McKayla Rose Maroney (born December 9, 1995) is an American formerartistic gymnast. She was a member of the American women's gymnastics team, dubbed theFierce Five, that won a gold medal in theteam competition at the2012 Summer Olympics. There, she also won an individual silver medal on thevault. Maroney was also a member of the gold-winning American team at the2011 World Championships, where she also won thevault title. She then became the first U.S. female gymnast to defend a World Championship vault title at the2013 World Championships. Earlier in her career, she won three gold medals at the2010 Pan American Championships.
A photograph of Maroney with a "not impressed" expression, taken after winning the vault silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, became anInternet meme. In 2016, she retired from gymnastics after not competing since the 2013 World Championships.
On how she began gymnastics, Maroney said, "When I was younger, I would be watchingTarzan and running around on all fours. My mom was like, 'I need to put this child in gymnastics. She's crazy.'"[7] When she was nine years old, she started training at Gym-Max inCosta Mesa, California, alongside future Olympic teammateKyla Ross.[7][8] In 2010, Maroney left Gym-Max to train at theAll Olympia Gymnastics Center.[9] She washomeschooled.[10]
Maroney made her senior international debut at theCity of Jesolo Trophy inJesolo, Italy, and won the all-around competition. She also won gold medals with the American team and on the vault.[20] She only competed on thebalance beam and the floor exercise at the U.S. Classic, finishing sixth and fifth, respectively.[21] She then competed at theU.S. Championships inSaint Paul, Minnesota. During the first day of competition, she fell on a doubleArabian on the floor exercise and ranked fifth in the all-around rankings.[22] She improved her performance on the second day to ultimately finish second toJordyn Wieber in the all-around.[23][24] Additionally, she won the vault competition.[25]
In preparation for the Olympic season, Maroney kept theAmanar as her first vault and upgraded her second vault to theroundoff half-onlayout full. She also increased herdifficulty scores on theuneven bars and balance beam.[31] She began the season at theCity of Jesolo Trophy and won gold medals with the American team and on the vault.[32] Additionally, she placed fourth in the all-around competition with a score of 57.950.[33]
In May, Maroney competed at theU.S. Classic in Chicago, Illinois. She placed first on vault with a score of 16.100 and tenth on balance beam with a score of 13.800.[34] She then competed at theU.S. National Championships, and after the first day of competition, she was ranked seventh in the all-around with a score of 58.700.[35] During the warmups for the second day of competition, she fell on a tumbling pass on floor landing on her back. Maroney was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a minorconcussion and anasal fracture.[36] She took a week off from training and successfully petitioned to compete at the Olympic Trials.[37][38][39]
At the beginning of July, Maroney competed at theOlympic Trials inSan Jose, California. On the first day of competition, she fell off the uneven bars and balance beam, but she had the highest vault score.[40] She ultimately placed seventh in the all-around with a two-day combined score of 117.650.[41] She placed first on the vault and fifth on the floor exercise.[42] Maroney was chosen as a member of the team that was sent to the2012 Summer Olympics alongsideGabby Douglas,Aly Raisman,Kyla Ross, andJordyn Wieber.[43][44] Afterward, she said, "This is the best feeling – it's just so amazing. I'm in shock right now. I think this will be the happiest I'll ever be in my life... my teammate Kyla Ross– we have been best friends since we were six years old, so it's just absolutely amazing to be going to the Olympics."[37] She was featured on the cover ofSports Illustrated with the rest of the team on the July 18, 2012, "Olympic Preview" issue. This marked the first time an entire Olympic gymnastics team had been featured on the cover ofSports Illustrated.[45]
At the end of July, Maroney competed at the2012 Summer Olympics inLondon. She toldNBColympics.com that while training a balance beam dismount, she aggravated a previous bone break in the big toe of her right foot, but she still chose to compete, stating, "I worked so hard to be here, I can ignore the pain for a little bit."[46] In 2021, she claimed she actually had a broken foot, and team doctorLarry Nassar downplayed the injury to head coachMárta Károlyi to keep Maroney on the team.[47][48] Along withJordyn Wieber, she helped change the team's nickname from the "Fab Five" to the "Fierce Five". While on the bus to a training session, they decided to change the name because the "Fab Five" was in use bya basketball team associated with theUniversity of Michigan as well as associated with the musical groupDuran Duran. They searched forwords starting with the letter 'F' to describe the team. The top choices were "feisty" and "fierce". Maroney and Wieber opted for "fierce". They said it described their floor routines, and the rest of the team concurred.[49]
Maroney helped the American team qualify for the team final in first place,[50] and individually, she qualified in first place to the vault final with a score of 15.800.[51] In the team final, she stuck herAmanar vault and contributed a score of 16.233 toward the American team's first-place finish.[52][53] Her vault received an execution average of 9.733, the highest execution score at an Olympics or World Championships under theopen-ended scoring system which was introduced in 2006.[54][55] They became the second U.S. team, after the "Magnificent Seven" in 1996, to win the Olympic team competition.[56]
According to Alexa Ainsworth fromNBC Olympics and Juliet Macur fromThe New York Times, Maroney went into the vault final as the favorite to win.[38][57] She successfully performed an Amanar for her first vault, but she fell on her second. This fall ended her 33-vault hitting streak in competition.[58] With the fall, Maroney came in second behindSandra Izbașa of Romania with an average score of 15.083.[59] After the competition, she said, "I didn't get my full block, my hands didn't really touch the vault. I still walked out with a silver medal and I'm happy about that... I know I can do better vaults, but I also know I didn't deserve the gold medal because I fell on my second vault."[60]
