Sampurna Pal is a Primary editor for the Olympics Sports division at EssentiallySports. Her writing navigates through the world of gymnastics, equestrian sports, and alpine skiing. With over 2 years of experience editing and publishing sports content, she brings valuable insights to the EssentiallySports editorial desk. 
While making sure that editorial best practices are in check, Sampurna covered three prime events - the 2023/24 FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup, New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, and the 2024 Olympic Marathon trials.
When not editing the next viral story, she finds solace in photography, cooking, and teaching. These passions allow her to bring color, movement, and vision to the sports content she edits.

From fiercely maneuvering on the mats, a 23-year-old Olympic gymnast joined the ambassador roster for UNICEF this year. Born in New Jersey, the daughter of Puerto Rican parents boasts a diverse portfolio with US Gymnastics seasons, media appearances, and author experiences. Before her dedication to children’s welfare, she was also committed to Alzheimer’s awareness after the early passing of her grandmother. Currently also continuing her degree, the former gymnast visited sites to further her pledge this year. Known to keep her beloved family close, she turned to her mother to attend an evening gala hosted by UNICEF. GYMNASTICS ICON PUTS ON GLITZ AND GLAMOR SHOES FOR UNICEF A journey of inspiration and legacy in making, Laurie Hernandez [https://www.essentiallysports.com/tag/laurie-hernandez/], appeared in ‘Dancing with the Stars‘ right after her 2016 Rio Olympics appearance. While she has been a mental health advocate for a while it was only this year that she joined forces with UNICEF. As UNICEF hosted a gala in New York to celebrate the work and pay tribute to its humanitarians yesterday, Hernandez shared a picture on her Instagram [https://instagram.com/stories/lauriehernandez/3246477748158864578?igshid=ZDBjMWI0ZjMxOQ==] posing at the venue with her mother. The beautiful mother-daughter duo were all dressed up; Laurie donned a long floor-touching satin pleated dress with bold black heels and diamond earrings. Her mother wore a halter-neck detailed dress with silver and black heels. She captioned it, “Unicef gala with my mama tonight” with a blue heart. The Dancing With the Stars champion’s first fieldwork and meeting took place in Darién, where UNICEF has launched initiatives to assist families and children who are on the move. In addition, after a personal loss in 2016, the gymnast also turned into an Alzheimer’s advocate. SOCIAL CAUSE AND ADVOCACY Hernandez’s life underwent a period of sorrow when she had to say goodbye to her beloved grandmother. Later, she found comfort and meaning in working closely with the Alzheimer’s Association during this devastating loss. Spurred on by her own experience, Hernandez used her Summer Olympics “Final Five” image to join forces with the nonprofit organization. READ MORE “What Were You Thinking”: Internet Response to Laurie Hernandez’s Mid-US-Open Existential Crisis Is Hilarious [https://www.essentiallysports.com/us-sports-news-tennis-news-gymnastics-news-olympics-news-what-were-you-thinking-internets-response-to-laurie-hernandezs-mid-us-open-existential-crisis-is-hilarious/] [https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/Laurie-Hernandez-Gymnastics-2-419x315.jpg] As an Olympian athlete, she understood the importance of her own narrative and the platform it gave her. Driven by the desire to make an impact it’s interesting to note it’s a cause that remains close to her heart to date while she finds herself amid other major issues. Watch this story From Olympic Gymnast To Feeding Baby: The Life Of A Coveted Gymnastics Champion As Mother [https://www.essentiallysports.com/stories/us-sports-news-from-olympic-gymnast-to-feeding-baby-the-life-of-a-coveted-gymnastics-champion-as-mother/] 

Olympian gymnast, children' advocate and Ambassador graces star-studded New York gala hosted by UNICEF with her mother.

Divya Purohit is a senior Olympics Sports writer for EssentiallySports. She
majorly covers gymnastics, alpine skiing, and horse racing. While bringing the
detailed stats of gymnastics to the American readers, she covered two prominent
events - the 2023 Xfinity Gymnastics Championships, and the 2023 World Artistic
Gymnastics Championships. Along with the flips and turns of gymnastics, Divya
also brings alive the stories from the aquatics arena for the swimming fandom.
Her versatility found applause from 16-time WWE World Champion John Cena when
she penned an insightful article about the Spanish Paralympian swimmer Iñigo
Llopis Sanz. In her time away from penning down about her favorite athletes,
Divya loves to play Tennis.

