McKayla Maroney
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McKayla Rose Maroney (born December 9, 1995) is a retired American
artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...
and singer. She was a member of the American women's gymnastics team dubbed the
Fierce Five The Fierce Five was the artistic gymnastics team that won the second team gold medal for the United States, and the first gold medal on international soil, in the women's team competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Originally referred ...
at the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, where she won a gold medal in the
team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...
and an individual silver medal in the
vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...
event. Maroney was also a member of the gold-winning American team at the 2011 World Championships, where she won gold medals in the team and vault competitions. She defended her World title and won the gold medal on vault at the 2013 World Championships, becoming the first U.S. female gymnast to defend a World Championship vault title. A photograph of her with a "not impressed" expression, taken after winning silver in the 2012 Olympics, became an
Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
. In 2016, she retired from competitive gymnastics.


Early life

McKayla Rose Maroney was born in
Aliso Viejo, California Aliso Viejo (Spanish for "Old Sycamore") is a city in the San Joaquin Hills of southern Orange County, California. It had a population of 47,823 as of the 2010 census, up from 40,166 as of the 2000 census. It became Orange County's 34th city on ...
, on December 9, 1995, the daughter of Erin and Mike Maroney (died 2019). Her father was a quarterback at
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
, and her mother was involved in figure skating and high school sports. McKayla is of
Irish Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the British ...
descent. She has two siblings, Tarynn and Kav, and was homeschooled in order to train as an elite gymnast. Maroney said, "When I was younger, I would be watching ''
Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...
'' and running around on all fours. My mom was like, 'I need to put this child in gymnastics. She's crazy.' I was technically in gymnastics at the age of two and always felt comfortable in the gym." When she was nine years old, she started training at Gym-Max in
Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish for "Table Coast") is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including part of the South Coast Plaza–John Wa ...
. In 2012, she said, "I realized that I had a dream that I wanted to go to the Olympics and I wanted to go as far as I could go. I thought I should probably move to a new gym and start thinking about the Olympics." About her first Olympic memory, Maroney said, "I remember watching
Carly Patterson Carly Rae Patterson (born February 4, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter and former artistic gymnast. She was the all-around champion at the 2004 Olympics, the first all-around champion for the United States at a non-boycotted Olympics, and ...
. She was one of my favorites. I loved her floor routine. I went to Olympic Trials that year (2004) with
Kyla Kyla may refer to: *Kyla (given name), including a list of people with the name ** Kyla (Filipino singer) (born 1981), Filipino R&B singer **Kyla (British singer) Kyla Reid ( Smith; born 22 September 1983) is a British house music singer in the ...
oss I remember seeing the gymnasts on the floor and I loved all of their leotards. I thought they were so little and so amazing. I thought, how am I going to stay this little? I was worried that I was going to be really tall because my dad is 6'3" and my mom is 5'2", so I didn't know which one I was going to be."


Junior career


2009

In August, Maroney competed at the
Visa Championships The USA Gymnastics National Championships is the annual artistic gymnastics national competition held in the United States for elite-level competition. It is currently organized by USA Gymnastics, the governing body for gymnastics in the United Stat ...
in
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
. She placed twenty-seventh in the all-around with a two-day combined score of 104.800 and third in the vault final with a score of 29.900. When asked about the first time she performed an
Amanar Yurchenko, also known as round-off entry vaults, are a family of vaults performed in artistic gymnastics in which the gymnast does a round-off onto the springboard and a back handspring onto the horse or vaulting table. The gymnast then perform ...
in competition, Maroney said, "The first time I did it was at Visa Championships and I was just thirteen years old. I was just really little and I didn't really know what was going on. But I just did it, and I was just very happy that I landed on my feet."


2010

In July, Maroney competed at the CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, Illinois. She placed seventh in the all-around competition with a score of 55.650. In August, Maroney competed at the
Visa Championships The USA Gymnastics National Championships is the annual artistic gymnastics national competition held in the United States for elite-level competition. It is currently organized by USA Gymnastics, the governing body for gymnastics in the United Stat ...
in Hartford, Connecticut. She placed third in the all-around competition with a two-day combined score of 113.250. In event finals, she placed first on vault scoring 32.000, seventh on balance beam scoring 27.850, and fourth on floor scoring 28.400. In September, Maroney competed at the Pan American Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. She contributed a vault score of 15.933, a balance beam score of 13.866, and a floor score of 14.500 towards the American team's first-place finish. In event finals, she placed first on vault with a score of 15.387 and first on floor with a score of 14.225.


