ON A THURSDAY afternoon during the college gymnastics season, the top-ranked Louisiana State Tigers are preparing for competition. The reigning national champions have turned their practice into a mock meet, ahead of the true test the next day.
As the program with the nation’s highest average attendance, it cannot quite manufacture the magic of its sellout crowds, but chatter and music mimic a meet-day atmosphere. Remaining focused through it all is Konnor McClain. While teammates talk between performances, the sophomore is warming up solo.
“She gets this glossed-over look on her face, and she goes to a place that is all about what she’s about to do,” head coach Jay Clark told ESPN. “She hears nothing. She sees nothing. She acknowledges nothing.”
Clark and the Tigers know better than to be concerned. Like many gymnasts, McClain has made sacrifices in pursuit of her dreams, suffered injuries and experienced heartbreak. She has since untangled her complicated relationship with the sport, rediscovering the joy in gymnastics.
Despite seeking solitude ahead of her performances, McClain is never truly alone, for she has a pre-meet ritual of her own. Whether LSU is on the road, facing fierce opponents in a stacked SEC conference, or at home, welcoming its loyal fans, she texts her dad before stepping onto the mat.
“I don’t get a response,” she told ESPN, “but it still means something.”
KONNOR DEMONSTRATED A GIFT for gymnastics before she could walk. At 16 months old, she was pulling herself up on the rings at her local gym, her mom, Lorinda, said. By 20 months, she was performing backbend kickovers in the living room. Her dad, Marc, even gave her the nickname “Bird” for her gravity-defying flips.
“My dad was my best friend,” Konnor said. “He did all the ball sports with my siblings, and so we had a different kind of bond.”
With her dad cheering her on, Konnor thrived. She was selected to the U.S. junior national team in 2018, and again the following year. But as she progressed, so too did the pressure. In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic interrupted her strict training schedule. And the postponement of the 2020 Olympics meant she was suddenly age-eligible to compete in the next year’s Games. As Konnor hurried to prepare for the Olympics, however, she faced a crushing reality.
Growing up, Konnor was one of the only athletes of color at her gym; her mom is white, and her dad Black. But it wasn’t until she was older that she felt like she was treated differently because of her race.
“It wasn’t the best, just because we’re growing up as mixed children in a predominantly white state,” she said. “I started to realize it, and like, realize these are not my people.”
She felt singled out at times, saying the negativity sowed doubt. “Is there something wrong with me?” she’d ask herself. “Like, why am I still doing this?”
She kept the worst of her experiences from her father, because she knew he’d encourage her to leave the gym if he ever found out. But in May 2021, Konnor came to the decision on her own. After a disappointing performance at the U.S. Classic, and an even more disappointing response from her coaches, she resolved to leave West Virginia.
With the Olympics just months away, Konnor acted quickly. She reached out to 2008 Olympic all-around champion Nastia Liukin and asked to join the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy, owned by Nastia’s father, Valeri. The Liukins agreed to take Konnor on.
In a matter of days, she had packed up her belongings and made the 16-hour drive to Texas with her dad. As always, Marc offered words of wisdom along the way.
“It was just like, ‘OK, the past is the past. Let’s move on.’ And that’s what it was,” she said. “We never looked back on what just had happened, and we wanted to move forward, because at the end of the day, I still had more competitions to achieve.”
Competitions like the Olympics. But shortly after arriving in Texas, Konnor decided she wasn’t ready to try for the Games. Instead, she spent the summer recovering from a hand injury — and contemplating a future in collegiate gymnastics. Clark had been making recruiting trips to Konnor’s gym since she was in middle school, and she’d had her heart set on LSU since 2018, when she visited the Baton Rouge campus for a national team event.
“She was one of those kids that comes along in a generation that is legendary even before they arrive,” Clark said. “There’s few athletes that move the needle that way.”
Konnor committed in August 2021. But she didn’t intend to join the Tigers until after the 2024 Olympics. In pursuit of that goal, she planned to participate in October’s world championships selection camp. Making the team would be the next step toward her senior international debut.
Before the event, Konnor’s dad and younger brother visited her and her mom in Texas. They traveled in from Las Vegas, where the rest of the family had moved when Konnor changed gyms. After a few days, she saw them off at the airport, embracing them both.
It would be the last time she ever received a hug from her dad.
KONNOR PLACED FOURTH at the 2021 world championships selection camp, earning her a position on the U.S. team, and then went on to worlds, where she placed eighth on beam in qualifications, narrowly missing the event final.
A few weeks later, however, her own world came to a stop.
The day after Thanksgiving, Marc called Konnor and Lorinda. He wasn’t feeling well. But Konnor and her mom weren’t concerned. “This guy gets a paper cut and cries,” Lorinda said.
Then, Marc stopped answering his phone. When he finally called again, it was to report that he had COVID-19 and was heading to the hospital. He was in critical condition.
Konnor and her mom immediately flew to Las Vegas, but COVID-19 protocol meant they couldn’t visit with Marc. Konnor stayed a week before returning to Texas to continue training. Gymnastics was the last thing on her mind. “I was just like, if my dad dies, I die,” she said.
The McClains stayed connected over FaceTime, offering encouraging words to Marc, who was on a ventilator. “There was no talking back, but we knew he was listening,” Konnor said, “Because sometimes, a tear would drop from his face.”
On Christmas Day, Lorinda called Konnor back to Las Vegas. Two days later, Marc died. He was 55 years old. Konnor watched his final minutes from the hospital room window.
The next day, the McClains spent hours at a local tattoo shop celebrating a dad who dedicated his life to family. Konnor chose the image of a bird, in honor of the nickname he had given her. But it now raised complicated feelings.
“After he passed, that’s when I started blaming gymnastics on why I wasn’t with my family, and why I didn’t get as much time with my dad as my siblings did,” she said. “But he was the one who wanted me in the gym. And so it took a long time for me to realize that.”
TWO MONTHS AFTER her father’s death, Konnor returned to competition. She participated in elite gymnastics’ season kickoff event, the Winter Cup, sporting a patch with Marc’s initials on the back of her leotard. And she won.
“It felt like he was right there beside me and he almost, like, helped me,” she said. “Because he knew I could do it and he, like, held me up there on the events. He didn’t let me fall.”
Konnor kept winning. In April, she took home the all-around title at Italy’s City of Jesolo Trophy. And in August, she earned the same honor at the U.S. gymnastics national championships. Flanked by Jordan Chiles and Shilese Jones, it was the first time in the history of the competition that Black gymnasts had earned the three top spots.
“I kind of used my anger and all the pain that I suffered through, and I persevered,” she said.
But a bothersome back injury brought Konnor’s momentum to a halt. She underwent surgery in 2023 and struggled with recovery. This time, her father wasn’t there to offer the optimism she needed. While she had planned to dedicate the next year exclusively to Olympic training, she decided to go to LSU a year early.
“The kid, I just think, was a little bit hollowed out by life,” Clark said. He made it clear that Konnor’s mental and emotional wellbeing was top priority.
“[Clark] makes me feel loved as a person before a gymnast,” Konnor said. “I feel like I’ve never had that before.”
Elite gymnasts are molded to be athletes of independence. While they strive to qualify for national teams and the opportunity to represent their country, the journey can be isolating. Konnor quickly learned the opposite is true for collegiate gymnastics. Teammates are united by more than school pride; after training together day-in and day-out, they are deeply invested in each others’ success.
“Your friendships and your teammates are what get you through the hard days,” said Amari Drayton, one of Konnor’s roommates, and another standout sophomore for the Tigers.
“They’re the ones who made me love gymnastics again,” Konnor said.
Konnor competed in the 2024 collegiate gymnastics season. In the second meet of her college career, she scored a perfect 10.0 on the uneven bars. She would earn two more 10.0s — including one at the SEC championships — before the team claimed a spot in the NCAA national championship finals.
After leading for the first half of the competition, LSU sat in second place going into the last event: balance beam. At third in the rotation, Konnor was following a fall that threatened to steal the Tigers’ opportunity to win.
 ”We always say the next person up is what’s most important,” said Haleigh Bryant, an LSU graduate student and 2024 NCAA all-around champion. Konnor embraced the task, performing a near-flawless routine. “Konnor got that rotation and that lineup back on track, and we followed her like there was no fall before her.”
Three routines later, LSU secured the program’s first national title.
KONNOR HAD A MONTH to celebrate LSU’s victory — and finish freshman year final exams — before returning to the elite circuit. She aimed to qualify for the 2024 Olympics, and this time, she felt ready. Competing in the U.S. Classic, she executed an exceptional first rotation beam routine that ended up earning her third place, behind Suni Lee and Simone Biles. But she never had a chance to complete her comeback. During second rotation floor warm ups, Konnor tore her Achilles tendon. Once again, she would have to give up pursuit of the Games.
“I could have gone into a deep, dark hole, and I didn’t want to do that,” she said. Motivated by the memory of her father and the support of her team, she pushed through. “I had such a great season. I was so happy throughout the whole semester. There was no reason for me to do that again, just because of a torn Achilles.”
Konnor attacked her rehab. By the start of the 2025 college gymnastics season, she was competing on bars and beam. Her season-high 9.975 on bars in LSU’s meet against Georgia contributed to the highest team score in program history.
Last month, the Tigers claimed the SEC championship title, earning their first No. 1 NCAA tournament seed. Konnor was selected for her second consecutive All-SEC team, and she was named a Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association All-American on bars. In the NCAA regional round, she competed on floor for the first time since her injury. This week, the Tigers will have a chance to defend their title at the NCAA championships, beginning Thursday.
Today, Konnor finds her motivation off the mat. “Life is just keeping me going. I wake up and I’m just grateful,” she said. “Every day is worth it to me.”
Whether that day brings her another national title, an Olympic berth, or simply a few minutes of pure joy doing the sport she loves. Because while she once resented gymnastics for putting distance between her and her dad, she now understands that’s where he hoped she’d find her happiness.
Still, after so many texts unanswered, and so many meets unseen, Konnor says she can’t help but wonder what her dad would say today.
Lorinda is confident in the answer: “He would definitely tell her, ‘Yeah, you did great, Bird.'”
