Morgan Hurd

Hurd at the2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
Personal information
Full name	Morgan Elizabeth Hurd
Born	(2001-07-18)July 18, 2001 (age 24) Wuzhou,China
Height	4 ft 9 in (145 cm)
Gymnastics career
Sport	Women's artistic gymnastics
Country represented	United States (2016–2021)
College team	Florida Gators (2022–24)
Club	First State Gymnastics
Head coach	Slava Glazounov
Assistant coach	Brooke Parker
Retired	November 5, 2024
Medal record Representingthe United States Women'sartistic gymnastics Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Championships 2 2 1 Pan American Games 1 0 0 Pacific Rim Championships 1 0 0 Total 4 2 1 World Championships 2017 Montreal All-Around 2018 Doha Team 2017 Montreal Balance Beam 2018 Doha Floor Exercise 2018 Doha All-Around Pan American Games 2019 Lima Team Pacific Rim Championships 2018 Medellín Team 2018 Medellín All-Around FIG World Cup Event 1st 2nd 3rd All-Around World Cup 3 0 1

Morgan Elizabeth Hurd (born July 18, 2001) is an American photographer and formerartistic gymnast. She was a five-time member of theUnited States women's national team (2016–21). She is the2017 World all-around champion and balance beam silver medalist and the2018 World all-around bronze medalist and floor exercise silver medalist. She has won four medals at theUSA Gymnastics National Championships during her senior career and is a two-timeAmerican Cup champion. She was a member of the gold-medal winning American teams at the2018 World Championships and the2019 Pan American Games.

Hurd was adopted fromWuzhou,China when she was 11 months old.^[1] At age 3, she was enrolled in gymnastics.^[2] Hurd started training at First State Gymnastics when she was in fifth grade.^[3] She lived inMiddletown, Delaware with her mother, Sherri.^[4] She is one of the rare elite gymnasts to wear glasses during competition.^[5] In 2023, Hurd came out asqueer.^[6]

Hurd competed in theNastia Liukin Cup in 2014, where she placed fourteenth as a level 10 gymnast.^[7] Later that year qualified to compete at the junior elite level. At her first elite level competition, the American Classic, she tied for eighth place.^[8] Later that summer she competed at the2014 U.S. Classic and placed eighteenth.^[9] At her firstNational Championships she finished twenty-ninth in the all-around in the junior division.^[10]

Hurd started the 2015 season competing at theU.S. Classic where she finished ninth in the all-around and second on uneven bars. She competed at theU.S. National Championships where she placed eighth in the all-around, seventh on floor exercise, and tied for fourth on the uneven bars.^[11]

In 2016, her final year at the junior level, Hurd competed at the American Classic where she finished first in the all-around. She next competed at the2016 U.S. Classic where she placed fifth in the all-around, first on floor exericse, and second on the uneven bars. She competed at the2016 National Championships and placed fifth in the all-around, third on uneven bars, and seventh on vault; these results qualified her to the juniornational team.^[12]

Hurd became age eligible for senior level competition in 2017. She made her international debut at the2017 Stuttgart World Cup, where she finished third in the all-around behindTabea Alt of Germany andAngelina Melnikova of Russia.^[13] In April, Hurd competed at theCity of Jesolo Trophy and helped the United States finish first. In July, Hurd competed at theU.S. Classic where she placed sixth on balance beam and second on floor exercise behindJade Carey.^[14] In August she competed at theP&G National Championships where she placed sixth in the all-around, eighth on uneven bars, fifth on balance beam, and tenth on floor exercise. Since she finished in the top six in the all-around she was named to thenational team.^[15]

In September Hurd was selected to represent the United States at the2017 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships inMontreal alongsideRagan Smith,Jade Carey, andAshton Locklear.^[16][17] At the World Championships Hurd started out on the vault in qualifications, receiving a 14.466. On her next event, the uneven bars, she scored 14.333. On the balance beam she scored 13.500 after upgrading to a full-twisting double tuck dismount, qualifying second into the balance beam finals. She ended qualifications on floor exercise but fell on her double full for a score of 12.533. Her total all around score was 54.832 which qualified her into the all-around final in sixth place. In the all-around final Hurd won a surprise victory with a total score of 55.232,^[18] 0.1 ahead of silver medalistEllie Black ofCanada and 0.4 ahead of bronze medalistElena Eremina ofRussia.^[19] Two days later in the balance beam final, she matched her ranking from qualifications and won the silver medal, behindPauline Schäfer ofGermany.^[20]

On December 11, 2017, Hurd was selected to represent the United States at the2018 American Cup.^[21] She competed alongside first-year seniorMaile O'Keefe^[22] and finished first overall with a score of 56.599.^[23] On April 8, Hurd was named to the team to compete at the2018 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships which included fellow seniorsGrace McCallum andJordan Chiles.^[24] There she won team gold and placed second in the all-around behind McCallum after a mishap on her balance beam dismount. Due to her balance beam accident, she withdrew from the uneven bars and floor exercise event finals as a precaution.^[25]

