Laurie Hernandez

Lauren Zoe Hernandez (born June 9, 2000) 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" that won the team gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Individually, Hernandez earned the silver medal on the balance beam. She took a break from gymnastics and returned to training in late 2018 to earn a spot on the 2020 Summer Olympics team, but she did not qualify for the Olympic Trials.

Hernandez was first added to the U.S. gymnastics national team in 2013 and began competing in international competitions that same year. After missing the 2014 season due to injury, she won the junior all-around title at the 2015 U.S. Championships. In addition to winning Olympic gold, Hernandez also won team gold medals at the 2016 City of Jesolo Trophy and 2016 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships.

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

Early life

Hernandez was born on June 9, 2000, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and is the daughter of Wanda and Anthony Hernandez. Her grandparents moved from Puerto Rico. She has a sister, Jelysa, and a brother, Marcus. She took ballet lessons when she was four, but she asked her parents to switch to gymnastics when she was five. She was homeschooled through the Abeka Academy distance-learning program.