MyKayla Skinner has shown promising performance in both elite and college gymnastics competitions. Skinner has had an on-and-off relationship with her elite career. Back in 2016, Skinner had secured fourth position in all-around at the trials to book her spot on the Olympics team. However, an unforeseen decision from the gymnastics board shattered her dream to compete that year. While she did get a chance to go to Rio de Janeiro, where the competition was held, she didn’t get a chance to showcase her talent.

The unexpected hurdle had compelled Skinner to put her elite career on hold. Once she returned from Rio, she took matters into her own hands and made a career-changing move. Skinner switched from elite to college gymnastics. But what prompted the gymnast to take such a big step?

MyKayla Skinner never saw it coming

Skinner hosts a podcast named “Agree to Disagree” with her husband Jonas Harmer. In the 25th episode of the podcast, Skinner opened up about her life after the Olympics. While talking about her career, Skinner talked about how in the trials she secured fourth in all-around and was ready to compete in the Olympics. However, that year the board decided to pick the seventh and eighth runner up instead.

Recalling the devastating experience, she said, “I was fourth in the all-around but they took sixth and seventh or so no they took seventh and eighth and replaced fourth and fifth. So I got put as a first alternate so super devastating. [I] Went to Rio but didn’t compete and then once we got home from Rio I decided I don’t really want to do this elite thing anymore.”

Skinner decided she wanted to go live her dream in college gymnastics. And she did. She joined the gymnastics team at the University of Utah and competed for three years. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only hurdle the gymnast had to cross in her elite career.

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At the mercy of the coaches

Many gymnasts including the gymnastics queen Simone Biles have opened up about suffering at the hands of their coaches. One such coach was the infamous 80-year-old trainer, M?rta K?rolyi. Biles once claimed that the coach had starved her while training in Texas. In another episode of her podcast, Skinner too confessed that training under the Hungarian-American was tedious.

Though Skinner didn’t train with K?rolyi for long, the coaches and camps that followed were strange too. But they agreed that training under M?rta K?rolyi was worse. Skinner asserts that training for elite gymnastics is harder than training for college gymnastics. She often had to defer her college years to focus on her elite career.

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However, despite the various obstacles Skinner encountered in her journey, she had a great run in her gymnastics career. After claiming a silver medal in the Olympics, she drew the curtains in 2021.