Photos: YouTube
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) —Konnor McClain has overcome obstacles and Sunday won the U.S. Gymnastics title.
Konnor McClain arrived in Texas last spring adrift, her confidence shattered. The gymnastics that came so easily for so long to the precocious teenager had turned shaky. Uncertain.
At one point last spring, she felt she was “the most garbage gymnast ever.” She watched the 2021 U.S. Championships from the stands and caught the Olympics on TV, wondering if the dream that once appeared so tantalizingly close had slipped out of reach, maybe for good.
Nope.
There McClain was on Sunday night during the final night of the 2022 championships, the talent that had always been apparent on full display, buoyed by a self-belief borne out of a mix of loss, grief and determination.
The transformation that began when she switched gyms in a rush last spring ended with the 17-year-old atop the podium, a gold medal around her neck and her self-belief restored. Read more.
