MyKayla Skinner

MyKayla Skinner
Full name MyKayla Brooke Skinner
Nickname(s) Mikki[1]
Country represented  United States
Born (1996-12-09) December 9, 1996
Gilbert, Arizona, United States
Height 5 ft 0 in (152 cm)
Discipline Women's artistic gymnastics
Level Senior International Elite
Years on national team 2011-2016
Gym Desert Lights Gymnastics
College team Utah Red Rocks
Head coach(es) Lisa Spini
Assistant coach(es) Bruce McGhee
Music Cry Me a River by Sven Duijff (2014)
Beatroot by Bond (2013)
La Cumparsita by Bulevard Tango Club (2011-12)
Medal record
Representing  United States
World Championships
2014 Nanning Team
2014 Nanning Vault
Pan American Championships
2014 Mississauga Team
2014 Mississauga All-Around
2014 Mississauga Vault
2014 Mississauga Floor Exercise

MyKayla Brooke "Mikki" Skinner (born December 9, 1996) is an American artistic gymnast. She competed at the 2014 World Championships where she contributed to the U.S. team's gold medal, also winning an individual bronze medal on vault and placing fourth on floor exercise. She also won nine total medals at the USA Gymnastics National Championships during her senior career. Skinner was known for her high difficulty on vault (having performed both Amanar and Cheng vaults in past competitions) and floor. She currently attends the University of Utah, where she is a member of its NCAA women's gymnastics team.

Personal life

Skinner was born on December 9, 1996 in Mesa, Arizona to Cris and Kym Skinner. She has three older siblings, Jeremy, Chelsea and Katie, two of whom are former gymnasts themselves.[2] Skinner is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[3]

She trained with the coaches of Desert Lights Gymnastics in Chandler, Arizona. Her personal coach was the head coach of the club, Lisa Spini.[4] She attended Higley High School in 2011 as a freshman and was home schooled starting in 2012.[4][5] In November 2014, Skinner committed to join the University of Utah program as a collegiate gymnast beginning in 2015, later deferring this to 2016 to pursue a place on the USA team for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[6]

She lives in Gilbert, Arizona and says that her role model is Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson.[7]

Junior career

Skinner was the junior individual all-around champion of the 2011 American Classic.[8][9]

She was named to the Junior US National Team after finishing tenth in the all-around and second on vault at the National Championships.[10][11][12]

Senior career

2012

Skinner became a member of the U.S. senior national team in 2012.[5] She was a member of the winning U.S. squad at the City of Jesolo Trophy in March. In June, she finished 15th all around at the U.S. Nationals and third on vault.[13][14] She had hoped to make the 2012 US Women's Olympic Team but was not selected to compete at the Olympic Trials.[2][15][16]

2013

Skinner competed at the Fiesta Bowl in early 2013, winning every individual event except for the floor exercise where she tied for eighth place.[17] At the 2013 P&G Championships she placed third on vault and floor. She finished sixth in the all-around.

2014

Skinner was a member of the winning U.S. squad at the City of Jesolo Trophy in March, where she won the gold on vault and floor exercise and placed fourth in the all-around.

In August and September, Skinner competed at the Pan American Championships in Mississauga, Canada. She helped the American team place first in the team competition. Individually, she placed first in the all-around competition with a score of 56.850.[18] In the event finals, she placed first on vault scoring 15.037, seventh on balance beam scoring 13.475, and first on floor scoring 14.750.[19]

World Championships

Skinner was selected to compete at the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, China.[20] She won a gold medal with the U.S. in the team competition, contributing a score of 14.666 on the floor.[21] and won a bronze medal in vault, with a score of 15.366.[22] In the floor exercise event finals, she scored a 14.700, and narrowly missed a bronze medal, losing out to Aliya Mustafina who had a score of 14.733.[23][24]

2015

Skinner competed at the 2015 AT&T American Cup, held in Arlington, Texas, on March 7, 2015.[25] She placed second to Simone Biles in that event with a score of 57.832.

U.S. Classic

On July 25, at the U.S. Secret Classic, competing on a recently-injured ankle, Skinner finished 7th in the all-around with a score of 55.500. On beam, she had a fall on her back-handspring tuck full series. She had a stable routine the rest of the way and scored a 12.800, placing 12th on the event. On floor exercise, one of her best events, she threw in her Moors (double twisting double layout) and her Silivas (double twisting double tuck), but she watered down her last two tumbling passes to protect her ankle from further injury. She fell on her double tuck and scored a low 13.500 from a 6.3 start value, placing 9th on the event. She scored a 15.100 on her Cheng vault and a 14.800 on her double-twisting Yurchenko, for an average of 14.950 and placed second. She ended on bars with a more difficult routine and scored a respectable 14.100, placing her 10th.[26]

U.S. National Championships

On August 13 and 15, Skinner competed at the 2015 P&G Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana where she tied for 7th in the all-around with 2014 Worlds teammate Alyssa Baumann with a two-night total of 115.700. She and Baumann placed behind Simone Biles, Maggie Nichols, Aly Raisman, Bailie Key, Gabby Douglas, and Madison Kocian.

