Laurie Hernandez Won’t Let You Look Away

Laurie Hernandez Won’t Let You Look Away

“It was almost, like, sass overdose,” said Laurie Hernandez one recent July morning in a downtown San Jose hotel lobby, her doe eyes emphatic and wide. While videographers lingered nearby, the teenager sat on a banquet chair at a round folding table covered by a white tablecloth, reflecting, in the grand tradition of high school–age girls everywhere, on a minor but important event from her very-recent past.

But unlike most of her cohort born in the year 2000, Hernandez wasn’t gossiping over possibly spiked punch at prom. She hasn’t even attended a regular school since third grade. One night earlier, at the gymnastics Olympic trials, the 16-year-old became the youngest athlete to be named to the five-woman squad that is widely expected to vault over the competition in Rio this August. Thrilled and exhausted, she chatted with a handful of reporters about the past few months of her life, a time period which included some rejected floor exercise music; a stint at a famed Texas ranch; and discussions with a quorum featuring national team matriarch Martha Karolyi.

Katie Baker  |  Jul 25, 2016

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