McKayla Maroney

Maroney was born in Aliso Viejo, California, to Mike and Erin Maroney, on December 9, 1995. Her father was a quarterback at Purdue University, and her mother was involved in figure skating and high school sports. She is Irish-Catholic. She has two siblings, Tarynn and Kav, and was homeschooled in order to train as an elite gymnast.

When Maroney was 9 years old, she started training at Gym-Max in Costa Mesa, California. In 2012, she said, "I realized that I had a dream that I wanted to go to the Olympics and I wanted to go as far as I could go. I thought I should probably move to a new gym and start thinking about the Olympics."

After winning the silver medal in the vault finals, Maroney was photographed on the medal podium while giving a brief look of disappointment with her lips pursed to the side. The image became an Internet phenomenon that was sparked by a tumblr blog called "McKayla is not impressed". The image went viral after it was Photoshopped into various "impressive" places and situations, e.g. on top of the Great Wall of China and standing next to Usain Bolt. Maroney stated that she found the Internet meme "kinda funny". Maroney later poked fun at the meme on various occasions including appearances on Late Show with David Letterman, The Colbert Report, Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars, Extra, and most notably when she and the rest of the U.S. Gymnastics team met United States President Barack Obama at the White House in November 2012. She and President Obama posed for a photo together, both making the same pursed-lips expression. The podium picture made the top spot on Yahoo's list of "Most Viral Photos" of 2012.

In September 2012, Maroney was injured during an uneven bars dismount while performing at the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions in Ontario, California. An MRI revealed that she had fractured the tibia in her left leg. The injury occurred shortly before teammate Aly Raisman injured herself performing on the same bars. On September 13, 2012, Maroney had two screws inserted to repair the fractured left tibia. She wore an immobilizer to keep the leg straight until doctors determined that she was ready to resume limited walking and rebuilding range of motion. Maroney returned to The Kellogg's Tour on October 4, 2012 in Oklahoma City on light duty. She was seen during the finale wearing her leg and foot splints and also at the VIP Meet and Greet session after the event.

Maroney made her acting debut in the CW television series Hart of Dixie on November 20, 2012. She played Tonya, a friend of Rose in the episode "Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me". That appearance turned into a recurring role, with Maroney appearing in six episodes of the series.

On January 12, 2013, Maroney served as one of the judges for the Miss America pageant.

In 2013, Maroney signed a sponsorship agreement with Adidas Gymnastics.

In July 2013, Maroney made her return to gymnastics at the 2013 Secret U.S. Classic, where she placed first on vault with a score of 15.425 (15.600 + 15.250) and third on floor with a score of 14.350, posting the highest execution score on that apparatus. This was her first event since the 2012 London Olympics. In an interview after she finished, Maroney said she hoped to upgrade both her vaults by the 2016 Olympics, as well as her tumbling on floor.

In December 2013, Maroney appeared on an episode of the Fox TV show Bones called "The Spark in the Park" (season 9), as a gymnast named Ellie who is a suspect in the murder of a fellow gymnast.

In March 2014, Maroney underwent surgery on her knee. Maroney was featured on the cover of the April issue of Inside Gymnastics. In International Gymnast Magazine, she said that she wanted to upgrade both of her vaults.

On August 31, 2014, underage nude images of Maroney were published as part of the 2014 celebrity photo leaks.

In March 2015, Maroney claimed in a YouTube video that she struggled with adrenal fatigue following the 2013 World Championships.

On February 24, 2016, popular gymnastics podcast GymCastic released a candid 49-minute-long interview with Maroney regarding her health issues preceding and following the 2012 Olympic Games. In the interview, she announced her retirement from competitive gymnastics—this came two days after fellow Fierce Five teammate Kyla Ross' retirement.

On August 19, 2016, Maroney appeared in season 2 episode 1 of the NBC TV show Superstore called "The Olympics" as herself in a number of candid appearances alongside fellow Olympians Tara Lipinski and Apolo Ohno.

On October 18, 2017, Maroney alleged that USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar repeatedly molested her, starting when she was 13 years old until her retirement from the sport in 2016. Maroney is one of a number of women who have come forward with stories of sexual harassment or assault under the #MeToo hashtag on Twitter. Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team physician was arrested in November 2016 and accused of sexually assaulting female minors throughout his career. In December, Maroney filed a suit against Nassar, Michigan State University, the United States Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics accusing the latter two of covering up the sexual abuse by asking Maroney to sign a $1.25 million confidentiality agreement. Maroney agreed and accepted the money. During Nassar's sentencing hearing, USA Gymnastics waived the agreement, at least temporarily, to allow Maroney to make a victim's statement in court against Nassar, who is now serving a 40-to-175-year prison sentence.

On May 16, 2018, it was announced that Maroney and the other victims would be awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

On March 7, 2020, Mckayla released her first official single Wake Up Call.

McKayla Maroney Celebrates Birthday With Risqué Pajama Selfie (Photo)

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