McKayla Maroney facts for kids

Quick facts for kids McKayla Maroney
Maroney in 2012
Personal information
Born	(1995-12-09) December 9, 1995 (age 29) Aliso Viejo, California, U.S.
Residence	Newport Beach, California, U.S.
Height	5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Years on national team	2010–14 (USA)
Gym	All Olympia Gymnastics Center (AOGC)
Head coach(es)	Artur Akopyan
Assistant coach(es)	Galina Marinova
Former coach(es)	Jenny Zhang, Howie Liang
Choreographer	Geza Pozsar (2011)
Music	"Those Were The Days"/"Dorogoi dlinnoyu" (2011) "Yemmoo" by Samvel Yervinyan (2012)
Retired	February 24, 2016
Medal record Representing  United States Olympic Games Gold 2012 London Team Silver 2012 London Vault World Championships Gold 2011 Tokyo Team Gold 2011 Tokyo Vault Gold 2013 Antwerp Vault Pan American Championships Gold 2010 Guadalajara Team Gold 2010 Guadalajara Vault Gold 2010 Guadalajara Floor exercise

McKayla Rose Maroney (born December 9, 1995) is an American former gymnast. She was part of the American women's gymnastics team called the Fierce Five. This team won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. McKayla also won an individual silver medal in the vault event.

Maroney was also on the gold-winning American team at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. There, she won gold medals for the team and in the vault competition. She won the vault gold medal again at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. This made her the first U.S. female gymnast to win the World Championship vault title twice in a row.

After winning silver at the 2012 Olympics, a photo of her with a "not impressed" look became very famous online. She stopped competing in gymnastics in 2016.

Early Life and Gymnastics Start

McKayla Rose Maroney was born in Aliso Viejo, California, on December 9, 1995. Her parents were Erin and Mike Maroney. Her dad played football at Purdue University. Her mom was involved in figure skating and high school sports. McKayla has two siblings, Tarynn and Kav. She was homeschooled so she could train as a top gymnast.

McKayla said she started gymnastics at age two. She felt very comfortable in the gym. When she was nine, she began training at Gym-Max in Costa Mesa, California. In 2012, she decided she wanted to go to the Olympics. She moved to a new gym to help her reach that goal.

She remembered watching Carly Patterson compete in the 2004 Olympics. McKayla went to the Olympic Trials that year with her friend Kyla Ross. She was amazed by the gymnasts and their leotards. She wondered how she would stay small enough for gymnastics.

Junior Gymnastics Career

2009 Competitions

In August 2009, McKayla competed at the Visa Championships in Dallas, Texas. She finished twenty-seventh in the all-around competition. She placed third in the vault final. This was her first time doing a difficult vault called the Amanar in a competition. She was only thirteen years old.

2010 Competitions

In July 2010, Maroney competed at the CoverGirl Classic in Chicago. She placed seventh in the all-around.

In August, she competed at the Visa Championships in Hartford, Connecticut. She finished third in the all-around. She won first place on vault. She also placed seventh on balance beam and fourth on floor exercise.

In September, Maroney went to the Pan American Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. She helped the American team win first place. She also won first place individually on vault and floor exercise.

Senior Gymnastics Career

2011 Season Highlights

In March 2011, Maroney competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy. She won the all-around competition.

In August, she competed at the Visa Championships in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She placed second in the all-around. She won first place on vault. She also placed seventh on balance beam and fifth on floor exercise.

In October, Maroney competed at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. She helped the American team win first place. Maroney also won the vault final. She said she felt confident in herself and her team. She gained more experience with each competition.

Early 2012 Preparations

Maroney at the 2012 Secret U.S. Classic

McKayla improved her second vault. Her first vault was still the Amanar.

In March, she competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy again. She placed fourth in the all-around.

In May, Maroney competed at the Secret U.S. Classic in Chicago. She won first place on vault.

In June, Maroney competed at the Visa Championships in St. Louis, Missouri. On the second day, she fell during warmups on floor. She was diagnosed with a minor concussion and a broken nose. She took a week off from training. She was still able to compete at the Olympic Trials.

At the beginning of July, Maroney competed at the Olympic Trials in San Jose, California. She knew vault was important for her to make the Olympic team. She placed seventh in the all-around. In the event finals, she won first place on vault. After this, Maroney was chosen for the team going to the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was very happy to be on the team with her best friends. She felt confident she could win the gold medal on vault if she did her best.