Senior career


2011

In March, Maroney competed at the
City of Jesolo Trophy The City of Jesolo Trophy is an annual women's gymnastics competition held in Jesolo, Italy. There are competitions for the senior division and junior division. The United States won the senior team competition every year from 2010 to 2017.
in Jesolo, Italy. She won the all-around competition with a score of 57.850. In July, Maroney competed at the CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, Illinois. She placed sixth on balance beam scoring 14.550 and fifth on floor scoring 13.450. In August, Maroney competed at the
Visa Championships The USA Gymnastics National Championships is the annual artistic gymnastics national competition held in the United States for elite-level competition. It is currently organized by USA Gymnastics, the governing body for gymnastics in the United Stat ...
in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She placed second in the all-around competition with a two-day combined score of 115.150. In event finals, she placed first on vault scoring 30.700, seventh on balance beam scoring 27.650, and fifth on floor scoring 28.150. In October, Maroney competed at the
2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 7–16, 2011, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Due to uncertainty over the nuclear situation following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Inte ...
in Tokyo, Japan. She contributed a vault score of 16.033 and a floor score of 14.566 towards the American team's first-place finish. Maroney won the vault final with a score of 15.300. She told International Gymnast Magazine, "For every competition, I just went in there with confidence in myself and in my team, and each day it felt like I gained more and more experience."


Early 2012

Maroney upgraded her second vault to a round-off, half-on, full-twisting front layout. "I've done it at two .S. team trainingcamps so far, and it's going pretty well," Maroney said. Her first vault remained an
Amanar Yurchenko, also known as round-off entry vaults, are a family of vaults performed in artistic gymnastics in which the gymnast does a round-off onto the springboard and a back handspring onto the horse or vaulting table. The gymnast then perform ...
. In March, Maroney competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Jesolo, Italy. She placed fourth in the all-around competition with a score of 57.950. In May, Maroney competed at the
Secret U.S. Classic The U.S. Classic is an annual summer gymnastics meet for elite artistic gymnasts of the United States. The meet occurs before Nationals and is a qualifier for it. In Olympic years, the aforementioned meets along with the U.S. Olympic Trials are u ...
in Chicago, Illinois. She placed first on vault with a score of 16.100 and tenth on balance beam with a score of 13.800. In June, Maroney competed at the
Visa Championships The USA Gymnastics National Championships is the annual artistic gymnastics national competition held in the United States for elite-level competition. It is currently organized by USA Gymnastics, the governing body for gymnastics in the United Stat ...
in St. Louis, Missouri. After the first day of competition, she was placed seventh in the all-around with a score of 58.700. During warmups for the second day of competition, she fell on a tumbling pass on floor landing on her back. Maroney was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a minor concussion and nasal fracture. She took a week off from training and successfully petitioned to compete at the Olympic Trials. At the beginning of July, Maroney competed at the Olympic Trials in San Jose, California. After the first day of competition, she said, "I'm thankful that I'm even here. I knew I had to hit vault because it's the most important event for me to make the Olympic team." Though she had falls on both bars and beam on day one, and a major loss of formation on bars during day two, she placed seventh in the all-around with a two-day combined score of 117.650. In event finals, she placed first on vault scoring 31.700 and fifth on floor scoring 29.700. Afterwards, Maroney was chosen as a member of the team that was sent to the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. She said, "This is the best feeling – it's just so amazing. I'm in shock right now. I think this will be the happiest I'll ever be in my life. It's the absolute best feeling knowing that I trained so hard for this and all the hard things that I have accomplished and now to be on this team. These girls are my best friends. My team mate
Kyla Ross Kyla Briana Ross (born October 24, 1996) is a retired American artistic gymnast and current assistant coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team. She is the first female gymnast to win NCAA, World, and Olympic championship titles. Ross w ...
, we have been best friends since we were six years old so it's just absolutely amazing to be going to the Olympics." When asked about feeling pressure to win gold on vault at the Olympics, she replied, "If I do my job I know I can get the gold medal. That's what they picked me to be on the team for, so I need to be confident about that." Maroney was featured on the cover of ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'' with the rest of the USA Women's Olympic Gymnastics team on the July 18, 2012, issue of "Olympic Preview". This marked the first time an entire Olympic gymnastics team had been featured on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated''.


