FORT WORTH, Texas — Many of the thousands of school kids at Dickies Arena on Wednesday for the NCAA Championships practice session look up to her. They see Skye Blakely as a role model.
Blakely can relate, having grown up less than an hour away in Frisco, Texas. She attended the NCAA Championships as a fan and budding young gymnast, imagining what she might do on a similar stage someday.
A 21-year-old sophomore for the No. 3-seed Gators, who open their visit here in Semifinals Session I along with No. 2 LSU, No. 6 Georgia and No. 7 Stanford on Thursday, Blakely has far surpassed the most reasonable of childhood fantasies.
"I don't think a lot of fans understand how good she is," UF coach Jenny Rowland said.
Blakely has competed around the globe and was a member of the U.S. Senior National Team that won World Championships in 2022 and 2023. And less than two years ago, in the same arena that the Gators will attempt to win their first national championships since 2015, Blakely was the all-around and vault runner-up, and third on bars and beam at the 2024 Xfinity U.S. Championships.
There's a photo from that event of the top three all-around performers. Blakely is on the left. Simone Biles, widely considered the greatest American female gymnast in history, is standing in the middle, and on the right is Kayla DiCello, Blakely's current UF teammate. They are royalty in the sport among this generation, and Blakely can further stamp her place among the best if she continues to do what she has done lately.
Skye Blakely, left, at the 2024 Xfinity U.S. Championships. (Photo: Jerome Miron/Imagn Images)
She has a history of rising to the occasion.
"She's so talented as a gymnast, in addition to being an amazing person,'' Rowland said. "But as a gymnast, she can have what some would have a career-ending injury in the summer [of 2024] and the following year make a World Championship team for the USA, which is hard to do. And compete and qualify to finals on an event and continue to do it with so much grace, pride, joy, and then come into the NCAA season and just kill it."
Much of Blakely's time with the Gators has been about getting to where she is now. She is healthy and competed regularly in the all-around this season, shining brightest with a pair of 10s – on the uneven bars earlier this month at the Tempe (Ariz.) Regional, and on the balance beam in late February during a quad meet at Texas Woman's University.
At the TWU meet, Blakely performed in front of family, friends and former coaches eager to see her in full form for the first time as a collegian. She competed only on bars in Florida's trip to Fort Worth a season ago, still recovering from the ruptured Achilles tendon at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the summer of 2024 that derailed her bid for a spot on the Olympic Team in Paris.
"I was a little nervous,'' she said.
No one could tell by her statement performance, which announced she was back if there were any doubts.
"This [season] has helped redefine how I feel about my gymnastics,'' she said. "It's just knowing that I am really capable of anything that I put my mind to, and just to always enjoy the moment. I'm most proud of not letting others' opinions of me define my success and just truly being me and being bold in who I am in my gymnastics and always pushing forward.
"And not giving up in every opportunity and not letting any roadblock, any obstacles stop me from reaching what I want to achieve."
Of course, during her return home, what Blakely wants to accomplish is the same as the Gators.
Florida is surging entering the NCAA Championships, posting a program-record five consecutive scores of 198 or higher, including a 198.175 at the SEC Championships to beat defending national champion Oklahoma and perennial power LSU.
"I feel like that really gave us a boost of confidence,'' Blakely said. "It was important for us to feel what we're capable of truly on such a high level."
Skye Blakely during Wednesday's practice session at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo: Madilyn Gemme/UAA Communications)
The Gators seek to avoid a repeat of last season when they failed to advance from the semifinals for only the third time in the last 20 NCAA Championships.
"I definitely believe that it's something that we all have thought about and is in our mind a little bit," Blakely said. "It is important that we don't let that drive how we feel about this. Instead, use it to know that we can do it and we can advance and that this team has been amazing this whole season."
Blakely has used a similar approach in working her way back to the top of the sport. She earned All-American honors on bars and beam this season, and was one of seven Gators to claim All-SEC honors.
Rowland is ready to see what having a healthy Blakely looks like on the biggest stage in NCAA women's gymnastics.
"Last year, I know she was doing her best," Rowland said. "It is a journey recovery, recovering from an injury. It's a journey and different for everybody. That confidence level for her just to have that opportunity over the summer to continue to train a little bit more and through this fall, really just has done wonders for her. I know she has a lot more in store."
Meanwhile, Blakely is determined to do what she can to help the Gators get over the hump. They have been so close in recent years, including runner-up finishes in 2022 and 2023 when her older sister, Sloane Blakely, was part of the team.
They were teammates a season ago, an experience Skye relished.
"Sloane was my first role model in gymnastics,'' she said. "She's inspired me to be where I am. Doing this for her would be something that means a lot to me and her."
It would be an unforgettable moment for the Gators, a triumphant homecoming for Blakely.
And perhaps a core memory for one of those young gymnasts in the stands with similar aspirations.
