Laurie Hernandez facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Laurie Hernandez
Hernandez in Phoenix, Arizona, in July 2017
Personal information
Full name	Lauren Zoe Hernandez
Nickname(s)	Laurie, Lo
Country represented	United States
Born	(2000-06-09) June 9, 2000 (age 25) New Brunswick, New Jersey
Height	5 ft 1 in (155 cm)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team	2012–16 (USA)
Club	Gym-Max Gymnastics (2018–2021), MG Elite (former)
Head coach(es)	Jenny Liang
Former coach(es)	Maggie Haney
Retired	June 6, 2021
Medal record Representing the  United States Olympic Games Gold 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team Silver 2016 Rio de Janeiro Balance beam Pacific Rim Championships Gold 2016 Everett Team

Lauren Zoe Hernandez (born June 9, 2000), known as Laurie Hernandez, is an American retired artistic gymnast. She became famous in 2016 when she was part of the U.S. women's gymnastics team, called the "Final Five." This team won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Laurie also won a silver medal on the balance beam at those Olympics.

After the Olympics, Laurie took a break from gymnastics. She returned to training in late 2018, hoping to join the 2020 Summer Olympics team. However, she did not qualify for the Olympic Trials.

Laurie first joined the U.S. gymnastics national team in 2013. She started competing in international events that same year. After missing the 2014 season due to injuries, she won the junior all-around title at the 2015 U.S. Championships. Besides her Olympic gold, Laurie also won team gold medals at the 2016 City of Jesolo Trophy and 2016 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships.

Outside of gymnastics, Laurie has been on TV shows. She won season 23 of Dancing with the Stars in 2016. She also hosted the first season of American Ninja Warrior Junior. Laurie voiced a character named Valeria in the Nickelodeon animated show Middle School Moguls. She has written two books: I Got This: To Gold and Beyond, which was a New York Times Bestseller, and She's Got This, a children's book.

Early Life and Gymnastics Start

Laurie Hernandez was born on June 9, 2000, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Her parents are Wanda and Anthony Hernandez. Her grandparents moved to the U.S. from Puerto Rico. She has an older sister, Jelysa, and an older brother, Marcus.

Laurie started taking ballet lessons when she was four years old. But when she was five, she asked her parents if she could switch to gymnastics. She was homeschooled using the Abeka Academy program.

Junior Gymnastics Career

Starting in 2012 and 2013

In 2012, Laurie competed at the National Qualifier. She won a bronze medal in the all-around. This score helped her qualify for bigger competitions. Later, she placed eighth at the American Classic. She then competed at the U.S. Classic, finishing 11th in the junior division. At the U.S. Championships in St. Louis, she placed 21st.

In 2013, Laurie won a silver medal in the all-around at the WOGA Classic. In June, she competed at the American Classic in Huntsville, Texas. She won first place on floor exercise. She also placed second in the all-around and third on balance beam and vault. In July 2013, she was added to the U.S. junior national team. At the U.S. Classic in Chicago, she placed sixth all-around and won the floor exercise title. In August, at the National Championships, she won the silver medal in the junior all-around. She also placed second on uneven bars and floor exercise, and tied for third on beam.

Laurie was chosen to represent the U.S. at the Junior Japan International in Yokohama in September 2013. She won the bronze medal in the all-around. She also placed third on vault, fourth on floor, and sixth on balance beam. In November, she competed at the International Junior Mexican Cup in Acapulco. Her team won the gold medal. Laurie also won the silver medal in the all-around.

Overcoming Injuries in 2014 and 2015

In early 2014, Laurie broke her wrist when she fell off the beam. Later that year, she dislocated her kneecap and tore a tendon in her knee. She started training again in the fall.

In 2015, Laurie was part of the U.S. team for the 2015 City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy. She won the junior all-around championship. She also won gold medals on the uneven bars and floor exercise. At the U.S. Classic in July, she won the junior all-around title. She also won vault and uneven bars. She placed third on balance beam and floor exercise. At the U.S. Championships, she won the junior all-around title. She also won the uneven bars title, a silver medal on floor, and bronze medals on beam and vault. She then competed at the 2015 International Junior Japan Meet. There, she won the all-around, floor exercise, and vault. She also won silver medals on balance beam and uneven bars.

Senior Gymnastics Career

2016: Olympic Debut

Laurie started her senior career in 2016 at the City of Jesolo Trophy. The U.S. team won the gold medal. Laurie won the bronze medal in the all-around. She also earned a silver medal on the vault and a gold medal on the balance beam.

In April, Laurie competed at the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships. She helped the American team win first place. She placed third individually, but did not get a medal because of a rule that limits medals to two gymnasts per country. Laurie also qualified for the balance beam final. However, she did not compete to rest before the Olympics.

In June, Laurie competed at the U.S. Classic only on uneven bars, placing fourth. Later that month, she competed on all four events at the U.S. Championships. She finished third in the all-around. She also placed third on uneven bars and balance beam, and tied for third on floor exercise.

