the 2025 US Championships in New Orleans, McClain wrote, “See y’all in 2025?!?” However, this was not the only time Jay Clark has come out confident about McClain’s injury. In fact, his confidence even led to fans criticizing him at one point!

Jay Clark accused of pressurizing Konnor McClain

Konnor McClain’s Achilles tendon injury was a gruesome one. The moment she was escorted out in a wheelchair, it was evident that surgery may be required. Surprisingly, despite fathoming the seriousness of the injury, Coach Clark remained positive right from the word go. After McClain got injured, Clark vouched with assurance in a press conference, “If the rehab goes the way we think, she could be ready on bars and beam, to start the season and we’ll see how the rest goes.”

Sadly, such confidence backfired, and fans immediately started to bash Jay Clark. They even accused him and the LSU Tigers of putting pressure on the teenage gymnast to make a swift turnaround. However, fast forward to December 2024, and it all feels like a carefully executed master plan that worked wonders. McClain announced her second NCAA season return on December 1st week via an Instagram update saying, “See y’all at the pmac in two weeks..” Coach Clark also chipped in with bright updates right from the training mats.

Speaking on an episode of the ‘All Things Gymnastics’ podcast from December 2, 2024, Clark elaborated, “She’s been doing full routines for a hot minute. And, and so that’s, that’s in a good place. And we just started landing the dismount this week on the regular competition surfaces.” Thus, with all the updates looking incredibly bright for McClain, it remains to be seen whether the 19-year-old can topple her own record of 3 perfect tens and 8 individual titles from last year.