“Been Wayyy Too Long”: Olympic Medalist MyKayla Skinner Returns to Gym After First Born’s Birth

MyKayla Skinner made headlines with her vault performance that earned her a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, following Simone Biles’ sudden exit. The achievement put her in the spotlight only one year after she got married to Jonas Harmer. As the gymnastics world applauded her success, MyKayla took a somber moment to proclaim, “This is closing the book on my gymnastics career,” indicating the beginning of a new chapter.

Fast forward, Skinner welcomed her first child on September 21 of last year. Skinner returned to the gym just three months after overcoming the hurdles of a “super rough” pregnancy. And continues to inspire people across the world with the normalization of the post-motherhood journey.

MyKayla Skinner’s inspiring postpartum journey

Taking control of her health, the former elite gymnast has shown significant progress in earlier updates by her coach. She meticulously developed her training plan with the help of post-natal fitness specialist and nutritionist Cassidy Lance McWherter. In her recent Instagram re-post story from @courtney and @burnbootcamphighlandut, Skinner shared another peak into her rigorous workout session. She captioned it, “Love working out again! It’s been wayyy too long.”

Skinner continued her weights routine while both gym girls were seen engaging in quick cardio drills. Crunches, ball toss on a high wall, triceps dips, shoulder touches, cycling and other high-intensity cardio exercises were among her other workouts last year.

Previously, Skinner shared a blog post opening up about the difficulties she had during the delivery of her daughter, Charlotte. She also discussed about the unexpected decisions during delivery including opting for a vacuum unplanned.

Despite her struggles, the Olympian emphasized on the individuality of each baby and a disorder that affects her daughter. The Tokyo Olympics standout not only showed her supporters the route back to the gym but also updated about her pregnancy struggles.

Becoming a mother—a narrative by Olympian

In exclusive maternity images shared with PEOPLE, MyKayla reflects on the joyous sacrifices of her difficult pregnancy. Skinner, who was excited to welcome her first baby into the family, admitted to the unexpected hardship of her pregnancy, saying, “Sometimes I feel like pregnancy is harder than being an Olympian.”

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Skinner also reflected on her desire to become a mother after retiring from professional gymnastics during the Tokyo Olympics and shared that the journey was more stressful than she had imagined. However, it all resulted in a surprise pregnancy announcement in a shoebox for her husband! Happiness found its way to the Skinners and Harmers who now share their beautiful journey on social media with their fans.

Watch this story From Olympic Gymnast to Feeding Baby: The Life of a Coveted Gymnastics Champion as Mother