Laurie Hernandez
Lauren Zoe Hernandez (born June 9, 2000)[2] is an American retired artistic gymnast. During her debut year as a senior gymnast, she competed as a member of the U.S. women's gymnastics team dubbed the "Final Five" at the 2016 Summer Olympics that won the team gold medal. Individually, Hernandez earned the silver medal on the balance beam. She returned to training in late 2018 and expressed interest in making a comeback to earn a spot on the U.S. women's gymnastic team for the 2020 Summer Olympics, but she did not qualify for the Olympic Gymnastics Trials.
Laurie Hernandez
Lauren Zoe Hernandez
Laurie, Lo
June 9, 2000
New Brunswick, New Jersey
5 ft 1 in (155 cm)[1]
Senior International Elite
2012–16 (USA)
Gym-Max Gymnastics (2018-2021), MG Elite (former)
Jenny Liang
2021
Outside of gymnastics, Hernandez has appeared on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars in 2016, where she won the competition along with partner Val Chmerkovskiy. Hernandez hosted the first season of American Ninja Warrior Junior as the on-course reporter and starred as Valeria in the Nickelodeon animated miniseries Middle School Moguls. She is the author of two books, I Got This: To Gold and Beyond, a New York Times Bestseller and She's Got This, a children's book.
Personal life[edit]
Hernandez was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the daughter of Wanda and Anthony Hernandez, both from Puerto Rico. She has a sister, Jelysa, and a brother, Marcus.[3] She took ballet lessons when she was four, but she asked her parents to switch to gymnastics when she was five.[4] She was homeschooled through the Abeka Academy distance-learning program.[3] She has been dating fellow gymnast Charlotte Drury since December 2020.[5] Since 2023, Hernandez attends New York University Tisch School of the Arts.[6]
Junior gymnastics career[edit]
2012–13[edit]
Hernandez's elite career started in 2012 at the National Qualifier held at the Karolyi Ranch. She won the bronze medal in the all-around behind Veronica Hults and Maggie Nichols, and her scores qualified her for domestic elite competitions.[7] Later that week at the American Classic, she finished eighth in the junior all-around.[8] She then competed at the U.S. Classic, where she placed 11th in the junior division.[9] Through the Classic, she qualified for the U.S. Championships in St. Louis, where she placed 21st after two days of competition.[10]
Hernandez's first meet of the 2013 season was the WOGA Classic, won the silver medal in the all-around behind Meredith Sylvia.[11] In June, she competed at the American Classic in Huntsville, Texas. There, she placed first on floor exercise, second in the all-around behind Ariana Agrapides, and third on balance beam and vault.[12] Following a national training camp, in July 2013, she was added to the U.S. junior national team.[13] She then went to Chicago for the U.S. Classic, where she placed sixth all-around and won the floor exercise title.[14] At the National Championships in August, she won the silver medal in the junior all-around competition with a total score of 116.650, behind Bailie Key. She also placed second on uneven bars and floor exercise, and tied for third on beam with Alexis Vasquez.[15]
In September 2013, Hernandez was selected to represent the U.S. at the Junior Japan International in Yokohama. She scored 56.750 to win the bronze medal in the all-around.[16] She also took third on vault, fourth on floor exercise, and sixth on balance beam.[17] In November, she competed at the International Junior Mexican Cup in Acapulco alongside Bailie Key, Veronica Hults, and Emily Gaskins, and they won the team gold medal. Individually, Hernandez won the silver medal in the all-around behind Key.[18]
2014–15[edit]
In early 2014, Hernandez fractured her wrist when she slipped off the beam in a training session. Later that year, she dislocated her kneecap and tore her patellar tendon.[19][20] She resumed training in the fall and attended the final U.S. training camp of the year in November.[21]
Hernandez was named to the U.S. team for the 2015 City of Jesolo Trophy, where she was crowned junior all-around champion with a score of 57.650, ahead of teammates Norah Flatley and Jazmyn Foberg.[22] In the junior-division event finals, she earned additional gold medals on the uneven bars and the floor exercise.[23] At the U.S. Classic in July, she won the junior all-around title with a score of 58.450, as well as winning vault and uneven bars. She placed third on the balance beam and floor exercise.[24] At the U.S. Championships, she had a score of 57.900 on the first day of competition and 59.550 on the second day, winning the junior all-around title over defending champion Foberg. She also won the title on the uneven bars, a silver medal on the floor exercise, and bronze medals on the balance beam and vault.[25] She was then selected to compete at the 2015 International Junior Japan Meet in Yokohama, where she won the all-around, floor exercise, and vault and won silver medals on balance beam and uneven bars.[26]
Senior gymnastics career[edit]
2016[edit]
Hernandez made her senior debut in 2016 at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Jesolo, Italy, where the U.S. team won the gold medal. Hernandez won the bronze medal in the all-around with a score of 58.550, behind two U.S. teammates, fellow first-year senior Ragan Smith and Gabby Douglas, the 2012 Olympic all-around champion.[27] She also earned a silver medal on the vault behind MyKayla Skinner and a gold medal on the balance beam, ahead of Smith and 2012 Olympian Aly Raisman.[28]
In April, Hernandez competed at the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships in Everett, Washington along with Raisman, Smith, three-time world all-around champion Simone Biles, and 2015 World Championships team member Brenna Dowell. She contributed an all-around score of 59.800 toward the American team's first-place finish and placed third individually behind Biles and Raisman, but did not earn the all-around bronze medal because of a rule limiting medals to two gymnasts per country (Japan's Nagi Kajita took bronze instead).[29][30] Hernandez also qualified for the balance beam final, but USA Gymnastics announced that she and Biles would not compete in event finals in order to rest them before the Olympics.[31]
In June, Hernandez competed at the U.S. Classic on the uneven bars only, scoring 15.400 and placing fourth.[32] Later that month, she competed on all four events at the U.S. Championships. At the end of night one, she was tied for second place in the all-around with Raisman, behind Biles, with a score of 60.450.[33] She finished the two-day competition in third all-around, behind Biles and Raisman.[34] She placed third on uneven bars and balance beam and tied for third on floor exercise with MyKayla Skinner.[35]
At the Olympic Trials in early July, Hernandez placed second in the all-around, behind Biles.[36] She was named to the Olympic team alongside Biles, Douglas, Raisman, and Madison Kocian.[37] Hernandez had previously committed to the University of Florida to compete on the Florida Gators gymnastics team in the NCAA. However, she decided to forgo NCAA eligibility and become a professional athlete on August 3, 2016, in the lead-up to the Olympic Games.[38][39]
Television roles and media appearances[edit]
Dancing with the Stars[edit]
Hernandez was revealed as one of the celebrities competing on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars on August 30, 2016. She was partnered with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy.[69] The couple won the Mirrorball Trophy on the episode that aired November 22, 2016.[70] At 16, Hernandez is the show's youngest winner.[71][72]
In November 2017, Hernandez returned to the 25th season in week eight, to participate in a trio jive with Victoria Arlen and her professional partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy.[73]