Laurie Hernandez Shares Post-Olympics Journey With Partner Charlotte Drury

Laurie Hernandez, 24, is ready to start the next chapter with her partner, Charlotte Drury.

Following her gold medal win as part of the U.S. women's gymnastics team at the 2016 Olympics, she became a positive role model for young athletes.

After the 2020 Olympics, Laurie Hernandez eased out of sports and has taken up a new interest in the arts, enrolling in New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Laurie Hernandez rose to fame as part of the U.S. women's gymnastics team, often referred to as the "Final Five." Following the 2020 Olympics, Hernandez and her partner, Charlotte Drury, both retired from sports and are now ready to focus on their life together.

“Both of us kind of eased out of sports [after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics]. We moved to New York and then got into the arts,” the Olympian told Us Weekly. “It’s just nice for us to have the chance to explore what else outside of sports we might be into and test out all these different waters.”

In 2022, Hernandez began studying drama at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, while Drury completed her studies at the International Center of Photography in May 2023.

“Photographing gives me the chance to make my subjects feel just as special as I did when I had my picture taken,” Drury explained, per the outlet. “It’s also an amazing way for me to invite my past into this new future I’m building. It’s nice that even though I’m retired, those skills I honed over the years as an athlete are still serving me.”

Now that the 24-year-old has completed her time in the sports world, she is now interested in acting. Laurie Hernandez has already appeared on the screen, having won season 23 of "Dancing With the Stars" in 2016 and securing voice acting roles on series like "Blue’s Clues & You!" and "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder."

“I love being able to act and work with scene partners,” Hernandez told US. “It’s a very different style of art than live performance theater or gymnastics, but still in that similar breath where the pressure’s on, it’s live, people are watching, but you’re also working for something and you get to show the fruits of that labor at some point.”

While she won't compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Laurie Hernandez will travel to the big sporting event as an NBC Correspondent for women’s gymnastics.

Ahead of her big gig, she spoke to PEOPLE Magazine, revealing which make-up essentials she will bring.

"[Skin care] wasn't something that I could quite figure out while I was competing, because I would get super stressed out during meet season," she told the outlet. "All the sweat and chalk would just sit on my face, and I couldn't quite figure out what my skin tone was like. Now, though, I use vitamin C, hyaluronic acid and a good cleanser. Those are all coming with me!"

As the 2024 Paris Olympics approach, many, including Laurie Hernandez, cannot wait to see what Simone Biles brings to this year's competition.

"Simone [Biles] is a big name that will always keep popping up," she told PEOPLE Magazine. "She's just a surefire for Team USA [in Paris], to know that she's going to go out there and be consistent. Her difficulty is so high, and she really is one of the best. You can count on her. You know you're going to watch greatness when her name pops up."

If Biles returns to the Olympics, it will mark her first time since pulling out of 2020's competition due to the "twisties" and her mental health struggles. "It took a lot mentally and physically to just trust my gymnastics again and, most importantly, trust myself," Biles said on returning to the sport, per PEOPLE. "I think that was the hardest part after Tokyo is I didn't trust myself to do gymnastics."

The 2024 Paris Olympics kick off on Friday, July 26, 2024.