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Chronicling Olympic Dreams

Divya Purohit

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American Athlete Turned Alzheimer’s Advocate Turns to Mother for Support Amid
UNICEF Gala

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Gymnastics is a collection of physical exercises requiring a lot of strength, agility, balance, and flexibility. It is closely related to circus performing skills as athletes put their bodies to the fullest use. Likewise, there are various disciplines for gymnasts to showcase their talents. Thus, it evolved from ancient Greeks that included skills to mounting to dismounting a horse. The competitive form of gymnastics is called artistic gymnastics. It involves various events for women like the floor, vault, uneven bars, and the beam. For men, they have floor, vault, rings, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bars. Therefore, the sport is famous for its aesthetic values and the Olympics draws major crowds to the gymnastics arena.

[caption id="attachment_996875" align="aligncenter" width="1920"]<img class="wp-image-996875 size-full" src="https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/GettyImages-1342598189.jpg" alt="Simone Biles" width="1920" height="1281" /> LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 25: Simone Biles performs during the Gold Over America Tour at Staples Center on September 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)[/caption]
<h3>History of Gymnastics</h3>
Gymnastics originated from the Greek term, 'to exercise naked,' applied in ancient Greece exercises. These exercises became a mainstay at the Olympics but most of the competition came from ancient roots. There are stone engravings found in Shandong province during <a href="https://www.britannica.com/sports/gymnastics/Gymnasts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Han Period</a> (206 <span class="text-smallcaps">BCE</span>–220 <span class="text-smallcaps">CE) where they portrayed acrobatics. Like every sport, the person credited for making the sport famous was Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, founder of the Turnverein movement as he helped to spread gymnastics across the world. </span>

<span class="text-smallcaps">Most of the exercises were conducted on the playground. Therefore, various events came into existence. They held the first Gymnastics festival in 1860 in Coburg. The Americans were introduced to Gymnastics in the late 1820s while the Federation Internationale Gymnastique was founded in 1881 to organize the event. The 1896 Olympic Games saw the starting stages of gymnastics being introduced to the world. </span>
<h3>The Sport</h3>
There are three divisions of artistic gymnastics- artistic, rhythmic, and trampoline. There are six <a href="https://completegymnastics.com/gymnastics-disciplines-explained/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">events</a> for men and the all around event where they combine scores from every discipline. For women, there are four exercises and a similar all around event, both team and individual events. Apart from artistic gymnastics, there is rhythmic gymnastics and is practiced only by women. Trampoline is the other discipline of gymnastics and introduced itself at the 2000 Olympic Games. As years pass by, various gymnasts showcased their athletic skills to the masses in attendance.

[caption id="attachment_1074502" align="alignnone" width="473"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-1074502" src="https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/GettyImages-1332096751-473x315.jpg" alt="simone biles" width="473" height="315" /> TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 03: Simone Biles of Team United States competes in the Women's Balance Beam Final on day eleven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre on August 03, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)[/caption]
<h3>Famous gymnasts in the world</h3>
<strong>Simone Biles:</strong>

In terms of pure dominance, Simone Biles enters the list as arguably the greatest gymnast of all time. She is the <a href="https://www.rookieroad.com/gymnastics/top-6-best-womens-players-of-all-time/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most decorated</a> gymnast in the World Championships, winning four gold, one silver, and two bronze medals. The 2016 Rio Olympics saw her winning four gold medals and completely dominated the events. She has 25 World Championships medals to her name and her stance on mental health helps her become an influential person in the society.

<strong>Larisa Latynina:</strong>

Winning nine gold medals at the Olympics is astonishing and Larisa Latynina ranks on top of the famous gymnast charts. After Michael Phelps, she has the most Olympic medals with 18. She popularized the sport of gymnastics and was the first star in the sport. Her iconic performances will go down to the gymnastics folklore.

[caption id="attachment_688263" align="aligncenter" width="1920"]<img class="wp-image-688263 size-full" src="https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/GettyImages-640615533.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1293" /> Nadia Comaneci of Romania performs her routine on the Balance Beam during the Women's ArtisticTeam all-around event on 19 July 1976 during the XXI Olympic Summer Games at the Montreal Forum, Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Don Morley/Getty Images) )[/caption]

<strong>Nadia Comaneci:</strong>

Achieving a perfect 10.0 score in gymnastics is amazing. But, doing it at the Olympics, when just turning 14, placed Nadia Comaneci amongst the pantheon of greats. The 1976 Olympics saw her earning seven perfect scores. She won five Olympic gold medals out of the nine she won.

