Deprived Of Paris Olympics Dream, Konnor McClain’s Promise To Steve Harvey Is Breaking Hearts

Setbacks are not new to Konnor McClain. Remember how she endured a severe back injury before the 2022 World Championship? She had to undergo surgery and take adequate rest after that. But she was positive about the situation. “I just feel like a completely different person; I have a very different look on life… I feel like I’m brighter now, there’s a light in me,” she said back then. Unfortunately, she came across another setback at the Core Hydration Classic 2024. And that almost ended the dream which she had harbored since she was 11!

Suffering a brutal Achilles tendon injury, she had to be escorted in a wheelchair from the XL Center arena a week back. This came as an unexpected stumble in the way of the promise she made to Steve Harvey back in 2016. The then 11-year-old had proudly announced that she would become an Olympian in the Paris Olympics 2024. But sadly, she fell short of reaching that goal only a few steps away.

The heartbreaking truth came back even stronger as a recent YouTube clip brought back Konnor’s excitement last year when she spoke about being so close to her goal. The resurfaced YouTube clip features an interview with TODAY, where Konnor McClain was asked, “How does it feel to be that close to that lifelong goal?”

She responded with enthusiasm and a positive outlook on the journey toward her dream, “It feels incredible. Oh my gosh, it feels like I’m almost there. I’ve been training for 17 years for this. I said on the Steve Harvey show that I wanted to be here and I’m one year away.” But wait, being an Olympian is not all she had promised. She actually went one step ahead.

The YouTube clip started with a throwback from Steve Harvey’s talent show, ‘Little Big Shots’ which revealed a video of an 11-year-old Konnor McClain. In the video, when Steve Harvey asked the young gymnast what big event she was preparing for, McClain answered, “The 2024 Olympics to win the all-around gold medal.” That part of the clip was also posted by an Instagram handle. The caption read, “😭😭 Yes, I cried. And so did you all. Sending much love to,” wriggling our hearts once again.

McClain’s injury, despite being a common one for gymnasts, requires a lengthy recovery period. Since the gymnast will be out of the competitions till June, she will miss the Xfinity Games at the end of this month and, therefore, the chance to qualify for the Olympics in August.

Regarding this, LSU coach Jay Clark said McClain will undergo an MRI soon to assess the extent of the injury. However, McClain thanked everyone for their support. “I also wanted to thank all of you for all the kind messages!” The whole ordeal has been truly disheartening to witness, given the kind of intense preparation she was doing to fulfill her goal.

Konnor McClain needs to shift her focus!

Before the injury, McClain had said, “My number one goal is still the Olympics…To make that team…I’m still training some skills, so I gotta get back in that elite groove and elite skills and everything.” With a career plagued with injuries, the comeback has been difficult. Not just difficult, but scary.

However, as shared by her, her muscle memory is amazing. While she gets nervous right before showing her skills, her muscle memory soon kicks in and she just knows how to do it. Her university, LSU, played a large part in her comeback. She entered there in the fall of 2023.

She started to find her love back for gymnastics, something that her injuries had taken away. “Coming here, I kind of had to switch [my mindset] just because I still had the elite mindset, which I want to keep. But, I also had like a ‘I hate gymnastics mindset,’ so I also had to find the love again and switch that mindset around,” she said.

McClain thinks the happy faces of her gymmates around her had a positive effect on her in this regard. With that, she gradually regained the strength to pursue elite and gymnastics careers together. She even chalked a solid plan to attain that with backing from LSU coach Jay Clark to make sure that they do not lose track. A part of this plan was to practice her ‘extra elite skills’ and be consistent.

But now, after the injury, McClain is shifting her focus to recovery and rehabilitation. The typical recovery period for ACL injury can be extremely long, but she is getting all the support she needs from the gymnastics community and her mother, Lorinda. She is not the one to give up.

“The Olympics part [of my gymnastics] is for myself, that’s what the little girl in me wanted, [it’s] what I want now,” the gymnast had said firmly just before the NCAA championships. To top it, the teenage sensation has immense faith in herself. That was seen when she had once asserted, “If they say I can’t do something, I want to come back even better.” With that in mind, it seems one more dazzling comeback in waiting only to end on the Olympic stage.