Skinner started night 1 on vault where she scored a 15.150 on her Cheng vault and a 14.800 on her double-twisting Yurchenko for an average of 14.975. On uneven bars she had form issues on her transitions and was short on handstands and scored a 13.650. On beam, she nailed her back-handspring tuck full series and had a small hop on her double tuck dismount, scoring a 14.350. On floor, she performed all her difficult tumbling including her Moors (double-double layout), her Silivas (double-double tuck), a layout 3/2 through to a layout 5/2, and a tucked full-in. The judges only credited her a low 6.2 and scored a 14.350. At the end of night 1, she had a total of 57.500 and was ranked 8th overall.

On night 2, Skinner started on uneven bars and had similar form and handstand issues as she did on night 1. She scored a 13.700 and had a total of 27.350, placing 16th on the event. On beam she had a small wobble on her signature back-handspring tuck full series but had better connections to increase her start value to a 6.0. She scored a 14.350 again as she did on night 1 and totaled a 28.700, placing her 7th on the event tied with Raisman. On floor, she had a better routine and was credited a 6.5 start value for a score of 14.800. Her total of 29.150 placed her 3rd on the event (tied with Key) behind Raisman and Biles. On vault, she scored a 15.350 on her Cheng vault and a 14.950 on her double-twisting Yurchenko. She averaged a 15.150 and had a total of 30.125, placing 2nd on vault behind Biles.

World Championships

Skinner was named to the Senior National Team once again and was invited to the 2015 Worlds Selection Camp in September, followed by another camp in early October. On October 8, she was named as an alternate to the USA team for the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and she did not compete or participate in qualifications.

2016

At the 2016 U.S. National Championships, Skinner finished 10th in the all-around and won a silver medal on vault and a bronze medal on floor exercise. She finished her senior career with nine total medals at the U.S. National Championships.

Skinner then competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials, where she finished fourth in the all-around. On July 10, Skinner was named as an alternate to the 2016 Olympic team alongside Ashton Locklear and Ragan Smith.

College career

In November 2014, Skinner signed a National Letter of Intent for the University of Utah and the Utah Red Rocks program.[27] Skinner was recruited along with[28] Shannon McNatt, MaKenna Merrell, and Erika Muhaw as Utah looked to fill gaps left by the graduation of four of its seniors, including Georgia Dabritz and Tory Wilson. Utah coach Greg Marsden said that Skinner was "one of the top gymnasts in the world" with "the potential to get even better as a result of her passion for the sport. She loves to flip and twist."[29] In April 2015, Skinner announced that she would defer enrolling at Utah by a year to concentrate on making the 2016 Olympic team.[30]

Skinner enrolled in the University of Utah in 2016, where she is a member of its NCAA women's gymnastics team and competes in the all-around.[31] During her freshman season of 2016–17, Skinner won 43 total events. She was the Pac-12 champion in the individual all-around and on vault and floor exercise. At the NCAA championships, Skinner finished second in the individual all-around with a score of 39.6125. She was the co-national champion on floor exercise with a 9.9625 and was also fifth on vault and eighth on balance beam.[32] The following day, she led Utah to fifth place in the team competition finals.

