Baby Konnor (olympics.com, 17 Mar 2022)

Painting, drawing, writing. (usagym.org, 19 Aug 2022)

Athlete

English

World Olympic Gymnastics Academy [WOGA]: Plano, TX, USA

Valeri Liukin [club]; Anna Liukin [club]

Her brother Cole played American football at Waynesburg University in the United States of America. Her sister Olivia was a softball prospect while at high school in the United States of America. (usagym.org, 01 Jan 2022; waynesburgsports.com, 01 Jan 2014; maxpreps.com, 01 May 2017)

A back injury meant that she missed the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool, England. (olympics.nbcsports.com, 06 Oct 2022)

She missed the 2022 US Classic due to a concussion and stress fractures in both shins. (teamusa.org, 22 Aug 2022)

She was affected by an ankle injury in early 2021. (collegegymnews.com, 31 Aug 2021)

Her mother took her to a baby gymnastics course at age 18 months, and she started to train seriously at age three.

She wanted to be like her sister. "I started because of my sister. She would come back from the gym with a new skill and then 15 minutes later I would come in the room and do the same skill."

To win a gold medal in the all-around event at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. She also aspires to become a firefighter after her sporting career is over. (teamusa.org, 22 Aug 2022, 19 Aug 2022)

US gymnasts Laurie Hernandez and Aly Raisman. (wowktv.com, 10 Sep 2018; tripletwistgym.blogspot.com, 15 Jul 2017)

US gymnast Sunisa Lee. (olympics.com, 17 Mar 2022)

FAMILY TRAGEDY
Her father Marc passed away due to COVID-19 in December 2021, and her grandmother then also passed away as a result of COVID-19 a week later. McClain was supported by US gymnast Sunisa Lee, whose father was paralysed from the waist down in 2019. "In that moment [after her father and grandmother passed away], I didn't even want to live. I just felt like I was breaking down. [Lee] was like, 'I felt the same way, too, at one point'. I was like, 'Okay, then I got it'. Like, if Suni says it, then I can do it." (dallasnews.com, 11 Aug 2022; olympics.com, 17 Mar 2022)

PASSION REIGNITED
In 2021 she switched gyms from Revolution Gymnastics in Cross Lanes, WV, United States of America, to the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy [WOGA] in Plano, TX, United States of America. She said the move renewed her motivation for gymnastics, as she had considered quitting the sport. "I was having a rough year inside the gym. I didn't really have the love for gymnastics. I felt forced going into the gym. I wasn't really having a good time anymore, so by the time I got to Classics [the US Classic in May 2021], I was so over it and I felt so done. I didn't want to compete. I was ready to quit gymnastics. I didn't want to, but I was so done. I [felt] like I needed a change because [my gym] wasn't good for my head. I started hating everything at that point. A couple of weeks after I switched [gyms] I really started doing it for me and not doing it for other people, because I just enjoyed it again. And I haven't felt the joy for the sport in a long time. Ever since I felt it, I started loving it even more." (collegegymnews.com, 31 Aug 2021)

COLLEGE COMMITMENT
She has committed to study at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA, United States of America. (Instagram profile, 10 Oct 2021; collegegymnews.com, 31 Aug 2021)