Mykayla Skinner

MyKayla Skinner (born December 9, 1996) is an American senior elite gymnast. Her strengths are in floor exercise and vault where Skinner performs some of the hardest skills in the world. She is a potential competitor in upcoming World Championships and in the 2016 Olympics. Skinner was barely age-eligible for the 2012 Olympics but was not selected.

Athletic career
On February 5, 2011, less than 2 months past her 14th birthday, Skinner became the 15th female in history to land an Amanar vault in a competition. She was the individual All-Around Champion of the 2011 American Classic and was named to the Junior US National Team after finishing tenth in the All-Around (second in vault) at the National Championships. . Skinner began to attract attention as a potential dark horse to make the 2012 Olympic team. However, in November, Skinner's coach Spini emphasized that this was not her only chance for glory:

"MyKayla’s gymnastics career is not just about the 2012 Olympics. She is very young, just barely making the age requirement. She has a long career ahead of her, including numerous international competition opportunities, such as World Championships and the 2016 Olympics."

In 2012, Skinner was a member of the U.S. senior national team. In March 2012, she was a member of the winning U.S. squad at the Jesolo competition. In Jun 2012, she finished 15th all around at the U.S. Nationals and third on vault. She had targetted making the 2012 US Women's Olympic Team but was not selected to attend Trials.

In early 2013, Skinner became the first female to perform a double-twisting double layout on floor exercise. The Italian news source Olimpiazzurra took note of this achievement, emphasizing that only a handful of women had ever performed a single-twisting double layout. They noted that the trick ought to be earn a difficulty of "I or even L" (but H is the highest difficulty that exists) and compared Skinner to Aly Raisman, the reigning Olympic gold medalist on floor exercise. Skinner also showed a Cheng vault (6.5 difficulty rating, one of a handful of gymnasts in the world performing this level of difficulty).

Training and education
As of 2012, Skinner trains with head coach Lisa Spini at Desert Lights Gymnastics in Chandler, AZ. Her other coaches include Neela Nelson, Bruce McGehee, Bob Peterson and Chris George. Skinner attended Higley High School in late 2011 as a freshman but was home schooled as of late 2012 (home schooling is common for elite female gymnasts because of time demands). In December 2012, Skinner committed to attend Utah State as a college gymnast, starting in 2015.

2012

 * 2012 City of Jesolo Trophy, Jesolo, Italy: 10th-AA

2011

 * 2011 Visa Championships, Saint Paul, MN: 2nd-VT; 10th-AA (Jr. Div)
 * 2011 American Classic, Huntsville, TX: 1st-AA; 2nd-VT; 2nd-FX; 3rd-BB; 5th-UB (Jr. 1)
 * 2011 WOGA Classic, Dallas, TX: 2nd-VT (Jr. Div)

2010

 * 2010 Visa Championships, Hartford, CT: 8th-VT (Jr. Div)
 * 2010 Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup, Worcester, MA: 5th-VT; 7th-AA;
 * 2010 Fiesta Bowl Invitational, Chandler, AZ: 1st-AA; 1st-VT; 1st-UB; 1st-FX; 4th-BB;

2009

 * 2009 Women's Junior Olympic Level 10 National Championships, Puyallup, WA: 1st-VT (Jr. A)