As an athlete, you bear the responsibility of taking care of your mind and body to be able to perform and hit your peak when it counts. No matter the hours spent in the training room, the ice baths endured, or the uncountable rolls of tape you have gone through, sometimes things still may not go your way. Dealing with an injury, no matter how big or small, is an obstacle every athlete has to or has had to deal with. While this time out of the sport may be one of the hardest things you have to go through, it can also be a bump in the road that can teach you a great deal and make your comeback even sweeter.
From 2020 to the end of this 2025 season, there have been 577 injuries in NCAA gymnastics according to our injury tracker, and these are just the ones that have been reported. We have seen athletes be out for years due to a nagging injury that never seems to heal, but we’ve seen others who have made a comeback from a torn Achilles within the same calendar year. The recovery time greatly varies based on what the injury is as well as the severity of that injury, and every athlete has their own journey with getting themselves back to full mental and physical strength.
Going through this, specifically focusing on the time during your NCAA career, this can be one of the most challenging things you may have had to go through up until this point. Having the tools to cope with emotions you may not have ever felt, days that are most likely overwhelming, on top of dealing with physical healing of the injury, is something many are unprepared for going into their careers, but a piece of the puzzle we have to learn how to adapt to.
“Gymnastics is a more mentally challenging sport” has been said so many times in the last few years as more of an emphasis has been placed on the mental well-being of athletes, and this sentiment holds true for dealing with injuries as well. How do you maintain a positive outlook when it feels like time is standing still as you wait to get better? How do you continue to be a good teammate when you may feel guilty for having feelings of jealousy as you watch your teammates compete from the sidelines?? How do you keep yourself accountable for actually getting better and doing this work when some days may seem too hard?
One of the best aspects about college gymnastics is that there is truly a village supporting you through your toughest times. You have teammates who, at some point in their careers, have dealt with a similar situation and can help guide you throughout this process. You have coaches who don’t love you any less for taking on a different role, and who still see you as an important asset to the team. You have your trainers who become your best friends, the ones who really put your pieces back together and will do all they can to ensure you will be even better after this setback. Knowing that you have people around you who not only love and support you, but who you can lean on, and, in the best way, take advantage of what they are able to offer you, is going to help your recovery more than you can imagine.
Accepting the help that the people around you are ready and willing to give may be extremely difficult. However, allowing people to help you carry this burden may be one of the greatest things that helps you get through it. This is something I wish I did more of. If I could go back and accept the help people were giving me, and the love they showed me from the first day they visibly saw me struggling, I would take the opportunity and allow others to help me heal. You have to be ready to accept this help, and once you get there in your own time, it is so much better than having to carry this alone.
When dealing with an injury, not to the fault of anyone around you, you most likely do feel incredibly isolated. Whether you get injured during preseason and have to miss out on intrasquads or need crutches during media day, or your injury happens between January to April and changes the entire trajectory of your competition year, you have to find a way to adapt to a new role and still be an active, supporting teammate. However, this is a really difficult task, and anyone who has essentially been forced to be out knows how much more energy this takes. No matter your emotions, you still have to cheer, put on a smile, do meet day hair and makeup, but you might not be able to actually do gymnastics, and coming into college, no one prepares you for how much that stings.
Finding a way to change your perspective is crucial to not only getting you through the hard days of the injury, but also seeing what you can learn from this time and apply it to when you do make your comeback. Everyone I have met or been on a team with who has gone through a major injury always shares, after they return, how much they learned in the process. Being aware of what this time can do for you during your road to recovery might allow you to give yourself some grace in coming back from something that unfortunately you might feel broke you in more ways than one. You learn what a great teammate you can be once you start pouring your energy into the people around you. You have the opportunity to learn who you are outside of this ‘gymnast identity’ and see what else you bring to the table in addition to what you brought as a competitor. So many individuals who have gone through a major injury share how they took this time to reevaluate their relationship with the sport and what having this opportunity really means to them. Maybe some determine it’s healthier for them to be the best support system on the team and give their energy to those around them, or, come back into the sport with simply the gratitude of just being able to flip again.
It’s okay to not be okay, whether this be physically or mentally. You have to allow yourself time to feel what you are feeling, but you also have to find a way to use these emotions to drive you to heal. You have to let yourself be sad, frustrated, angry, and mourn the injury, because it did take something away from you. Although feeling these things is a difficult thing to do, holding onto it, we all know, will do more harm than good. In your own time as you heal, you can set new goals, whether these be small, daily milestones, or something you want to accomplish when you are competing again. Having these goals to work towards may aid in taking your mind off the injury and allow you to put this energy toward good, productive use. This is so much easier said than done, but making this a conscious effort, rather than allowing yourself to go to a self-destructive place where nothing feels possible, is really something you have to hold yourself accountable for to make a switch and begin recovering.
None of this is easy, and when it happens, it never feels fair. Having to deal with an injury, whether it’s one you can see or not, is so much harder than anyone prepares you for. You really have to do it in your own time, but, you also can’t let yourself get to a place there’s no returning from. Whatever the obstacle may be, giving yourself some love, some grace to see what you are dealing with is really difficult, but also continually telling yourself you can do hard things is the only path back. Even if you can’t see the end yet, setting small goals, having something to work toward and shift your focus onto, as well as leaning on the people around you to help you through it, is the best place to start.
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Article by Julianna Roland