On July 28, Hurd competed at the2018 U.S. Classic where she finished third in the all-around behindSimone Biles andRiley McCusker, despite falling off the balance beam. She also finished third on uneven bars and floor exercise.^[26] In August, Hurd competed at theNational Championships where she placed second in the all-around behind Biles, third on uneven bars behind Biles and McCusker, and third on floor exercise behind Biles andJade Carey. She also placed fourth on balance beam, making her and Biles the only competitors to place in the top four on every event they competed.^[27][28] She was named to the national team for the third year in a row.

In October, Hurd participated in the Worlds Team Selection Camp. During the competition a shaky performance caused her to place fourth in the all-around behind Biles, McCusker, and McCallum, fourth on uneven bars, fifth on vault, sixth on balance beam, and seventh on floor exercise.^[29] The following day she was named to the team to compete at the2018 World Championships alongside Biles, McCusker,Grace McCallum,Kara Eaker, and alternateRagan Smith.^[30][31] Duringqualifications, Hurd qualified to the all-around final in second place behind Biles, the floor exercise final in fourth place, and the uneven bars final in fifth place. The United States also qualified to the team final in first place.^[32] During the team final, Hurd competed on vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise. She contributed scores of 14.633, 14.433, and 12.966 respectively towards the USA's team total. USA won gold with a score of 171.629, 8.766 points ahead of second place Russia,^[33] beating previous margin of victory records set in the open-endedcode of points era at the2014 World Championships (6.693) and the2016 Olympic Games (8.209).^[34]

In the all-around final, Hurd put her hands down on her side aerial cartwheel on beam and was in fourth place entering the final rotation. She recovered with a strong floor exercise performance to win the bronze medal behind Biles andMai Murakami of Japan.^[35] In a very close podium finish, Hurd finished 0.066 points behind Murakami, 0.033 points ahead of fourth-place finisherNina Derwael of Belgium, and 0.034 points ahead of fifth-place finisherAngelina Melnikova of Russia. During event finals, Hurd placed sixth on uneven bars. She then won the silver medal on floor exercise behind Biles and ahead of 2017 World champion Murakami and 2017 European champion Melnikova.^[36] With five world championship medals, Hurd became the seventh-most decorated American female gymnast in world championship history, tied withKim Zmeskal andKyla Ross.

On November 5, Hurd made her music video debut, appearing inShawn Mendes'Youth.^[37] In December, Hurd underwent her third elbow surgery to have two chips removed.^[38][39]

In February,USA Gymnastics announced that Hurd was selected to compete at theTokyo World Cup in April.^[40] There she won gold ahead ofEllie Black of Canada andAsuka Teramoto of Japan.^[41]

In June, after the conclusion of the American Classic, Hurd was named as one of the eight athletes being considered for the team to compete at the2019 Pan American Games along withSloane Blakely,Kara Eaker,Aleah Finnegan,Shilese Jones,Sunisa Lee,Riley McCusker, andLeanne Wong.^[42] On July 9 it was announced that Hurd would be featured in a year-long documentary series on theOlympic Channel titledAll Around, alongsideAngelina Melnikova of Russia andChen Yile of China, which will follow their journeys and training leading up to the2020 Summer Olympics inTokyo.^[43]

At the2019 GK US Classic Hurd finished sixth in the all-around behindSimone Biles, McCusker,Grace McCallum, Eaker, and Wong. She placed first on bars, tied for eighth on balance beam withSunisa Lee, and placed eleventh on floor exercise. After the competition she was named to the team to compete at the Pan American Games alongside Eaker, Finnegan, McCusker, and Wong.^[44]

At thePan American Games Hurd competed on all four events, contributing counting scores on vault and uneven bars to the United States'gold medal-winning performance in the team final. Despite posting high enough scores to qualify to the all-around and all individual event finals except for vault, she was unable to compete in finals because at least two of her teammates outscored her on each event; a maximum of two gymnasts per country may participate in each event final. On uneven bars Hurd tied Wong's score of 14.250, but Wong qualified for the final because she had a higher execution score.^[45][46]

At the2019 U.S. National Championships Hurd competed on all four events on the first day of competition, but fell while performing on floor exercise and ended the night in eighth place in the all-around.^[47] On the second day of competition she was able to perform cleanly on each apparatus, and finished fourth in the all-around behindSimone Biles,Sunisa Lee, andGrace McCallum. Additionally, she won silver on the uneven bars behind Lee, and placed fifth on balance beam and thirteenth on floor exercise. As a result, she was added to the national team.^[48]