US presidentBarack Obama mimics Maroney's "not impressed" look in theOval Office (November 2012)
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 anInternet phenomenon sparked by aTumblr blog called "McKayla is not impressed".[61][62] The image wentviral after it wasPhotoshopped into various places and situations such as on top of theGreat Wall of China and standing next toUsain Bolt.[63][64] Maroney said that she found theInternet meme "kinda funny."[65] She later poked fun at the meme on various occasions, including appearances onLate Show with David Letterman,The Colbert Report,Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars,Extra, and when she and the rest of the U.S. Gymnastics team metUnited States PresidentBarack Obama at theWhite House in November 2012. She and President Obama posed for a photo together, both making the same pursed-lips expression.[66] The podium picture made the top spot onYahoo's list of "Most Viral Photos" of 2012.[67] Maroney starred in a 2021GEICO commercial playing on her "not impressed" pose.[68]
In September 2012, Maroney was injured during an uneven bars dismount while performing at the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions in Ontario, California. AnMRI revealed that she had fractured thetibia in her left leg.[69] The injury occurred shortly before teammateAly Raisman injured herself performing on the same bars.[70] 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.[71] Then 15 days later, she had surgery on the toe she injured before the Olympic Games.[72][73] Then in December, she had another surgery to remove the screws in her leg.[74] She was cleared to return to training in January 2013.[75]
In July 2013, Maroney made her return to gymnastics at the 2013Secret U.S. Classic, where she placed first on vault with an average score of 15.425 and third on the floor exercise with a score of 14.350, posting the highest execution score on that apparatus.[79][80] She then competed on the vault and floor exercise at theU.S. National Championships and won gold in both events.[81]
On September 15, Maroney was one of four gymnasts named to the United States team for the2013 World Championships inAntwerp, Belgium.[82][83] She was originally put on the team to compete on the vault and floor exercise, but she was later named to compete as an all-around gymnast alongsideSimone Biles andKyla Ross after performing well during training. TeammateBrenna Dowell was named as an alternate instead, as there could only be three gymnasts competing on each event.[84] In the qualification round, she scored a total all-around score of 57.149, finishing sixth overall, but due to the two-per-country rule, where only two gymnasts from each country can advance to an individual final,[85] she could not compete in the all-around final. She was the top qualifier for the vault final.[86] Also in the qualification round, Maroney finished in sixth place on the floor exercise with the same total score as Ross. Due to Maroney having a lower execution score, Ross progressed to the final.[87] In the vault final, she successfully defended her title, winning the gold medal with an average score of 15.724.[88][89]
In March 2014, Maroney underwentarthroscopic surgery on her left knee due to issues related to her previous tibia injury.[90][91] On August 31, 2014,underage nude images of Maroney were published as part of the2014 celebrity nude photo leak.[92] She missed the entire 2014 season. In 2015, Maroney shared she had been dealing withadrenal fatigue since 2013, but she had returned to training.[93][94]
On February 24, 2016, the gymnastics podcast GymCastic released a 49-minute-long interview with Maroney regarding her health issues preceding and following the 2012 Olympic Games. She shared that she had been dealing withdepression andburnout.[95] In the interview, she announced her retirement from competitive gymnastics.[96][97]
Maroney (fourth from right, wearing blue dress) with other survivors andRichard Blumenthal
On October 18, 2017, Maroney alleged that theUSA Gymnastics team physicianLarry Nassar had repeatedly molested her, starting when she was 13 years old, until her retirement from the sport in 2016. She made the allegation onTwitter under the#MeToohashtag. Nassar had been arrested in November 2016 andaccused of sexually assaulting female minors throughout his career.[100][101][102]
In December 2017, Maroney filed a suit against Nassar,Michigan State University, theUnited States Olympic Committee andUSA Gymnastics,[103] accusing the latter two of covering up the sexual abuse by asking Maroney to sign a $1.25 million confidentiality agreement and not speak about her experiences with Nassar. Maroney had agreed and accepted the money in 2016.[104] During Nassar's sentencing hearing in January 2018, USA Gymnasticswaived 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.[105]
On May 16, 2018, it was announced that Maroney and the other survivors would be awarded theArthur Ashe Courage Award.[106]
On March 7, 2020, Maroney released her first official single, "Wake Up Call".[107] She later released two more songs, titled "Covid Lockdown" and "Spose to Do".[108]
Maroney made her acting debut in theCW television seriesHart of Dixie on November 20, 2012. She played Tonya, a friend of Rose, in the episode "Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me".[109] She returned for more episodes that aired in 2013.[110] In December 2013, Maroney appeared on an episode of theFox TV showBones called "The Spark in the Park" (season 9), as a gymnast named Ellie who is a suspect in the murder of a fellow gymnast.[111]
On August 19, 2016, Maroney appeared in season 2 episode 1 of theNBC TV showSuperstore called "The Olympics" as herself alongside fellow OlympiansTara Lipinski andApolo Ohno.[112] She appeared in severalGEICO television commercials in 2021.[113][68]
^Florek, Michael (August 1, 2012)."McKayla Maroney: 10 things you may not know".USA Today. Archived fromthe original on November 22, 2012. RetrievedNovember 20, 2012.Parents: Maroney stands 5–2, same as her mom. But her father, Mike, a former Purdue quarterback is 6–3.
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