Morgan Hurd's new outlook: "I learned to kind of live my life not regretting."
The 2017 world all-around champion on how an ACL injury allowed her to explore new opportunities and find a new perspective on her sport
Artistic Gymnastics
An elite gymnast’s singular focus can perhaps be best understood by hearing 2017 world all-around champion Morgan Hurd of the United States talk about her ACL tear.
The 21-year-old is pretty sure she tore it in 2020 training on the floor exercise.
“I did a two-and-a-half punch front and my knee turned in when I did the front tuck,” Hurd explained during an exclusive interview with Olympics.com. “My knee was really swollen and I couldn’t straight it for like a week. But, then, they told me it was just a sprain. I was like, ‘Okay, that’s fine.’”
Hurd, who starred in the Olympic Channel original series All Around, continued training. Competing the next year at the U.S. Classic and the U.S. Championships. Injuries – including several to her elbow – kept her from the form that took her to winning five world championships medals, including her 2017 all-around gold and 2018 team title.
She missed out on qualifying to the U.S. Olympic trials and, subsequently, the Tokyo Games.
Hurd took part in Simone Biles’ Gold Over America Tour in the fall of 2021 and then began preparing to join the University of Florida’s women’s gymnastics team.
“I was landing a side aerial, lay[out stepout] in December of 2021 and my knee turn in and I just kind of fell off the beam,” Hurd recalled. “I said to [my coach] Brooke [Parker], ‘I can’t tell if I’m being dramatic, but I think my knee popped.’”
She wasn’t being dramatic, as doctors two weeks later told her she had a torn ACL.
“[The doctor said,] ‘Yeah, tore your ACL but you tore it a while ago because all your fibers are gone,’” Hurd said of the diagnosis. “So, I’m pretty sure I tore it in 2020.”
• Morgan Hurd: "I constantly felt like I was running out of time"
A chance to explore
The timing couldn’t have been worse with Hurd set to move to Gainesville soon after.
“My surgery was January 10th,” she said. “I think it was two weeks after I got [to Florida] and a few days after classes started. I was just hobbling around campus, which was kind of embarrassing for my first week of classes.”
Unable to fully participate with her team, Hurd took advantage of the free time… and her new environment.
“I’ve joined a few different orgs here on campus. One of the ones that I am pretty involved with is the Chinese American Association,” Hurd explained. “I got into that during the fall semester. I danced and did lion dancing for their mid-Autumn show. From that, I made a really good group of friends.
“I met some really great people, who perform a lot, too, and that led me to performing a while ago,” she continued. “They got me to try so many different things, like I did breakdancing at one point last semester.”
Hurd, born in China and adopted by her mother, Sherri, has enjoyed the insight into her heritage.
“This has definitely been the easiest process for me to get more in touch with my heritage,” she admitted. “You know, being around people that did grow up around that, it’s really helped me immerse because I don’t’ feel as like clueless and trying to figure it out on my own.”
It’s also given Hurd a new outlook on where gymnastics fits into her life.
“I think because of the injury, it’s definitely helped me kind of break out of my shell because I think if I had come to college just kind of ready to compete, I would have stayed in the elite mindset,” Hurd explained. “I had that like everything I do is for gymnastics [mindset] and my whole life revolves around gymnastics and every decision I make is for gymnastics. But, then, because I was injured, I had so much free time, so much pent up energy, it really helped me kind of put myself out there and get more comfortable with doing things I’d never done before.”
An evolving perspective, a consistent mission
As her world expands, the way in which Hurd looks back at her disappointment of not making the Olympic Games has begun to shift.
“There’s so many possibilities in life, so many different roads, and the smallest thing can lead you on a whole entire different path,” Hurd said. “I learned to kind of live my life not regretting [things] or being so sour about the past just because it leads you to where you are today.
“You don’t really know what would have happened if everything went that,” she continued. “Like, you could have not been as happy, so I’m just wanting to live more in the present.”
As frustration with the challenges she faced training in 2021 built and in the aftermath of her disappointment, she channeled much of her energy into her causes close to her heart, attending rallies against Asian hate, even as a featured speaker.
Hurd continues to use her platform to speak on issues of importance to her.
She’s – finally – returned to competitive gymnastics, performing routines on the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise for her Gator squad already in the 2023 season. (Hurd says she’s not planning to train vault this year.)
Her return to competition also gave her an opportunity when, as part of Florida’s inclusion meet, the Delaware-native dawned a pansexual flag and declared herself ‘queer’ on her Instagram.
“It’s not really a super important thing for me to be super clear [about my sexuality,]” said Hurd. “People can speculate all they want. But I think it’s just an important thing to show to the world… that you might be scared to come out or feel really alone in the world. You know, representation matters.”
And for Hurd, it matters that she can make a difference.
“With whatever I do, I just always hope that it helps not even just younger athletes, but really anyone out there, even adults, just know that they’re not alone,” she said, “and to hopefully give other people courage to not shy away from using their voice to speak their mind and stand up for what they believe it, and be who they want to be.”