<strong>Svetlana Khorkina:</strong>

With a total of 47 Olympic, World and European Championships medals, Svetlana Khorkina is a remarkable gymnast. She became the first gymnast to win three all-around titles at the World Championships while winning five gold medals in the uneven bars at World Championships. Her success in the uneven bars earned her the moniker 'The Queen of Bars.'

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a collection of physical exercises requiring a lot of strength, agility, balance, and flexibility. It is closely related to circus performing skills as athletes put their bodies to the fullest use. Likewise, there are various disciplines for gymnasts to showcase their talents. Thus, it evolved from ancient Greeks that included skills to mounting to dismounting a horse. The competitive form of gymnastics is called artistic gymnastics. It involves various events for women like the floor, vault, uneven bars, and the beam. For men, they have floor, vault, rings, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bars. Therefore, the sport is famous for its aesthetic values and the Olympics draws major crowds to the gymnastics arena. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA &#8211; SEPTEMBER 25: Simone Biles performs during the Gold Over America Tour at Staples Center on September 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images) History of Gymnastics Gymnastics originated from the Greek term, &#8216;to exercise naked,&#8217; applied in ancient Greece exercises. These exercises became a mainstay at the Olympics but most of the competition came from ancient roots. There are stone engravings found in Shandong province during the Han Period (206 BCE–220 CE) where they portrayed acrobatics. Like every sport, the person credited for making the sport famous was Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, founder of the Turnverein movement as he helped to spread gymnastics across the world. Most of the exercises were conducted on the playground. Therefore, various events came into existence. They held the first Gymnastics festival in 1860 in Coburg. The Americans were introduced to Gymnastics in the late 1820s while the Federation Internationale Gymnastique was founded in 1881 to organize the event. The 1896 Olympic Games saw the starting stages of gymnastics being introduced to the world.  The Sport There are three divisions of artistic gymnastics- artistic, rhythmic, and trampoline. There are six events for men and the all around event where they combine scores from every discipline. For women, there are four exercises and a similar all around event, both team and individual events. Apart from artistic gymnastics, there is rhythmic gymnastics and is practiced only by women. Trampoline is the other discipline of gymnastics and introduced itself at the 2000 Olympic Games. As years pass by, various gymnasts showcased their athletic skills to the masses in attendance. TOKYO, JAPAN &#8211; AUGUST 03: Simone Biles of Team United States competes in the Women&#8217;s Balance Beam Final on day eleven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre on August 03, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) Famous gymnasts in the world Simone Biles: In terms of pure dominance, Simone Biles enters the list as arguably the greatest gymnast of all time. She is the most decorated gymnast in the World Championships, winning four gold, one silver, and two bronze medals. The 2016 Rio Olympics saw her winning four gold medals and completely dominated the events. She has 25 World Championships medals to her name and her stance on mental health helps her become an influential person in the society. Larisa Latynina: Winning nine gold medals at the Olympics is astonishing and Larisa Latynina ranks on top of the famous gymnast charts. After Michael Phelps, she has the most Olympic medals with 18. She popularized the sport of gymnastics and was the first star in the sport. Her iconic performances will go down to the gymnastics folklore. Nadia Comaneci of Romania performs her routine on the Balance Beam during the Women&#8217;s ArtisticTeam all-around event on 19 July 1976 during the XXI Olympic Summer Games at the Montreal Forum, Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Don Morley/Getty Images) ) Nadia Comaneci: Achieving a perfect 10.0 score in gymnastics is amazing. But, doing it at the Olympics, when just turning 14, placed Nadia Comaneci amongst the pantheon of greats. The 1976 Olympics saw her earning seven perfect scores. She won five Olympic gold medals out of the nine she won. Svetlana Khorkina: With a total of 47 Olympic, World and European Championships medals, Svetlana Khorkina is a remarkable gymnast. She became the first gymnast to win three all-around titles at the World Championships while winning five gold medals in the uneven bars at World Championships. Her success in the uneven bars earned her the moniker &#8216;The Queen of Bars.&#8217; &nbsp; &nbsp;

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American Athlete Turned Alzheimer’s Advocate Turns to Mother for Support Amid UNICEF Gala

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American Athlete Turned Alzheimer’s Advocate Turns to Mother for Support Amid UNICEF Gala

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