49 Facts About Laurie Hernandez

1.

Laurie Hernandez returned to training in late 2018 and expressed interest in making a comeback to earn a spot on the US women's gymnastic team for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but she did not qualify for the Olympic Gymnastics Trials.

2.

Outside of gymnastics, Laurie Hernandez has appeared on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars in 2016, where she won the competition along with partner Val Chmerkovskiy.

3.

Laurie 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.

4.

Laurie Hernandez 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.

5.

Laurie Hernandez was born in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, the daughter of Wanda and Anthony Laurie Hernandez, both from Puerto Rico.

6.

Laurie Hernandez was homeschooled through the Abeka Academy distance-learning program.

7.

Laurie Hernandez has a sister, Jelysa, and a brother, Marcus, who graduated from Rutgers University-New Brunswick in 2018.

8.

Laurie Hernandez has been dating fellow gymnast Charlotte Drury since December 2020.

9.

Laurie Hernandez's first meet of the 2013 season was the WOGA Classic, won the silver medal in the all-around behind Meredith Sylvia.

10.

Laurie Hernandez then went to Chicago for the US Classic, where she placed sixth all-around and won the floor exercise title.

11.

Laurie Hernandez placed second on uneven bars and floor exercise, and tied for third on beam with Alexis Vasquez.

12.

Laurie Hernandez scored 56.750 to win the bronze medal in the all-around.

13.

Laurie Hernandez took third on vault, fourth on floor exercise, and sixth on balance beam.

14.

Individually, Laurie Hernandez won the silver medal in the all-around behind Key.

15.

Laurie Hernandez returned to competition soon after the injury but then suffered a torn patellar tendon and dislocated kneecap, resulting in six months out of gymnastics.

16.

Laurie Hernandez was named to the US 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.

17.

At the 2015 US Classic in July, Laurie Hernandez won the junior all-around title with a score of 58.450, as well as winning vault and uneven bars.

18.

Laurie Hernandez placed third on balance beam and floor exercise.

19.

Laurie Hernandez won the title on the uneven bars with a combined two-day score of 30.100, silver on the floor exercise, and bronze on balance beam and vault.

20.

Laurie Hernandez 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.

21.

Laurie Hernandez made her senior debut in 2016 at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Jesolo, Italy, where the US team won the gold medal.

22.

Laurie Hernandez won the bronze medal in the all-around with a score of 58.550, behind two US teammates, fellow first-year senior Ragan Smith and Gabby Douglas, the 2012 Olympic all-around champion.

23.

Laurie Hernandez earned a silver medal on vault and a gold medal on balance beam, ahead of Smith and 2012 Olympian Aly Raisman.

24.

Laurie Hernandez 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.

25.

Laurie Hernandez finished the two-day competition in third all-around, behind Biles and Raisman.

26.

Laurie Hernandez placed third on uneven bars and balance beam, and tied for third on floor exercise with MyKayla Skinner.

27.

Laurie Hernandez was named to the Olympic team alongside Biles, Douglas, Raisman and Madison Kocian.

28.

In 2014, Laurie Hernandez committed to the University of Florida to compete on the Florida Gators gymnastics team in the NCAA.

29.

Laurie Hernandez scored a 15.200 on vault, a 15.366 on balance beam, and a 14.800 in floor exercise, qualifying to the balance beam event finals in second place.

30.

Laurie Hernandez posted the fourth highest score on floor, but did not advance to the final due to the two-per-country rule, with teammates Biles and Raisman getting higher scores.

31.

Laurie Hernandez was the first competitor on vault and floor exercise for the United States team.

32.

Laurie Hernandez contributed to the overall score with 15.100 on vault, 15.233 on beam and 14.833 on floor exercise.

33.

Laurie Hernandez placed ahead of teammate Simone Biles, who placed third with a score of 14.733 after making an error and grabbing the beam, and behind Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands, who won gold with a score of 15.466.

34.

Laurie Hernandez continued appearing on television and in the media throughout the next four years, as a show host and voice actor as well as a celebrity guest.

35.

Laurie Hernandez returned to gymnastics training in October 2018, after two years off.

36.

In January 2020, Laurie Hernandez said that she was focusing on meets beginning in late May 2020: the US Classic, USA National Championships, and the US Olympic Trials.

37.

Laurie Hernandez testified against Haney at the USA Gymnastics hearing, and posted a message about her experiences on her social media without naming the coach.

38.

Laurie Hernandez forced Hernandez to train and compete while injured.

39.

In February, Laurie Hernandez made her return to elite gymnastics at the 2021 Winter Cup, competing in two events.

40.

Laurie Hernandez was one of five gymnasts featured on the Peacock docuseries Golden: The Journey of USA's Elite Gymnasts.

41.

Laurie Hernandez had to withdraw from the competition after hyperextending her left knee in balance beam warm-ups.

42.

Laurie Hernandez was not added to the national team, and she did not qualify to compete at the upcoming Olympic Trials.

43.

Laurie Hernandez participated in Simone Biles' Gold Over America Tour in the fall of 2021.

44.

Laurie Hernandez was revealed as one of the celebrities competing on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars on August 30,2016.

45.

In November 2017, Laurie Hernandez returned to the 25th season in week eight, to participate in a trio jive with Victoria Arlen and her professional partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy.

46.

Laurie Hernandez was the on-course reporter for American Ninja Warrior Junior from 2018 to 2021.

47.

Laurie Hernandez is set to guest star as herself with Dominique Dawes and Gabby Douglas in an episode airing in 2023 of the second season of the Disney+ animated series The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, judging a gymnastics competition.

48.

Laurie Hernandez released her book I Got This: To Gold and Beyond on January 24,2017.

49.

In 2018 Laurie Hernandez published a similar children's book for younger readers titled She's Got This, with illustrations by Nina Mata.