London Olympics

At the end of July, Maroney competed at the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. During training, she aggravated a previous bone break in the big toe of her right foot but competed on vault, although she did not take part in the floor routine as she hoped. "Bad things happen, you just have to make the best of it," Maroney said. "It does hurt. It's broken. How is it not going to hurt? I just try to ignore it and I worked so hard to be here, I can ignore the pain for a little bit." In 2021, she claimed she broke her entire foot, and team doctor
Larry Nassar Lawrence "Larry" Gerard Nassar (born August 16, 1963) is an American former physician and convicted child rapist. For 18 years, he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team. He used his employment as th ...
lied to the coach about it. Nassar was later convicted of sexual assault after hundreds of women, including Maroney, accused him of sexual abuse. She helped the American team qualify in first place, and individually qualified in first place to the vault final with a score of 15.800. Along with
Jordyn Wieber Jordyn Marie Wieber (born July 12, 1995) is an American former artistic gymnast turned gymnastics coach. Since April 2019, she has been the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team. Wieber was a member of the gold medal-winning ...
, she is credited for changing the team's nickname from the "Fab Five" to the "
Fierce Five The Fierce Five was the artistic gymnastics team that won the second team gold medal for the United States, and the first gold medal on international soil, in the women's team competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Originally referred ...
". While on the bus to a training session, they decided to change the name because the "Fab Five" was in use by a basketball team associated with the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
as well as associated with the musical group
Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...
. They searched for words starting with the letter 'F' to describe the team. The top choices were feisty and fierce. Maroney and Wieber opted for "fierce". They said it described their floor routines, and the rest of the team concurred. In the team final, she contributed a vault score of 16.233 toward the American team's first-place finish, the highest score in the competition in any event. She also scored an execution average of 9.733, the highest execution score at an Olympics or world championship under the new scoring system for women's gymnastics. About the rest of the team final, Maroney said, "I just wanted them to do so well and I'm just so proud of them. I was screaming and yelling. That last event on floor was really exhilarating, but amazing at the same time. I don't think I will ever, ever forget that." In the vault final, Maroney won a silver medal with a score of 15.083. She performed an
Amanar Yurchenko, also known as round-off entry vaults, are a family of vaults performed in artistic gymnastics in which the gymnast does a round-off onto the springboard and a back handspring onto the horse or vaulting table. The gymnast then perform ...
for her first vault, but fell on her second. This fall ended her 33-vault hitting streak in competition. With the fall, Maroney came in second. She said, "I didn't get my full block, my hands didn't really touch the vault. I still walked out with a silver medal and I'm happy about that. I'll have to watch the video and figure out what happened. It's really sad I had to fall on that vault but I'm glad I won a silver medal. I know I can do better vaults but I also know I didn't deserve the gold medal because I fell on my second vault. It happens. It's gymnastics. You can't always be perfect. Sometimes, things don't go as planned."


"McKayla is not impressed"

After winning the silver medal in the vault finals, Maroney was photographed on the medal podium while giving a brief look of disappointment with her lips pursed to the side. The image became an
Internet phenomenon An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
sparked by a
tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...
blog called
McKayla is not impressed
. The image went viral after it was
Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...
ped into various "impressive" places and situations, e.g. on top of the
Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...
and standing next to
Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight- ...
. Maroney stated that she found the
Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
"kinda funny". Maroney later poked fun at the meme on various occasions, including appearances on ''
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'', ''
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'', '' Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars'', ''
Extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...
'', and notably, after she and the rest of the U.S. Gymnastics team met
United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United State ...
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at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
in November 2012. She and President Obama posed for a photo together, both making the same pursed-lips expression. The podium picture made the top spot on
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's list of "Most Viral Photos" of 2012. Maroney starred in a 2021
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commercial playing-off her "not impressed" pose.


Post-Olympics

In September 2012, Maroney was injured during an uneven bars dismount while performing at the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions in Ontario, California. An
MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...
revealed that she had fractured the
tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...
in her left leg. The injury occurred shortly before teammate
Aly Raisman Alexandra Rose Raisman (born May 25, 1994) is a retired American artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian. She was captain of both the 2012 " Fierce Five" and 2016 " Final Five" U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics teams, which won their respective te ...
injured herself performing on the same bars. On September 13, 2012, Maroney had two screws inserted to repair the fractured left tibia. She wore an immobilizer to keep the leg straight until doctors determined that she was ready to resume limited walking and rebuilding range of motion. Maroney returned to The Kellogg's Tour on October 4, 2012, in Oklahoma City on light duty. She was seen during the finale wearing her leg and foot splints and also at the VIP Meet and Greet session after the event. On January 12, 2013, Maroney served as one of the judges for the
Miss America pageant Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...
. She participated in the
Thirty Seconds to Mars Thirty Seconds to Mars (commonly stylized as 30 Seconds to Mars) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1998. The band consists of brothers Jared Leto (lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Shannon Leto (drums, pe ...
music video " Up in the Air". In 2013, Maroney signed a sponsorship agreement with Adidas Gymnastics.


