Participation in the Olympics is a dream of many professional athletes, but it is very difficult to realize it, because, among other things, it requires a lot of effort, diligence and perseverance.
Makkala Maroni won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics and shocked the world. At just 16 years old, She left the judges with an amazing performance by Amanar that amazed millions of people. Sure, She trained for years to make a name for himself in the gymnastics world, but she loved every second.
mckaylamaroney,INSTAGRAM
In addition to her huge success, Maroni became world famous for her facial expressions when she was paid for second place in the women’s jumping competition. Her “unimpressed” face became a viral meme and spread across the internet.
So how did everything start for Maroney who’s no longer competing professionally?
Maroni was born on December 9, 1995 in Alice Viejo, California to a family that has been involved in sports all their lives. Not surprisingly, Maroni has long been interested in sports.
mckaylamaroney,INSTAGRAM
Maroni was an energetic child and her parents felt that she should be involved in some activity.
“My mom taught me gymnastics because I was very energetic and always ran, so I thought gymnastics gave me a lot of energy,” Maroni wrote on her US page. gymnastic.
At the age of eight, Maroni was training for up to eight hours a day. Even then, she knew or at least wanted to somehow participate in the Olympics.
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“She was happy at the gym,” Maroney’s mother, Erin, told OCRegister. “It’s like going to the gym,” he said. I am finishing”.
“I liked doing things that most people can’t do with their bodies,” Maroni added. “I can fall into the air and fly on some things. I like to feel that I am working hard towards what I really want and achieving my goals. It’s the best feeling.”
Her passion for gymnastics led Maroni to the US National Championships where she won a bronze medal in the junior category. At that time she was only 14 years old.
Her amazing talent was noticed by many, and it was clear that he was destined for great things.
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In 2011, Maroni took part in the World Championships and became the national champion in the junior vault category. The world will know in a year. At the Olympics, she was a member of the American women’s gymnastics team known as the Fierce Five. Best of all, her childhood friend who shared her dreams was also part of the team.
“When I think about it, it makes me want to cry almost. To have that childhood friend, to have somebody you’ve worked so hard with, we went through so many things together, to have two girls from the same place like Aliso Viejo to make it to the Olympics would just be awesome,” Maroney said of her friend Kyla Ross.
Maroney won gold in team competition and even though everyone was convinced she would get one in the individual vault competition too, that didn’t happen. As she was on the podium, Maroney made her now famous face expression which made her an internet sensation. At that moment, she had no idea her photo had gone viral. She only learnt of that once she returned to the Athletes’ Olympic Village and saw a message of her father which said to check the Internet. Maroney even tried doing the same expression together with former President Obama.
mckaylamaroney,INSTAGRAM
She spoke of the famous photo of her and told Inside Gymnastics in 2014 that she literally did the face for two second.
“Like, if you watch the video, it’s two seconds. And I remember thinking, did I just make a face? Because it’s natural. I do it all the time, I have pictures of me when I’m little doing it. I have it on my Mac computer when I’m like 13,” she said.
In 2013, Maroney won another gold at the World’s Championship and focused all her time and energy on competing at the Rio Olympic Games but was prevented to attend it because of health issues. Today, even though she’s no longer competing professionally, she hates it when magazines say that she retired.
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“I don’t want anybody to ever think that McKayla is retiring. I don’t even want people to use that word,” she said in 2016. “The only difference is I’m not competing anymore.”
“You have to be so passionate and so in love with gymnastics to be able to get to the Olympics,” she said recently. “When you start losing even just an ounce of that, I was just like, I’m not going to make it.”
Maroney was brave enough to speak about former U.S. gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar who worked at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University for years. He was accused by a number of gymnasts that he was abusive, which he later admitted.
#MeToo pic.twitter.com/lYXaDTuOsS
— mckayla (@McKaylaMaroney) October 18, 2017
Maroney opened up about her experience with the infamous doctor and took to Twitter to speak of the importance of not staying silent.
In 2018, shortly after she was witness in the case of Nassar, she developed an eating disorder. She struggled for a year before she enrolled in an online course for people with eating disorders. Currently, she could be seen in a commercial for Geico, where she uses her incredible gymnastic skills.
She is interested in health and wellness and maintains an associated Instagram account. She is also the author of a book about professional life and personal struggles.
McKayla Maroney told Elle, “I just want to be seen as a visionary person, because that’s what we should be doing.”
Source: boreddaddy