Maroney was on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the rest of the USA Women's Olympic Gymnastics team. This was the first time an entire Olympic gymnastics team was on the cover.

London Olympics Experience

In July 2012, Maroney competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She had a bone break in her right foot, but she still competed on vault. She said she tried to ignore the pain because she worked so hard to be there.

McKayla and Jordyn Wieber helped change the team's nickname from "Fab Five" to the "Fierce Five". They wanted a new name because "Fab Five" was already used by a basketball team. They chose "fierce" because it described their floor routines. The rest of the team agreed.

In the team final, McKayla scored 16.233 on vault. This was the highest score in any event in the competition. She also had a very high execution score. The American team won first place. McKayla was very proud of her teammates.

In the vault final, Maroney won a silver medal. She performed an Amanar for her first vault. But she fell on her second vault. This fall ended her streak of 33 successful vaults in competitions. She said she was sad she fell but happy to win a silver medal. She knew she didn't deserve gold because of the fall.

"McKayla is Not Impressed" Meme

US president Barack Obama mimics Maroney's "not impressed" look in the Oval Office (November 2012).

After winning the silver medal, a photo of McKayla on the podium became famous. She had a disappointed look with her lips pursed. This image became an Internet meme called "McKayla is not impressed." People used Photoshop to put her image in many different places.

McKayla found the meme "kinda funny." She later joked about it herself. She even met President Barack Obama at the White House in November 2012. They posed for a photo together, both making the "not impressed" face. The podium picture was named one of the "Most Viral Photos" of 2012 by Yahoo. In 2021, Maroney appeared in a Geico commercial, playing on her famous pose.

Post-Olympics Life

In September 2012, Maroney was injured during a gymnastics tour. She fractured her left leg. She had surgery to fix it. She returned to the tour later, but on light duty.

In January 2013, Maroney was a judge for the Miss America pageant.

She also appeared in the music video for "Up in the Air" by Thirty Seconds to Mars. In 2013, she signed a sponsorship deal with Adidas Gymnastics.

2013 Comeback and World Title

In July 2013, Maroney returned to gymnastics at the Secret U.S. Classic. She won first place on vault and third on floor. This was her first event since the 2012 Olympics.

At the P&G Championships in August, Maroney competed on vault and floor. She won gold medals in both events.

In September, Maroney was chosen for the United States team for the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She was meant to compete only on vault and floor. But she did so well in training that she was allowed to compete in the all-around. She finished sixth in the all-around. In the vault final, she successfully won the gold medal again. This was the last competitive routine of her career. She was the first American woman to win a world title on vault twice in a row.

2014–2016: Injuries and Retirement

In March 2014, Maroney had surgery on her knee. She was on the cover of Inside Gymnastics magazine. She said she wanted to improve her vaults even more.

In March 2015, Maroney said in a YouTube video that she had been struggling with health issues after the 2013 World Championships.

On February 24, 2016, Maroney announced she was retiring from competitive gymnastics. This happened two days after her teammate Kyla Ross also retired.

Post-Gymnastics Career

In the summer of 2016, Maroney announced she would start a singing career. Her first song was called "Ghost."

2020 Music Releases

On March 7, 2020, Maroney released her first official single, "Wake Up Call." A few weeks later, she released her second single, "Covid Lockdown."

Competitive History

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	BB	UB	FX
Junior
2009	Visa Championships
2010	CoverGirl Classic		7				5
	U.S. National Championships				7		4
	Pan American Championships
Senior
2011	City of Jesolo Trophy				5	5	4
	CoverGirl Classic				6		5
	US National Championships				7		5
	Tokyo World Championships
2012	City of Jesolo Trophy		4				6
	U.S. Classic
	U.S. Olympic Trials		7				5
	London Olympic Games
2013	Secret U.S. Classic
	US National Championships
	Antwerp World Championships

Acting Career

Maroney started acting in the CW show Hart of Dixie in November 2012. She played a character named Tonya. She appeared in six episodes of the series.

In December 2013, Maroney was on an episode of the Fox TV show Bones. She played a gymnast named Ellie.

On August 19, 2016, Maroney appeared as herself in an episode of the NBC show Superstore. She was alongside other Olympians like Tara Lipinski.

Maroney also appeared in several GEICO TV commercials in 2021.

Discography

Singles

• "Wake Up Call" (2020)
• "Covid Lockdown" (2020)

Filmography

Television

See also

In Spanish: McKayla Maroney para niños

• Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics