Who Is MyKayla Skinner?
Meet the Collegiate Gymnast Who's Vying For a Spot in the 2020 Olympic Games
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MyKayla Skinner knows what it's like to contend for a spot on the US Olympic Gymnastics team. In 2016, she flew to Rio, where the "Final Five" came out victorious, and stood by as an alternate along with Ragan Smith and Ashton Locklear, despite finishing fourth in the all-around at the Olympic Trials. She then spent three years competing on the collegiate level for the University of Utah. MyKayla won NCAA titles on floor exercise (2017) and vault (2018) and finished second in the all-around both years. According to Slate, the Arizona native also held a 161-routine hit streak, which is reportedly the longest in NCAA history. Now 22, she's deferred her senior year of college to vie for a spot on the Tokyo 2020 team.
Recently-retired UCLA Gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos Field praised MyKayla's comeback when speaking to NBC at the 2019 US Gymnastics Championships in August. Commentator and Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liukin said during those championships that, in college, MyKayla trained once a day, but on the elite level, prepping for these bigger meets and the Olympics, it's two-a-day trainings most of the time.
Even though MyKayla kept many difficult skills in her collegiate routines (she did a double double on floor as her first pass, for example), coming back to compete as an elite ultimately requires a lot of rigorous work. The training is more intense, as Nastia mentioned. The routines also get more technical (for instance, she had to return to doing four tumbling passes on floor as opposed to the three she did in college gymnastics).
The scoring is a lot different, too — instead of college's perfect-10, elite gymnasts get a combined execution score and difficulty score. Therefore, it's not just about doing everything perfectly; it's about throwing hard skills to up your chances at seeing those big numbers. In college gymnastics, there's a greater emphasis on perfection because you'll see rankings differentiated by less than a tenth in most competitions. When you're competing on the national and international levels, you typically can't play it safe.
MyKayla's coach, Lisa Spini of Desert Lights Gymnastics, told Arizona Republic, "She would have made the [2016 Olympic] team in any other country in the world and should have made it in our country. She feels like she has unfinished business." MyKayla herself said, "While I love college gymnastics, I'd like to try and compete for my country. I see the opportunity to pursue an Olympic berth as a chance of a lifetime." Ahead, check out some of MyKayla's gymnastics career highlights and watch her compete on the world's biggest stages.
MyKayla Skinner on Floor at the 2014 World Championships
MyKayla was a member of the 2014 World Championships team for the US. Also on the team were Simone Biles and Kyla Ross (2012 Olympian and a decorated UCLA gymnast). They won gold as a team, and she placed third on vault. On this event, floor, she placed fourth.
MyKayla Skinner on Floor at the 2016 P&G Gymnastics Championships, Day 2
At the 2016 P&G Gymnastics Championships, MyKayla placed third on floor. Peep a double-twisting double 40 seconds into this routine!
MyKayla Skinner on Vault at the 2016 P&G Gymnastics Championships, Day 2
Watch MyKayla on vault at the 2016 P&G Championships, where she finished second. She still does the same vaults today!
MyKayla Skinner on Floor in 2017 For University of Utah, Pac-12 Championships
She got a perfect 10 here and reportedly has received three 10.00s total on floor during her three-year NCAA gymnastics career so far.
MyKayla Skinner on Floor in 2018 For University of Utah
I just love her choice of floor music (catch that Beyoncé in the middle of it?).
MyKayla Skinner on Vault at the 2019 US Gymnastics Championships, Day 1
MyKayla does what's called an Amanar here, which is a round-off onto the springboard, a back handspring onto the vault, and two and a half twists off. It's very difficult because of the blind landing and is something Simone Biles also does. This one in particular is at the 2019 US Gymnastics Championships, where MyKayla came in third place on vault.
MyKayla Skinner on Floor at the 2019 US Gymnastics Championships, Day 2
One thing I really enjoy about this routine is the fact that she incorporates upbeat pop and dance-like music into it, which is not normally something you'd hear in these elite competitions.
MyKayla Skinner on Bars at the 2019 US Gymnastics Championships, Day 1
As the commentators say, MyKayla is trying to pack a lot of difficulty into this bar routine — a lot more than in college gymnastics. As she continues her journey back into the elite world, she'll keep working on cleaning up her skills, but she got through this without any major errors.
MyKayla Skinner on Beam at the 2019 US Gymnastics Championships, Day 1
MyKayla's first combination, a back handspring step-out to a full in a tucked position, is so hard, and she lands solid on the beam.
Good Luck, MyKayla!
To learn more, visit teamusa.org. The Tokyo Olympics begin in one year on NBC.
