Athlete, Photographer

International Relations, Political Science - Saddleback College: Mission Viejo, CA, USA

English

World Elite Gymnastics: United States

Logan Dooley [club, national], USA

She missed the 2016 US Olympic Trials after breaking a bone in her right foot while training the day before the competition. The injury ended her chances of competing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (latimes.com, 31 Jul 2016; nbclosangeles.com, 27 Jun 2021)

She initially took up artistic gymnastics at age three before switching to trampoline at age 13.

After she quit artistic gymnastics her mother encouraged her to switch disciplines to trampoline. "I just knew at the time I couldn't keep pushing myself to do this [artistic gymnastics] because I didn't love it anymore. I knew about trampoline when I was in artistic. I remember when we were little, my coach would sometimes schedule us for trampoline, and that was like the highlight of my life. I quit one day. I met with my coaches, said, 'I'm done. This is over'. And that very same day I was sitting on the couch, and my mum was like, 'You've got to do something'. So, she signed me up for trampoline that very day and I went to practice that night."

In 2014 she became the first US female trampoline gymnast to win a World Cup event, in Minsk, Belarus. (fig-gymnastics.com, 15 Sep 2014)

"Even when it gets super, super hard, there's something in my head that says, 'Don't give up yet'." (nbclosangeles.com, 27 Jun 2021)

DIAGNOSIS
She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes several weeks before the first US Olympic trial for the 2020 Games in Tokyo. She had been struggling physically and mentally for months previously, with the condition undiagnosed. Following the diagnosis she considered quitting the sport, but decided to continue following encouragement from coach Logan Dooley, and ultimately secured a spot as an alternate on the US team for Tokyo. "I wasn't building any muscle, I wasn't getting any better. And I was training more and more because I could feel myself regressing. My skills just got worse and worse. Looking back, it's nice to have an explanation that it wasn't my fault. I basically gaslit myself into believing it was all in my head for almost a year. Mentally I was just done [after the diagnosis]. I thought there was no way I could go to the Olympics. I know that I gave 100% of what I had every single day and that I'm super, super proud of the outcome. Doesn't matter. Olympic team, no Olympic team, Olympic alternate, Olympian like I gave 100% and I've been through the wringer." (diabetesdaily.com, 21 Jul 2021; Instagram profile, 15 Jul 2021; olympics.com, 26 Jun 2021; self.com, 19 Jul 2021)

RIO DISAPPOINTMENT
After missing the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as a result of sustaining a foot injury just before the US Olympic Trials, she took time away from the sport. "I was in a pretty dark place for about a year and a half. I completely walked away from the sport. I didn't want anything to do with it. I learned who Charlotte was as a person, and now I knew who I was outside of sport, and that's when I slowly started to rebuild." After recovering from the injury, she got a tattoo of flowers at the site of the broken bone. "I wanted to be able to look at my foot and not see that anger in how it broke, but remember that things break and you can build beautiful things out of broken things." (nbclosangeles.com, 27 Jun 2021)