Evita Griskenas is performing the ultimate rhythmic gymnastics balancing act

There’s a moment in U.S. rhythmic gymnast Evita Griskenas’ routine with ball where she holds the ball between her neck and her back and then moves into several pirouettes in a full split on one leg.

It’s a move that requires precision, flexibility and, most of all, balance.

But her intricate maneuver on the carpet doesn’t come close to her biggest balancing act of all: school and elite-level gymnastics training.

The 21-year-old Chicagoland-native is in her second year of studies at Columbia University in New York while she also trains with her long-time club and coach in suburban Chicago.

“Of course, the support from my parents and my coach is very important, being able to work together and figure out a plan that works,” explained Griskenas during an interview in late June.

“I've been flying between New York and Chicago every week when I was in the semester,” she continued, “and so what would happen is I would train on mornings on Sunday by myself, do some tosses, things like that, and then I would get on a plane, fly to school, be there around the evening time.”

She’d then take classes all day Monday before flying back to Chicago either later that evening or first thing on Tuesday.

Here is everything you need to know about the gymnastics events at the World Games.

Griskenas on challenges

For Griskenas, the challenge is more than rewarding. She says it actually has made her better in both aspects of her life.

“I find that by doing both school and gymnastics, I'm able to do better in both because that way I can... I don't know how to describe it,” she said, “but when I have extra time, I'm able to fill it with something productive.”

The balancing act hasn’t slowed the 2020 Olympian, who helped Team USA claim gold while taking the all-around title individually at the Pan American Championships in Rio on 8 July.

And now, just days later, she’s ready to take center stage at the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, where she’ll face off with several other Olympians including Bulgaria's Boryana Kaleyn and Italy's Milena Baldassarri, who finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Fans can watch the action from the World Games right here on Olympics.com.

With rhythmic gymnastics rarely having international competitions in North America, Griskenas is looking forward to having two familiar faces in the crowd: her parents.

“I find The World Games to be very personally important because my parents have never been able to travel abroad to watch me compete, and they can't even come to nationals. They haven't watched me at Nationals in many years,” Griskenas said. “And part of it is that I do come from a low-income family, and it's really hard and someone has to work and it's really hard to coordinate. And I told them, ‘If I'm being selected for World Games, you all are coming and you're getting that like Games experience that you were not able to get whenever I've been able to compete.’ And so, it will be very, very special for me.”

She’s hoping, too, for another Games experience at the Paris 2024 Olympics. After competing in Tokyo, Griskenas took part in Tokyo’s Closing Ceremony and knew in that moment that she wanted a return ticket.

“They were raising up the flag… when they were like passing along the flag to the next country,” she recalled. “And I saw the French flag and I just stood there and I knew I was like, 'Well, that's it. I'm going to Paris, like I have to. I have to try.’

“So, working on it.”