4 Facts About Gymnast MyKayla Skinner After She Replaced Simone Biles and Won Silver!

Simone Biles is officially out of two more gaming events; vault and uneven bars, at the Olympics, and her replacement was announced in the early hours of July 30, 2021. At the beginning of the Olympic competition, Biles revealed that she could no longer compete, and asked for a withdrawal.

Further tests carried out on her concluded that the athlete was not in the right mental state to compete. Several months ago, Biles disclosed her intent to retire after the 2020 Olympic games, as she wanted to focus on other aspects of her life. However, when the pandemic hit, the competition was moved to 2021.

Now that Biles is out of the competition, all attention turned to her replacement, MyKayla Skinner, who is also an incredible gymnast. Under the most intense pressure, MyKayla was able to put on an incredible performance and ended up winning a silver medal in vault!

The 2021 Olympic game taking place in Tokyo, is the first-ever Olympics that Skinner has been called on to compete in. The 24-year-old has been a gymnast since 2000, however, she was never called on to compete for any Olympics.

But that did not keep her from working towards this goal, as she continued to work hard to earn her place as an Olympian gymnast.

Although Skinner is an incredible vault and uneven bars gymnast, she noted that her favorite event is floor, as she gets to express herself in ways that she does not on a usual day. Outside athletics, Skinner also has a number of favorite things that she likes to do, to pass time. From movies, to jewelry beading, and her favorite dish, which is Mexican food.

Some people may have only recently heard about Skinner at the 2020 Olympics, but the young athlete was also present for the 2016 Olympics. In the trials, she ranked the best score in fourth place, and was recorded as an alternate.

Although she was present at the Olympics, she was not called on to fill in for anyone because none of the girls had any injuries, or needed to go home. The ladies who competed at the 2016 Olympic games include Biles, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Gabby Douglas.

While 2016 may not have been her year, Skinner put in extra work in the following years and made sure to earn her place at the Olympics. Now that Biles pulled out of the game, the US coach ultimately turned to the next best athlete to flawlessly handle the vault and uneven bars, and that responsibility fell on Skinner.

While Skinner may not have been as popular as Biles since she became a gymnast, she has received several accolades, including becoming a decorated medalist.

The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics is the first time this athlete is personally competing to win a gold medal, however, she was part of a 2014 World Championships team that won a gold medal. Also, she won a bronze medal for her beautiful vault routine in the same competition.

At the 2014 Pan American Championships, she contributed to her team winning four gold medals, and in the same year, the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships went home with two gold medals thanks to all the team members including Skinner.

MyKayla Skinner got married to a YouTuber known as Jonas Harmer in 2019. The gymnast always gushes about her husband, and how supports her career.

She shared a photo of them spending the day on a lake, a day before the Olympics in Tokyo began, and captioned it; "Lake days with you are my fav."

Although Skinner and Harmer have been married for almost two years, the duo have not publicly discussed plans for children. However, Skinner, who is still trying to earn a communications degree at the University of Utah, revealed that she would retire as a gymnast after the Tokyo Olympics.

She opened up about this decision via her Instagram page, saying that there are other professional things she wants to try out.