At the Olympic trials in July, Laurie placed second in the all-around. She was chosen for the Olympic team. Laurie had planned to compete for the University of Florida in college. However, she decided to become a professional athlete on August 3, 2016, before the Olympic Games.

Rio de Janeiro Olympics

Hernandez at the 2016 Summer Olympics

On August 7, Laurie competed in the qualification round at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She performed well on vault, balance beam, and floor exercise. She qualified for the balance beam event final in second place. She had the fourth highest score on floor, but did not advance to the final due to the two-per-country rule. The United States team finished first in qualifications.

Laurie and the rest of the U.S. team, known as the Final Five, won gold in the team final. The American team won every event. Laurie helped the team with strong scores on vault, beam, and floor exercise.

Laurie won a silver medal in the balance beam event final. She placed second, just behind Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands.

Break and Comeback

After the 2016 Olympics, Laurie took a break from gymnastics. She wanted to focus on other opportunities and let her body rest. She appeared on Dancing with the Stars and won. She continued to appear on TV and in media for the next four years.

Laurie returned to gymnastics training in October 2018, after two years away. She switched gymnastics clubs and trained in California. She was invited to a national team training camp in November 2019.

2020 and 2021 Challenges

In January 2020, Laurie said she was preparing for competitions later that year. These included the U.S. Classic, U.S. Championships, and U.S. Olympic Trials. However, many competitions in 2020 were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

In April 2020, Laurie's former coach was suspended by USA Gymnastics for eight years due to abusive conduct. Laurie spoke about her experiences during the hearing.

In February 2021, Laurie returned to elite gymnastics at the 2021 Winter Cup. She competed on two events. She performed a clean beam routine and finished fifth on that event. At the 2021 U.S. Classic, she competed on vault and balance beam, but fell off the beam. In June, Laurie had to withdraw from the 2021 U.S. Championships due to a knee injury during warm-ups. She did not qualify for the Olympic Trials. She later shared that she had a torn meniscus, a bone bruise, and a cyst.

Laurie participated in Simone Biles' Gold Over America Tour in the fall of 2021. She officially retired from competitive gymnastics in 2021.

Television and Media Appearances

Dancing with the Stars

Laurie Hernandez was announced as a contestant on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars on August 30, 2016. She was partnered with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy. The pair won the competition and the Mirrorball Trophy on November 22, 2016. At 16, Laurie was the youngest winner of the show.

In November 2017, Laurie returned to the 25th season for a special trio dance.

Other Television Roles

Laurie was the on-course reporter for the first season of American Ninja Warrior Junior. In 2019, she voiced Valeria in the Nickelodeon animated mini-series Middle School Moguls. Laurie was also featured in the Peacock docuseries Golden: The Journey of USA's Elite Gymnasts. Even though she did not make the 2020 Olympic team, she traveled to Tokyo as a commentator for NBC. She also appeared as herself in an episode of the Disney+ animated series The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder in 2023.

Laurie provided commentary for NBC's live coverage of women's artistic gymnastics at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She was praised for her "enthusiastic, insightful and down-to-earth" commentary. For her work, Laurie won a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Special – Championship Event.

Other Appearances and Books

On November 24, 2016, Laurie appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In 2017, she was a special guest narrator for the Candlelight Processional at Epcot Center in Disney World. She was also a Grand Marshal of the 2020 Rose Parade.

Laurie released her book I Got This: To Gold and Beyond on January 24, 2017. In 2018, she published a children's book called She's Got This.

Honors and Awards

• In 2017, Laurie received a Jefferson Award for Public Service. This was for her "Outstanding National or Global Service by a Young American."
• In June 2019, Laurie was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Personal Life

Laurie Hernandez has been dating fellow gymnast Charlotte Drury since December 2020. She started attending New York University Tisch School of the Arts in 2023.

Competitive History

Competition history for Laurie Hernandez at the junior level

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2012	National Qualifier			13	6
	American Classic		8	10	8		6
	U.S. Classic		11	10	23	7	6
	U.S. Championships		21	19	19	21	17
2013	WOGA Classic			4		4	9
	American Classic				7
	U.S. Classic		6	8	8	16
	U.S. Championships			5
	Japan Junior International					6	4
	Junior Mexican Cup
2015	City of Jesolo Trophy
	U.S. Classic
	U.S. Championships
	Japan Junior International

Competition history for Laurie Hernandez at the senior level

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2016	City of Jesolo Trophy
	Pacific Rim Championships
	U.S. Classic				4
	U.S. Championships
	Olympic Trials			4	7
	Olympic Games
2017	Did not compete
2018
2019
2020
2021	Winter Cup					5	13
	U.S. Classic					22
	U.S. Championships		WD

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Laurie Hernandez para niños

• List of Puerto Ricans
• List of Olympic female artistic gymnasts for the United States