MyKayla Skinner wins silver on vault at Tokyo Olympics
Aug 1, 2021, 7:38 AM | Updated: 12:49 pm
MyKayla Skinner of the United States, performs on the vault during the artistic gymnastics women's apparatus final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
TOKYO — Former University of Utah Red Rocks gymnast MyKayla Skinner, who just a week ago thought her time at the Tokyo Olympics was over, will instead come home to the US with a silver medal in vault.
A storybook ending. 👏@TeamUSA‘s @mykaylaskinner wins SILVER on vault at the #TokyoOlympics! 🥈 pic.twitter.com/2k2IaZ9zHN
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 1, 2021
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A long road to silver for MyKayla Skinner
After learning she would not be able to advance to the all-around or event finals due to the rule allowing only the top two competitors from each country to advance, she wrote this on Instagram:
“Heartbroken is an understatement, but I am proud of myself for getting here after everything I’ve been through. I would have loved for my scores to count for the team and I would have loved to compete in event finals but I still did some of my best gymnastics here as an Olympian and that’s something no one can take away from me.”
But when Simone Biles withdrew from the remaining gymnastics events at the Tokyo Olympics, MyKayla Skinner earned her chance to shine on the vault.
Vaulting into the history books
Ahead of the Sunday morning vault final, Skinner posted a message to Instagram acknowledging both Biles and her own excitement.
“Can’t wait to compete in vault finals. Doing this for us @simonebiles,” she wrote. “It’s go time baby!”
View this post on Instagram
MyKayla Skinner earned a score of 15.033 with her first vault, and 14.8 on her second. The average of 14.916 put her in second place, earning the silver medal. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade finished first with a score of 15.083.
Skinner sent this quick message to her fans via Twitter
Delivered big time.
A message from vault silver medalist @mykaylaskinner. ♥️ #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/SM8Udc5Hay
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 1, 2021
Skinner’s Team USA teammate Jade Carey finished 8th.