In September, Hurd competed at theWorld team selection camp, and placed ninth with a score of 54.100 after mistakes on both floor exercise and uneven bars. On the second day of competition, Hurd competed on uneven bars and balance beam where she recorded the fourth and third highest scores respectively. Following the two-day camp, Hurd was named as a non-traveling alternate for the Worlds team along withLeanne Wong.^[49][50]

In November, Hurd signed herNational Letter of Intent with theFlorida Gators, deferring until after the2021 World Championships and starting in the 2021–22 school year.^[51]

In late 2019 Hurd was selected to represent the USA at theAmerican Cup in March 2020 inMilwaukee.^[52] She was joined by first year seniorKayla DiCello.^[53] Hurd finished in first place ahead of DiCello andHitomi Hatakeda of Japan, with a score of 55.832 in the all-around; she recorded the highest score on bars, the second-highest score on floor exercise, and the third-highest score on vault and balance beam. She debuted some new skills, such as theDownie on uneven bars, and brought back skills which she had previously stopped performing, most notably her tucked full-in dismount on beam.^[54]

In August 2020, she had surgery on both elbows.^[55][56]

Hurd underwent elbow surgery in mid-March.^[57] She later announced that she would be joiningSimone Biles' upcomingGold Over America Tour.^[58] She returned to competition at theU.S. Classic where she competed downgraded routines on balance beam and floor exercise where she finished eleventh and tenth respectively.^[59] Hurd was one of five gymnasts featured on thePeacock docuseriesGolden: The Journey of USA's Elite Gymnasts.^[60] At theNational Championships Hurd once again only competed on balance beam and floor exercise where she finished twenty-sixth and twenty-third respectively. She was not added to the national team nor did she qualify to compete at the upcomingOlympic Trials.^[61]

Hurd was officially added to theFlorida Gators roster in January 2022. Prior to making her debut, Hurd announced that she had undergone surgery on her right knee to repair atorn ACL. Sheredshirted her freshman year.^[62] Hurd made her collegiate debut on January 6, 2023 in a meet against West Virginia, Ball State, and Lindenwood University. Hurd competed on two events – uneven bars (8.750) and balance beam (9.775).^[63] Hurd only competed on balance beam and floor exercise throughout the 2023–2024 season. She earned her highest score on floor exercise, a 9.95, in a meet against Kentucky on March 2, 2024.^[64]

In September 2024, it was announced that Hurd would no longer be a competing gymnast for the Florida Gators, but instead was shifting towards a creative content role for the team.^[65]

Hurd's visual media career began when she became the official videographer for the Chinese American Student Association at the University of Florida.^[66] In the fall of 2024 Hurd took part in an internship with theUniversity of Florida’s athletics department where she photographed many of Florida's athletic teams at competitions.^[66] In the summer of 2025 Hurd began photographing competitions forUSA Gymnastics.^[67]

Competitive history of Morgan Hurd at the junior level

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2014	Nastia Liukin Cup		14	14	12	15	10
	American Classic		8	14	13	13	13
	U.S. Classic		18	29	31	15	13
	P&G Championships		29	24	23	24	28
2015	Buckeye Elite Qualifier		4	13	8		11
	WOGA Classic		7	8	7		7
	American Classic			21			5
	U.S. Classic		9	26		9	17
	P&G National Championships		8	19	4	13	7
2016	American Classic			4		5	4
	U.S. Classic		5	9		26
	P&G National Championships		5	7		16	9

Competitive history of Morgan Hurd at the senior level

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2017	Stuttgart World Cup
	City of Jesolo Trophy		10
	U.S. Classic					6
	P&G National Championships		6		8	5	10
	World Championships
2018	American Cup
	Pacific Rim Championships				WD		WD
	U.S. Classic					7
	U.S. National Championships					4
	Worlds Team Selection Camp		4	5	4	6	7
	World Championships				6
2019	Tokyo World Cup
	U.S. Classic		6			8	11
	Pan American Games
	U.S. National Championships		4			5	13
	Worlds Team Selection Camp		9	7	12	7	10
2020	American Cup
2021	U.S. Classic					11	10
	U.S. National Championships					26	23

• Morgan Hurd atUSA Gymnastics
• Morgan Hurd at theInternational Gymnastics Federation

• 2001 births
• Living people
• American adoptees
• American female artistic gymnasts
• American people of Chinese descent
• Sportspeople of Chinese descent
• American queer women
• Chinese adoptees
• Chinese emigrants to the United States
• Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
• Sportspeople from Middletown, Delaware
• Sportspeople from Delaware
• World champion gymnasts
• U.S. women's national team gymnasts
• Gymnasts at the 2019 Pan American Games
• Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games
• Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in gymnastics
• 21st-century American sportswomen
• Florida Gators women's gymnasts
• LGBTQ gymnasts
• American LGBTQ sportswomen
• American sports photographers
• American LGBTQ photographers

• CS1 Italian-language sources (it)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata