0.875: How Less Than One Point Redefined My Relationship with Gymnastics

0.875.

It’s such a tiny number. In gymnastics, 0.875 is literally a flexed foot, a bent leg , or a small hop on a landing. But my senior year of high school, 0.875 was the exact difference between making Regionals and watching my season come to an end.

My Heartbreak Of Coming Up Short

Senior year is supposed to be your moment. It’s the year where all the endless hours in the gym, the ripped hands, the mental blocks, and the years of sacrificing weekends are supposed to finally pay off.

Instead, I was staring at the score board realizing I came up just short of the qulifying score that I needed to make regionals which was in Illinois my year in 2024.

I was completely crushed. I felt angry, confused, and honestly defeated. After giving everything I had to this sport since I was seven years old, ending my senior competitive season like that felt really hard.

Finding Inspiration in Devastation

That day I remember going on YouTube and finding something that is motivating and inspirating while I was still sitting in that disappointment, I remember Jordyn Wieber’s TED Talk about turning devastation into inspiration came up and I was like this is what I needed that day.

Watching her talk about how she handled that moment hit me so hard. She explained that while "you can't control the outcome or the scores, you can control how long you let disappointment hold you back before you decide to move forward" (Jordyn Wieber).

That was the exact wake-up call I needed.

My 0.875 was at a state meet, but to me, it felt huge. Sitting there, I realized I had a choice: I could let that fraction of a point make me bitter and ruin my love for the sport, or I could turn it into motivation.

I chose to accept that I tried my best that meet!

A New Era: From Athlete to Advocate

Missing Regionals by 0.875 didn't push me away from gymnastics—it actually pushed me closer to it.

It drove me deeper into coaching, inspired me to become a certified judge, and gave me the fire to create Gymnast Salute.

Looking back now, I realize that missing Regionals gave me one of the biggest lessons I’ve ever learned: your value as an athlete isn't defined by a single score or a missed goal.

It’s defined by how you keep going after a setback.