2013

In July 2013, Maroney made her return to gymnastics at the 2013
Secret U.S. Classic The U.S. Classic is an annual summer gymnastics meet for elite artistic gymnasts of the United States. The meet occurs before Nationals and is a qualifier for it. In Olympic years, the aforementioned meets along with the U.S. Olympic Trials are u ...
, where she placed first on vault with a score of 15.425 (15.600 + 15.250) and third on floor with a score of 14.350, posting the highest execution score on that apparatus. This was her first event since the 2012 London Olympics. In an interview after she finished, Maroney said she hoped to upgrade both her vaults by the 2016 Olympics, as well as her tumbling on floor. At the P&G Championships in August, Maroney competed on vault and floor exercise. She won gold medals in both events. On September 15, Maroney was one of four gymnasts named to the United States team for the
2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Antwerp, Belgium, from 30 September to 6 October 2013 at Antwerp's Sports Palace. Kōhei Uchimura won the men's all-around gold medal and finished the competition with four total med ...
in Antwerp, Belgium. She was originally put on the team to compete on only two events—vault and floor, her strongest ones—but was later named to compete as an all-around gymnast alongside
Simone Biles Simone Arianne Biles (; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most de ...
and
Kyla Ross Kyla Briana Ross (born October 24, 1996) is a retired American artistic gymnast and current assistant coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team. She is the first female gymnast to win NCAA, World, and Olympic championship titles. Ross w ...
after performing extremely well during podium trainings. Teammate
Brenna Dowell Brenna Dowell (born March 4, 1996) is a former American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. A prevalent gymnast on the National scene throughout the 2010s, D ...
was named as an alternate instead, as there could only be three gymnasts competing on each event. She scored a total all-around score of 57.149, placing 6th overall, but due to the two-per-country rule, she could not compete in the all-around final or the floor final (14.333), or qualify as third reserve to the uneven bars final (14.3). On floor, Maroney would have qualified over teammate Kyla Ross but due to her music being over time by one second she incurred a 0.1 deduction, putting her in the 6th place with same score as Ross. Due to Maroney having lower execution, albeit having higher difficulty, Ross progressed to the final. In the vault final, she successfully defended her title, winning the gold medal with a score of 15.724. It was the last competitive routine of Maroney's career. She was the first American woman to ever defend a world title on vault.


2014–16: Injuries and retirement

In March 2014, Maroney underwent surgery on her knee. Maroney was featured on the cover of the April issue of ''Inside Gymnastics''. In ''
International Gymnast Magazine ''International Gymnast Magazine'', often shortened to ''IG'', is an American sports magazine about gymnastics and the first gymnastics publication. The editor of the magazine is Paul Ziert, former Oklahoma Sooners gymnastics coach. Ziert's Okla ...
'', she said that she wanted to upgrade both of her vaults. On August 31, 2014,
underage In law, a minor is someone under a certain age, usually the age of majority, which demarcates an underage individual from legal adulthood. The age of majority depends upon jurisdiction and application, but it is commonly 18. ''Minor'' may also ...
nude images of Maroney were published as part of the 2014 celebrity photo leaks. In March 2015, Maroney claimed in a
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
video that she struggled with
adrenal fatigue Adrenal fatigue or hypoadrenia is a pseudo-scientific term used by alternative medicine providers to suggest that the adrenal glands are exhausted and unable to produce adequate quantities of hormones, primarily cortisol, due to chronic stress o ...
following the 2013 World Championships. On February 24, 2016, popular gymnastics podcast GymCastic released a candid 49-minute-long interview with Maroney regarding her health issues preceding and following the 2012 Olympic Games. In the interview, she announced her retirement from competitive gymnastics—this came two days after fellow
Fierce Five The Fierce Five was the artistic gymnastics team that won the second team gold medal for the United States, and the first gold medal on international soil, in the women's team competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Originally referred ...
teammate
Kyla Ross Kyla Briana Ross (born October 24, 1996) is a retired American artistic gymnast and current assistant coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team. She is the first female gymnast to win NCAA, World, and Olympic championship titles. Ross w ...
' retirement.


