Life after gymnastics - Laurie Hernandez reflects on her freshman year at NYU

The 2016 Olympic gold and silver medal winning U.S. gymnast Laurie Hernandez is working on the next chapter of her life.

The 23-year-old recently finished her freshman year at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she is studying drama and considering minoring in creative writing.

That Hernandez is studying drama comes as no surprise to those who have followed her for years. As a youngster, Hernandez dazzled on the floor exercise, captivating the world on the event at the Rio 2016 Games, and held her own in media interviews from the age of 13 or 14.

It’s also not much a shock that Hernandez is excelling in the Big Apple – though there has been one little hiccup.

“I got all straight As, except for my movement class, which I probably shouldn’t mention,” Hernandez told Olympics.com with a laugh during an interview at the U.S. Classic (5 August 2023) where she was working with U.S. broadcaster NBC.

How does an Olympic balance beam silver medallist not get an A in movement? Well, even Hernandez isn’t quite sure.

“I don’t know! We get little report cards, and I was like, ‘No way,’” she said. “But yeah, anyways, it averaged out to straight As and I’m really happy about that because I’ve been homeschooled my whole life.”

The last time Hernandez was in a classroom was third grade. As her gymnastics talent became apparent, so did the commitment it took.

As she starts her second act in life, Hernandez has found her new passion – and validation of her ability beyond the sport that has defined so much of her life to this point.

“There was a little part of me that was like, ‘Okay, I’m really good at gymnastics. Can I be good at anything else?’ And so far, so good,” Hernandez said candidly. “Acting and just the world of entertainment is definitely on the horizon for me.”

“I’m not a gymnast when I’m at school, I am just me.”

Though the spotlight – and cameras – may one day be back on Hernandez, she’s enjoying as normal of a life as possible at NYU.

“During that first week, like orientation week, I think people freaked out a bit and just noticed me a lot,” she admits. “Literally, as soon as the first week was over, no one could care less. It was perfect. That’s exactly what I wanted. I’m not a gymnast when I’m at school, I am just me and I’m just trying to learn like all the other kids.”

Hernandez’s life, she admits, is still a balance between the Olympic champion, Dancing with the Stars celebrity side of herself and the rising sophomore version.

The student aspect of her life includes living in Brooklyn with her partner, former trampoline gymnast Charlotte Drury. Drury was a member of the U.S. Olympic team for Tokyo 2020 in 2021, serving as a replacement athlete.

Their relationship is a modern classic: “We slid into each other’s DMs on Instagram,” Hernandez says. “The classic Gen Z.”

The couple are both transitioning into their post-sporting careers with Drury focusing on photography.

“I will say that we’re doing really well, and Brooklyn has been awesome for both of us,” said Hernandez. “We both obviously were in the sports world really prominently, and then now shifted, both of us, into the arts, which is funny to me because [in gymnastics] you have this entire book, the Code of Points, that is what’s perfect and now we’re both like nothing is perfect, everything is abstract.”

The flip side of her life includes speaking engagements, apperances, and sponsorships (“I’m the one who’s responsible for paying for school so we’re definitely still working while school is happening,” she says.).

Oh, and the occasional trip to the Grammy’s that proved difficult to hide from her peers.

“All my friends were like, ‘You went to the Grammy’s across the country, and you didn’t tell us?’” Hernandez recalled of the trip. “I was like, ‘Yeah, we have a scene today. We still have homework, nothing’s changed. Let’s keep going.’ I think moments like that are when I guess my classmates start to remember [who I am].”

“Those two [beam and floor], I think they’ll always have my heart.”

Despite all the changes in Hernandez’s life, gymnastics remains an important part of it.

She was at the U.S. Classic, the event where seven-time Olympic medallist Simone Biles made her return to competition, working with NBC, and plans to also be at the U.S. Championships in the same capacity.

Seeing the sport up-close, including the return of her Rio teammate Biles tempts her, she admits.

“I always kind of do,” she says when asked if she ever gets the itch to return to gymnastics. “I usually have to smother it a little bit because… I don’t know, I’ll see people doing beam and floor. Those two, I think, they’ll always have my heart.

“I could act my little heart away, write as many books as I want, and I don’t think anything will kind of compare to this aspect of performance while also doing something incredible and scary and quite dangerous,” Hernandez continued. “But to me, there’s just so much joy in it and like beam, I would get nervous but it wasn’t hard for me. I felt very grounded into it. There’s always going to be a part of me that is like maybe I should come back and I’m like, ‘No, you literally have class tomorrow.’”