Even if you haven’t watched much BYU this season, chances are you’ve seen Rebekah Ripley’s floor routine. The senior’s dance set to Barbie Girl is the latest of BYU’s iconic floor routines to take the world by storm, even gaining the attention of People Magazine.
Ripley’s college gymnastics journey has been far from easy. Over the course of her five years at BYU, she’s torn her ACL twice and her meniscus once—all on her left knee.
The first ACL tear came in competition in February 2019 on her front handspring pike half vault. At first, she didn’t even realize it was torn.
“It hurt really bad for about 30 seconds when I tore it, but then…for the next two weeks there was no bruising, no swelling, no pain,” Ripley said. “I was convinced that nothing was wrong, and I’d be fine in just a little bit. But there was a full tear and I needed surgery.”
That began a year-long recovery process. The first time around, it was all very new for her, from the rehab process to the doctors she saw.
“It’s a very slow process but definitely painful,” Ripley recalled. “Mentally, the hardest part is trusting your body again and being like, ‘Can I do the squat? Can I do the squat with weight? Can I add five more pounds?’”
Ripley made a full recovery and was working toward pushing for lineup spots when she tore her ACL a second time. That time, she knew the feeling—the pop in her knee—and immediately knew it was torn again. Physically, she knew what to expect of her recovery.
“I had to work harder and faster to get into a lineup,” Ripley recalled. “It’s a lot harder to work into a lineup than it is to start there and stay in that lineup. That was super difficult to get there, and I got into these exhibition positions, and then I tore my meniscus. It was just a whole lot of bad timing.”
Mentally, the recovery was a lot harder the second time.
“I was devastated, heartbroken. It was just really hard mentally to…do this again, another year and a half recovery—that’s just daunting,” Ripley said. It helped to focus on what she can control.
“I can control how hard I work, how strong my body is, everything in those aspects is something I can control. But the outcome is something that I can’t control,” Ripley said. “There’s always [that thought] in the back of your head. You’re scared. What if I tear my ACL again? What if I get hurt? What if my season is over? But those thoughts are horrible. They’re really hard to have. It’s been nice to recognize that the doubt is there and let it sit there and recognize that I have those doubts but then give it to God.”
BYU assistant coach Brogan Evanson echoed the sentiment, recalling that “because of all of her trials and all of her injuries, she has had to use every resource to get healthy, not just physically but also mentally, because when you get hurt that often, it becomes a mental game too.”
Luckily, Ripley has a strong support system on her side, between her friends, family and the staff members at BYU. Among them, she specifically noted athletic trainer Phillip Hartog and Evanson.
“He’s someone that’s always been supportive and on my side. He’s the guy that makes sure that my knees are strong, and he’s always checking up on me,” Ripley said of Hartog. “And [Brogan’s] been so supportive through everything. She’s my floor and vault coach, so she’s my main coach and she’s always believed in me and been in my corner cheering me on,” Ripley added.
As a coach, Evanson noted it’s important to focus on honesty and communication.
“Even if I don’t know what to say to her, it’s just saying something and just letting her know that I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know how we’re going to get better or how we’re gonna fix this, but I’m here,” Evanson said. “When you’re frustrated, or not quite sure how you’re going to get to the next step, having those kinds of things in your mind validate all the work you’ve put in.”
The adversity has given Ripley a new perspective, and Evanson sees it reflected in the gym.
“She’s definitely this calm presence in our gym. She doesn’t get too riled up about things,” Evanson said. “She’s like, ‘I’ve been through a lot. I know I just have to kind of ride with the waves.’”
It’s also reflected in how Ripley approaches training. When she first started out, Ripley was one to “just kind of throw it.” But with 12 meets in a season and competitions every five to seven days, it wasn’t sustainable. The adversity Ripley’s faced has helped her mature into a smarter gymnast.
“The biggest growth I’ve seen is the way she’s connected her mind and body. Because there’s like this growth in respecting how both depend on each other, she has come to trust the process better,” Evanson said. “She takes her training way more seriously than she did originally. She depends on the process a lot to say I can trust that I can do this, I can trust that I’m safe.”
Finally healthy, Ripley’s established herself as a regular in BYU’s vault and floor lineups this season. She’s performing a front handspring pike half, the same vault she initially injured herself on. Although it was scary to do the vault again, she perservered.
And of course, there’s the iconic Barbie floor routine. It was a year in the making, but a somewhat late change, thanks to the recommendation of a friend who expressed how her favorite routines are ones with a theme.
Ripley was surprised it gained the attention it did and so quickly. “The first meet [was] when I started getting attention, and I didn’t even like how I performed at that meet,” Ripley said. “I was definitely surprised that happened—but a pleasant surprise.”
As for Evanson, the one that makes BYU’s iconic routines a reality, she wasn’t as surprised.
“I still laugh when she’s got the little hip movement,” Evanson said. “I’m still chuckling to myself after seeing it more than anybody else. When you feel that way about a routine, like you can’t wait to watch it again, other people are going to feel the same way.”
With Ripley’s final season wrapping up, her main goal is to enjoy the time she has left.
“My No. 1 goal is to just have gratitude and enjoy it,” she said. “This is my last season, and I haven’t gotten a lot of seasons like most people have. I just want to really remember how much I love gymnastics, enjoy the season, and have fun.”
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Article by Tara Graeve
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She is the definition of GRIT. so impressed with her mental toughness and desire to come back despite the odds against her.
can someone help me with something please? so she’s at BYU, a well known school for Mormons, with a well known super-conservative dress code. Yet I see their female athletes in clothing that is a long way from the code
don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe in controlling what anyone wears, but how is this squared within the school? seems hypocritical to allow gymnasts to wear leotards especially when the option of full length leggings are now permitted in FIG competitions