Dessert Lights Gymnastics - Gilbert, AZ USAG Bio
Image by Leah Hogsten with The Salt Lake Tribune
Gymnastics
MyKayla Skinner is one of the veterans on the National Team. She was first invited to join in 2011 and remained until 2016 after going to the Rio Olympics as an alternate. After returning home with Olympic Gold, she attended the University of Utah where she was a member of the gymnastics team. Deferring her senior year, MyKayla returned to training as elite in hopes of making the 2020 Olympic Team. She rejoined the National Team in 2019. MyKayla is a very decorated gymnast with a successful elite career, and is most well known for her difficulty on vault and floor.
A few highlights of her elite gymnastics career are:
• Earned an Olympic Gold at Rio in 2016
• Was a member (alternate) is the Gold Medal winning team at Worlds in 2019
• Won All-Around Gold at the FIG World Cup in Glasgow in 2016
• Has won a total of 10 medals at the US National Gymnastics Championships in her senior career
Personal
MyKayla was born on December 9, 1996 in Gilbert, AZ and is the youngest of four. She began gymnastics at the age of four, and when asked why, she stated,
"My older sisters, Chelsea & Katie did gymnastics. I wanted to be a gymnast like them."
Going to public school through her freshman year, MyKayla began homeschooling in 2012 to concentrate on gymnastics. In 2014 she committed to the University of Utah and began her college career as a part of their gymnastics team in 2015. She deferred her senior year (2019-2020) to start training elite again in hopes of making it the Olympic team. Image from MyKaya's Twitter Account
In October of 2019, MyKayla's long-time boyfriend, Jonas Harmer, proposed. The two were married just a month later.
The couple has started a YouTube channel following her on her Road to Tokyo. Click here to watch those episodes!
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