Post-gymnastics career

In the summer of 2016, Maroney announced that she would be making a singing debut with a single named "Ghost".


2017–2019: Larry Nassar sexual abuse case

On October 18, 2017, Maroney alleged that the
USA Gymnastics United States of America Gymnastics (USA Gymnastics or USAG) is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Established in 1963 as the U.S. Gymnastics Federation (USGF), USA Gymnastics is responsible for selecting and traini ...
team physician
Larry Nassar Lawrence "Larry" Gerard Nassar (born August 16, 1963) is an American former physician and convicted child rapist. For 18 years, he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team. He used his employment as th ...
had repeatedly molested her, starting when she was 13 years old, until her retirement from the sport in 2016. She made the allegation on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
under the #MeToo
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. Nassar had been arrested in November 2016 and accused of sexually assaulting female minors throughout his career. In December 2017, Maroney filed a suit against Nassar,
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
, the
United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...
and
USA Gymnastics United States of America Gymnastics (USA Gymnastics or USAG) is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Established in 1963 as the U.S. Gymnastics Federation (USGF), USA Gymnastics is responsible for selecting and traini ...
accusing the latter two of covering up the sexual abuse by asking Maroney to sign a $1.25 million confidentiality agreement. Maroney agreed and accepted the money. During Nassar's sentencing hearing, USA Gymnastics waived the agreement, at least temporarily, to allow Maroney to make a victim's statement in court against Nassar, who is now serving a 40-to-175-year prison sentence. On May 16, 2018, it was announced that Maroney and the other victims would be awarded the
Arthur Ashe Courage Award The Arthur Ashe Courage Award (sometimes called the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage or Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award) is presented as part of the ESPY Awards. It is named for the American tennis player Arthur Ashe. Although it is a s ...
.


2020: Music

On March 7, 2020, Maroney released her first official single "Wake Up Call", and released her second single "Covid Lockdown" a few weeks later.


Competitive history


Acting career

Maroney made her acting debut in the CW television series ''
Hart of Dixie ''Hart of Dixie'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The CW from September 26, 2011, to March 27, 2015. The series, created by Leila Gerstein, stars Rachel Bilson as Dr. Zoe Hart, a New Yorker who, after her dreams of b ...
'' on November 20, 2012. She played Tonya, a friend of Rose in the episode "Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me". That appearance turned into a recurring role, with Maroney appearing in six episodes of the series. In December 2013, Maroney appeared on an episode of the Fox TV show ''
Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...
'' called "The Spark in the Park" (season 9), as a gymnast named Ellie who is a suspect in the murder of a fellow gymnast. On August 19, 2016, Maroney appeared in season 2 episode 1 of the NBC TV show '' Superstore'' called "The Olympics" as herself in a number of candid appearances alongside fellow Olympians
Tara Lipinski Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American former competitive figure skater, actress, sports commentator and documentary film producer. A former competitor in women's singles, she is the 1998 Olympic champion, the 1997 World ...
and
Apolo Ohno Apolo Anton Ohno (; born May 22, 1982) is an American retired short track speed skating competitor and an eight-time medalist (two gold, two silver, four bronze) in the Winter Olympics. Ohno is the most decorated American at the Winter Olympics ...
. Maroney appeared in several
GEICO The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO ) is a private American auto insurance company with headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It is the second largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly owne ...
television commercials in 2021.


Discography


Singles

*"Wake Up Call" (2020) *"Covid Lockdown" (2020)


Filmography


Television


See also

*
Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics Three gymnastics disciplines were contested at the 2012 Olympic Games in London: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampolining. The trampoline events were held at the North Greenwich Arena (normally called The O2 Arena) from 3 to 4 ...
*
United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics The United States of America, represented by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from July 27 to August 12, 2012. U.S. athletes have competed at every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, ...


References


External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maroney, McKayla 1995 births 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American singers American female artistic gymnasts American people of Irish descent American television actresses Catholics from California Gymnasts at the 2012 Summer Olympics Internet memes introduced in 2012 Living people Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Olympic gold medalists for the United States in gymnastics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in gymnastics People from Laguna Niguel, California Sportspeople from Aliso Viejo, California Sportspeople from California U.S. women's national team gymnasts World champion gymnasts