A 15-year-old Katelyn Ohashi walked into the 2013 American Cup for her senior international debut, facing a 17-year-old Simone Biles. Nothing seemed in her favour at first, but she surprised everyone with a strong routine to win the all-around title with 59.199, leaving Biles in second with 57.666. In that moment, it looked like she was on the path to the Rio Olympics, but back-to-back injuries cut her elite rise short, making 2013 her last major elite gymnastics appearance. Now, 13 years later, she has announced her comeback to the sport she always loved.

On June 24, the 29-year-old announced her comeback through an Instagram post from Pacific Reign Gymnastics. The video showed Ohashi tumbling across the floor in a black leotard and executing perfectly. Even ended the video with a message, “Well, that was hard to keep a secret.”

In the caption, Ohashi opened up about the decision behind her return. “After a few years of contemplating whether I wanted to continue chasing a dream I had as a little kid, I have decided to go for it. I’m taking it one day at a time; one skill, one event, one dream. I don’t have any regrets in my career and I want to be able to continue saying that no matter what happens. So here goes nothing! Thankful for @pacificreign for taking a chance on me!”

With that post, Ohashi officially confirmed her return to training at Pacific Reign Gymnastics. But does that mean she could be targeting the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics? If she were to make it that far, Ohashi would be 31 years old when the Games begin. However, the timing of her comeback has only added to the intrigue. USA Gymnastics is set to reveal the final field for this weekend’s American Classic on June 24. But is she eligible for this?

Well, yes! Under current USA Gymnastics rules, Ohashi does not need to earn a compulsory score to requalify as elite because she previously competed at the elite level. That means she could potentially petition for competitions. Still, questions remain about how realistic a comeback might be after so many years.

Ohashi’s elite career effectively ended shortly after her American Cup victory. Soon after that, she underwent shoulder surgery and continued dealing with injury setbacks. She did not compete during 2014 as she focused on recovery. But then her return to competition came in January 2015 at the Texas Prime Meet as a Level 10 gymnast. Competing on vault, beam and floor, she won titles on vault and beam while skipping uneven bars as her shoulder continued to heal.

Later that year, she committed to UCLA and shifted her focus away from elite gymnastics, which is still remembered by many fans!

The UCLA years helped Katelyn Ohashi find herself again

Katelyn Ohashi’s college career brought both success and setbacks. As a freshman in 2016, she earned four Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors before suffering a fractured sternum after a beam dismount accident. Yet her greatest gymnastics moments were still ahead.

By 2017, she had finished the regular season ranked No. 1 nationally on balance beam and earned the first perfect 10s of her career. One year later, she had a breakthrough season, placing 1st in the nation on floor exercise, winning the NCAA floor title, and leading UCLA to an NCAA team title, and was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Year.

In 2019, a perfect 10 floor routine at the Collegiate Challenge made her one of the most famous athletes in college sports. But behind the smiles and celebration was a story she had kept hidden for years. Soon after her viral success, Ohashi revealed that she had endured body shaming throughout much of her gymnastics career.

She said she was told, “I was told I didn’t look like a gymnast. I was told I looked like I’d swallowed an elephant, or looked like a pig.” The criticism affected her relationship with food. Ohashi later revealed that she and other gymnasts compared calorie intake and measured their legs because they were terrified of gaining weight. For years, she struggled to separate her self-worth from her appearance, and then that floor routine brought her confidence back.

And then she graduated from UCLA later that year; it appeared her competitive career had come to an end. For the next several years, Ohashi remained away from competition, until now!