GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Perhaps you watched it live on the SEC Network and wondered about the backstory behind the reaction. Or maybe you saw a segment later on "SportsCenter" that filled in some of the blanks. Who knows, maybe you have been too busy and remain unfamiliar with what transpired last Friday night for Gators senior gymnast
Alyssa Baumann.
Regardless of your familiarity with Baumann's performance in the No. 1-ranked and COVID-depleted Gators' victory over Kentucky, her story is worth more than a passing glimpse. There are moments in the games we love that resonate beyond the final score. Baumann's performance a week ago hit the mark.
She certainly won't forget it.
"This past meet I'd have to say was the best one I've had and the most memorable I've had in college so far, personally,'' Baumann said Thursday as she prepared for practice and tonight's Senior Night versus Auburn at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. "There are other team ones that have been very memorable."
If you are among those who are not always plugged into those viral moments on social media or simply want to relive Baumann's seminal moment with the Gators, first, let's go back to 2016 when Baumann, less than two months after her 18th birthday, prepared for the U.S. Olympic Trials and a potential spot in the Rio Summer Olympics.
At a practice session on the uneven bars, Baumann lost her grip and turned her left elbow and wrist into a wet spaghetti noodle.
"I went into immediate surgery,'' she said.
A member of the 2014 U.S. team that won gold at the World Championships, the injury derailed Baumann's dream of competing in the Olympics with teammates and close friends Simone Biles and Aly Raisman. As the U.S. National Team won gold in Rio and Biles cemented her place as an international star, Baumann embarked on a long journey of physical rehab.
Baumann's injury forced her to navigate the uncertainties cast on her career in a sport with a short shelf life for world-class performers, both physically and mentally.
The thought of returning to the uneven bars became a sore spot for her in more ways than one.
"After I got hurt, I went about two years where I didn't really train bars that much. My elbow just needed to get its strength back and my wrist,'' she said. "For the past three years, it's just kind of been inconsistent training. I would start training bars again and then my arms would start hurting, so I would have to stop. There's also a battle figuring out what routine was going to work with my arms and how they could handle it.
"This year, finally, my arms have felt the best they have ever felt so I've been able to train a little bit more. There's also a part about confidence. I wanted to have a good amount of training under my belt before I went out there again just because it's been so long, and I finally got that."
With that part of Baumann's backstory covered, fast forward to a week ago when the Gators hosted Kentucky short-handed due to health and safety protocols related to the coronavirus pandemic. Head coach
Jenny Rowland was absent as were Baumann's teammates
Trinity Thomas,
Nya Reed,
Sydney Johnson-Scharpf and
Savannah Schoenherr.
About two hours prior to the meet, the Gators available to compete received the revamped lineup. For Baumann, that meant an opportunity to compete on the bars for the first time since the P&G Championships in St. Louis in June 2016, an event held shortly prior to her training injury.
Baumann took a deep breath and instantly turned on her tunnel vision.
"That might have been better since I wasn't stressing the whole night before,'' she said of the late notice. "Some of us were thrown into it and we handled it very well."
In the lineup on bars added another layer to Baumann's eventful night: she competed in all-around for the first time in her UF career. Baumann rose to the occasion better than any gymnast in UF history, scoring a 39.650, which established a school record for a performer in her all-round debut.
Still, it was Baumann's performance on the bars that stole the show. And more specifically, the reaction of Baumann and the Gators as soon as she landed her winning 9.925 routine. When Baumann touched down and did her final salute, her teammates swarmed in to celebrate, fully aware of the moment's significance.
"She deserved it,'' said teammate
Leah Clapper. "She has been training hard."
Soon, the tears flowed. A couple of hours later, there was Baumann on "SportsCenter" for the world to see.
"I was definitely not expecting to cry,'' she said. "It's just been so long. And then once I landed it, it didn't even matter what my score was going to be. I was just so happy to finally have competed bars again and to do a good routine was just icing on the cake. It was definitely a great moment."
In the days since she went viral, Baumann has received countless messages congratulating her on overcoming the odds and shining when her time arrived. A Texas native, Baumann is now 22 and winding down her gymnastics career.
She has tried not to think about Senior Night and the ramifications, instead diverting her attention to the remaining season and Florida's bid to win the program's first national title since 2015. Still, she knows.
"There's going to be some tears for sure,'' she said. "It's definitely going to be emotional. I love this team and I have loved competing at Florida."
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down college athletics last March and ended the Gators' season prematurely, Baumann used the downtime as a chance to reboot. She devoted herself to a strenuous workout program and became a runner, focused on entering her senior season in the best shape of her career.
When the Gators returned to campus and began preparing for the season, Baumann's physical transformation was noticeable. Deep into her final season, the work has paid off beyond her imagination.
Never more so than on a Friday night in late February when Baumann provided anyone trying to bounce back from a setback with a huge does of inspiration. A sports management major, Baumann hopes to work one-on-one with elite athletes in some capacity after her career is over.
She has an inspirational story to tell to make a connection.
"I was just happy to put up those scores on each event because we down four people,'' she said. "Yeah, it was definitely a different night. That was the Olympic Trials that I never got. It's not the same, but it's almost more rewarding because of everything I went through with the surgeries and how long it took to get here."
