\u201cI want to have fun with it,\u201d Ohashi said on a video conference Thursday, less than two weeks after making her return to competitive gymnastics at the American Classic. \u201cI want to see how far I can go with it, and how far I can push myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still only two competitive routines into her comeback, Ohashi said the idea of competing in a home Olympics at the 2028 Los Angeles Games<\/a> is \u201ca beautiful thing to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n She is plotting her own path. The 29-year-old\u2019s first elite meet since 2013 was on June 27, when she tied for third on beam and performed a floor routine with light tumbling passes. She will compete at the U.S. Classic on July 18 with hopes of qualifying for the U.S. championships, which determines the national team roster.<\/p>\n Katelyn Ohashi performs during the \u201cGold Over America Tour\u201d at Crypto.com Arena on Sept. 25, 2021.<\/p>\n (Katharine Lotze \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Competing on only beam and floor, Ohashi needs to reach 26.80 points in her routines to qualify for the national championships. The meet in August would be her first U.S. championship as a senior gymnast. Gymnasts typically make senior debuts at 16 years old. More than a decade older than some of her competitors, Ohashi can\u2019t help but giggle at how circuitous her path has been.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really funny, also,\u201d Ohashi said through laughter, \u201cbecause, like, I\u2019m pretty much a senior citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n The deadline for a female gymnast\u2019s Olympic dreams used to be 16 years old, Ohashi was told. But watching Simone Biles<\/a>, Suni Lee<\/a>, Jade Carey<\/a> and Jordan Chiles<\/a> win team gold at the Paris Olympics<\/a> inspired Ohashi. The team, which also included 16-year-old Hezly Rivera<\/a>, was the oldest U.S. women\u2019s gymnastics team in the Olympics since 1952. Every gymnast who competed in the team final was in her 20s.<\/p>\n In 2024, the then-27-year-old Biles was the oldest U.S. female gymnast to qualify for the Olympics since 1952. When Ohashi recently called her longtime friend about her plan to return to elite gymnastics after a 13-year retirement, Biles \u201cthought I was crazy,\u201d Ohashi said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhich,\u201d Ohashi continued, \u201cmost people, I think, might.\u201d<\/p>\n Ohashi has nothing left to prove. In her first senior international competition at 15, she beat Biles for the 2013 American Cup all-around crown \u2014 the last time Biles lost an all-around title. After injuries derailed her promising elite career and the sport\u2019s abusive culture robbed her of her joy, Ohashi reached superstar status while rediscovering her love of the sport with UCLA. She won a team NCAA title and the floor individual title in 2018. As a senior, her Michael Jackson-inspired routine went viral and drew sold-out crowds to almost all of UCLA\u2019s meets.<\/p>\n Since her final college routine in 2019, Ohashi was loving her retired athlete life. She did speaking appearances, traveled and published a book of her poetry. She enjoyed all the time and freedom she had.<\/p>\n She still missed the gym.<\/p>\n \u201cI have not been able to replicate the feeling or the joy, sensations, adrenaline that gymnastics or competing brings,\u201d Ohashi said. <\/p>\n Staying connected in the sport by participating in Biles\u2019 \u201cGold Over America Tour\u201d in 2021 and 2024, Ohashi would often joke of a comeback. Calculating her age and looking toward an Olympics in the city that helped her fall in love with gymnastics again, Ohashi knew that if the joke was ever going to become real, it had to be soon.<\/p>\n So Ohashi started working with a personal trainer, lifting weights for three hours a day for four days a week. In January, she moved back to her hometown of Seattle, in part to be closer to her family, and started training with Cale Robinson at Pacific Reign Gymnastics in Woodinville, Wash.<\/p>\n Most skills came back seamlessly, even ones she hadn\u2019t executed in competition since she was 16. The first month felt great. Then fatigue started setting in. Ohashi loved that challenge.<\/p>\n Former UCLA star gymnast Katelyn Ohashi performs during the \u201cGold Over America Tour\u201d at Crypto.com Arena on Sept. 25, 2021.<\/p>\n (Katharine Lotze \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Because Ohashi, who suffered a back fracture and injuries to both shoulders during her elite career, can\u2019t do as many reps as she did as a teenager, she makes each one count more now. Between training her upgraded skills, she focuses on conditioning and religiously attends physical therapy sessions.<\/p>\n Still early in her comeback, Ohashi said she\u2019s \u201cphysically getting there.\u201d She is mentally stronger than ever.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are still those hard days, but it\u2019s a lot easier when I know that I\u2019m doing it for me, and me only,\u201d Ohashi said. \u201cAnd only I can push myself on those days.\u201d<\/p>\n Ohashi wants to push past the baseline she set at the American Classic, where her two-event total was 24.65 points. The meet, which was staged in a gym with one set of bleachers and fans sitting on mats, was an intimate warm up for the arena stage Ohashi will take at the U.S. Classic in Hartford, Conn. <\/p>\n Ohashi walked into her first elite meet in 13 years next to Carey, who, at 26, is trying for her third Olympics. Entering the gym, Ohashi giggled that so many of the judges from a decade ago were still there. She recognized so many coaches. She was greeting everyone and waving. Carey looked at her in shock and asked what she was doing.<\/p>\n She was just having fun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The bubbly laugh. The megawatt smile. The queen of joyful gymnastics is back. Seven years after gaining fame…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[217,21772,19611,158192,158194,158196,158195,158197,48,52,51,47,50,49,72935,158191,158193,7496,427,1092,72],"class_list":["post-393289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-day","tag-gym","tag-gymnast","tag-gymnastic","tag-home-olympics","tag-jade-carey","tag-joyful-l-a-olympic-dream","tag-katelyn-ohashi","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-meet","tag-ohashi","tag-simone-biles","tag-sport","tag-team","tag-ucla","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Katelyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783683790_337_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783683791_886_.jpeg\")
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