Gymnastics - 2024 Core Hydration Classic - Source: Getty

Skye Blakely reacts to her uneven bars training routine amid NCAA debut months after Olympic heartbreak

Modified Apr 02, 2025 03:56 GMT

Skye Blakely reacted to her uneven bars routine at Gators Gymnastics after starting her collegiate career with the University of Florida. Blakely has been out of the elite competitive mat since hurting herself during podium training before the Paris Olympics.

Blakely has been doing gymnastics since 2008 and made her senior debut at the 2021 Winter Cup. She continued her momentum and was part of a couple of podium-winning teams, besides racking up individual wins. She started her 2024 with winning the balance beam gold and all-around silver at the Winter Cup. Following that, she displayed promisingly at the Core Hydration Classic, building up to the US Nationals.

In the latter event, Blakely finished behind Simone Biles on the all-around podium, second on vault and third on the balance beam and uneven bars. She qualified for the Olympic trials but injured her right Achilles tendon, sitting out of the event and missing her Games opportunity for the second time after Tokyo.

After committing to the Florida Gators gymnastics, she debuted at the NCAA level on January 10, 2025, in a quad meet against Michigan State, Nebraska, and Northern Illinois. Cut to April, she posted a story on Instagram, maneuvering on the uneven bars at the Gators gym. She reacted to her stellar routine with smiling emojis.

Blakely displayed on the uneven bars; Instagram - @skyeblakely

Blakely helped Team USA to the sixth and seventh World titles in the 2022 and 2023 editions.

Skye Blakely made her feelings known about returning to the gymnastics mat with the Gators squad

Blakely at the Gymnastics - 2024 Core Hydration Classic - (Source: Getty)

Skye Blakely, 19, was away from her sport for a while but was happy to return in the quad meet against Michigan State, Nebraska, and Northern Illinois. She shared a post on her Instagram, expressing gratitude to her family, coaches, and teammates for helping her reach the stage.

"99 days after rupturing my Achilles, I was able to make my NCAA debut as a Gator! This recovery has had many tears, a lot of hard work, patience, and growing. My parents, teammates, coaches, medical staff, and all of the Gator staff have helped get me to this moment. I’m still on the road to full recovery and only up from here," she wrote.

Skye Blakely competed at the 2022 Pan American Championships, winning silver in the team and bronze in the all-around and floor exercise. She was a member of the bronze-winning squad at the 2019 Junior World Championships.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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