While it remains to be seen whether she will have an opportunity to compete in the Olympics, 19-year-old Mormon gymnast Mykayla Skinner stamped her ticket to Rio this weekend by being selected as an alternate for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials.
Despite finishing fourth all-around this weekend at the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials, Skinner was not selected to the five-woman team. Officially named to the USA’s roster were Simone Biles, who earned automatic berth by finishing first all-around, while Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian were placed on the team by the selection committee. Ashton Locklear and Ragan Smith will be joining Skinner as alternates.
At the end of the weekend, Skinner placed second on vault (30.950), fifth on floor (29.600) and balance beam (29.350) and 12th on uneven bars (28.700).
The Selection Committee required the fifth member of the team to be a strong competitor on the uneven bars, which is the team’s weakest event, according to KSL.com. Madison Kocian placed first on bars, which gave her the advantage she needed to be selected over Skinner.
Skinner is a member of the Bella Vista Ward in Gilbert, Arizona. A Deseret News article published earlier this year stated that Skinner "spends more than 30 hours each week in the gym, but she does not train on Sundays. She believes this has helped her become stronger both physically and spiritually."
“She does the most difficult vault in the competition,” said a commentator on a YouTube video uploaded by Team USA. Skinner's strongest events are the vault and floor routine.
Watch the video on YouTube here.
Skinner has had a history of success. She “represented the United States in the Glasgow World Cup in Scotland on March 11-12, winning the gold medal all-around with a score of 56.99. No individual event medals were awarded, and Skinner was the top scorer in vault and finished second in both uneven bars and floor exercise,” according to DeseretNews.com.
“Thanks to everyone for all the love and support and cheering me on tonight,” Skinner posted on Instagram after the first day of the Olympic Trials. “All my dreams are coming true; it’s been a dream since I was a little girl, and I can’t believe I have made it this far!”
The 2016 Summer Olympics will be held Aug. 5-21 in Rio de Janeiro.
Kelsey Schwab writes for the Faith and Family sections of DeseretNews.com.