Competitive history

Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2010 U.S. National Championships (junior) 25 8 30 22 33
2011 WOGA Classic (junior) 2nd, silver medalist(s)
Nastia Liukin Cup 5
U.S. National Championships (junior) 10 2nd, silver medalist(s) 20 15 15
2012 City of Jesolo Trophy 10
U.S. National Championships 15 3rd, bronze medalist(s) 20 17 11
2013 U.S. Classic 10 2nd, silver medalist(s) 13 9 13
U.S. National Championships 6 3rd, bronze medalist(s) 9 11 3rd, bronze medalist(s)
2014 City of Jesolo Trophy 1st, gold medalist(s) 4 1st, gold medalist(s) 1st, gold medalist(s)
U.S. Classic 5 2nd, silver medalist(s) 10 6 6
U.S. National Championships 5 2nd, silver medalist(s) 11 6 2nd, silver medalist(s)
Pan American Championships 1st, gold medalist(s) 1st, gold medalist(s) 1st, gold medalist(s) 7 1st, gold medalist(s)
World Championships 1st, gold medalist(s) 3rd, bronze medalist(s) 4
2015 American Cup 2nd, silver medalist(s)
U.S. Classic 7 2nd, silver medalist(s) 10 12 9
U.S. National Championships 7 2nd, silver medalist(s) 16 7 3rd, bronze medalist(s)
2016 Glasgow World Cup 1st, gold medalist(s)
City of Jesolo Trophy 1st, gold medalist(s) 5 1st, gold medalist(s)
U.S. Classic 2nd, silver medalist(s) 16 8
U.S. National Championships 10 2nd, silver medalist(s) 17 18 3rd, bronze medalist(s)
U.S. Olympic Trials 4 2nd, silver medalist(s) 12 5 5
Olympic Games Alternate . . .
Year Competition Location Apparatus Rank-Final Score-Final Rank-Qualifying Score-Qualifying
2014 World Championships Nanning Team 1st, gold medalist(s) 179.280 1 235.038
All-Around 6 57.799
Vault 3rd, bronze medalist(s) 15.366 3 15.666
Uneven Bars 29 13.900
Balance Beam 37 13.533
Floor Exercise 4 14.700 3 14.700

References

  1. ↑ "Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup Series Feature Stories". Usagym.org. USA Gymnastics. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
  2. 1 2 "Mykayla Skinner". USA Gymnastics. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  3. ↑ Hendrix, Evelyn. "LDS teen, future U. gymnast prepares for Rio Olympic trials". deseretnews.com. May 20, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "About". The Official Website of MyKayla Skinner. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Athletes: MyKayla Skinner". Team USA. United States Olympic Committee. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  6. ↑ http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865626500/Utah-gymnastics-commit-MyKayla-Skinner-deferring-a-year-to-train-for-2016-Olympics.html?pg=all
  7. ↑ http://www.today.com/news/meet-olympic-hopefuls-us-women-s-gymnastics-team-t71391
  8. ↑ "McLaughlin, Skinner, Milliet win American Classic titles". Artistic Gymnastics: Women: News. USA Gymnastics. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Meet Results – Jr Int". 2011 American Classic. USA Gymnastics. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  10. ↑ "USA Gymnastics names 2011 U.S. Women's National Teams". Artistic Gymnastics: Women: News. USA Gymnastics. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Women – Meet Results – Juniors" (PDF). 2011 Visa Championships. USA Gymnastics. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Athletes: MyKayla Skinner". Athletes. USA Gymnastics. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Visa Championships St. Louis". International Gymnast. 2012-06-13. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
  14. ↑ Jeff Metcalfe (June 10, 2012). "Mykayla Skinner of Gilbert finishes third on vaulting out of three competitors". The Republic.
  15. ↑ Singh, Amber. "High school gymnast well on her way to 2012 Olympics". The Universe. http://universe.byu.edu. Retrieved May 18, 2012. External link in |publisher= (help)
  16. ↑ Gregoire, Carolyn (November 30, 2011). "MyKayla Skinner, 14-Year-Old Gymnast, On Her Way To 2012 Olympics". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
  17. ↑ "Meet Results" (PDF). Desert Lights Gymnastics. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  18. ↑ https://usagym.org/pages/post.html?PostID=14856&prog=h Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  19. ↑ https://usagym.org/pages/post.html?PostID=14866&prog=h Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  20. ↑ "USA Gymnastics Announces U.S. Women's Team For 2014 World Championships". USA Gymnastics. September 17, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  21. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOQ8oX52Eco
  22. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQtWlBWQtvo
  23. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zbTz1wDtPk
  24. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMp37RHdnJo
  25. ↑ http://www.attamericancup.com/athletes/
  26. ↑ "2015 Secret U.S. Classic". usagym.org. July 25, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  27. ↑ Wodraska, Lya. "Utah gymnastics: Utes sign four for 2015–16 class", "The Salt Lake Tribune", November 12, 2014. Retrieved on July 3, 2015.
  28. ↑ http://www.gymnastike.org/coverage/252544-NCAA-Preseason-2015-2016/article/35560-2015-2016-NCAA-Incoming-Freshmen-Utah#.VhKUcIXXoxB
  29. ↑ http://www.utahutes.com/sports/w-gym/spec-rel/111214aaf.html
  30. ↑ Judd, Brandon. "Utah gymnastics commit MyKayla Skinner deferring a year to train for 2016 Olympics", "Deseret News", April 15, 2015. Retrieved on July 3, 2015.
  31. ↑ https://www.utahutes.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4112
  32. ↑ Wodraska, Lya. "Utah gymnastics: MyKayla Skinner ties for NCAA floor title". sltrib.com. April 14, 2017. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
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