Laurie Hernandez

Laurie Hernandez (born Lauren Zoe Hernandez) is a retired Olympian gymnast and New York Times bestselling author. Hernandez was raised in New Jersey and started out learning ballet before making the switch to gymnastics at 5 years old. She was invited to attend a national development camp at age 9 after being noticed by Coach Maggie Haney.

The gymnast began competing nationally shortly after her discovery, continuing to qualify and place for high level junior competitions. In 2013, she attended a national training camp and later joined the U.S. junior national team. Hernandez took a short hiatus in 2014 due to multiple injuries. After her recovery, she competed in the 2015 City of Jesolo Trophy and won gold all-around, marking her return to the sport.

In 2016, the athlete placed second all-around in the U.S. Olympic trials and was officially named a member of the 2016 Olympic gymnastics team alongside Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and Madison Kocian. Known as “The Final Five,” the team brought home gold in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics with Hernandez winning silver on the balance beam.

Following her Olympic success, the gymnast took a break from competition for media opportunities. She participated in ABC’s Dancing With the Stars and won the 23rd season with dance partner Val Chmerkovskiy in November 2017.

She published her New York Times bestselling memoir, I Got This: To Gold and Beyond, in 2017 and her children’s book, She’s Got This, the following year.

Hernandez briefly returned to competition in 2020 and retired from the sport one year later. She has been featured as a women’s gymnastics commentator on NBC. She began college at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in fall 2023, studying drama and creative writing.

She started dating gymnast Charlotte Drury in 2020.