Kyla Ross: Four Years Later

Four years ago, in 2011, Kyla Ross was a 15-year-old American junior gymnast with no senior elite experience to her name. The following year, 2012, Ross made the US Olympic Team and brought home a gold medal from London, as a member of the famed Fierce Five.

Now in 2015, with the 2016 Olympics a year away, Ross has her sights set on returning to the Olympic stage once more. Check out behind-the-scenes footage at Ross’s training and listen to what she and coach Jenny Zhang have to say about what has changed over the past four years. Ross also talks about her new skill on bars, a Pak full (Bhardwaj).

[KandeShack]

Breaks my heart that all these years later her gymnastics life came to such an abrupt end as a Senior at UCLA. She’s such a beautiful woman and her future is bright!

[brookefarcey]

is anyone else seeing this on their recommendations? just NOW

[ajatribe]

They should do another one since this was four years ago! Who else thinks so?

[joannakroyd]

I think Kyla is one of the most consistent. And her execution is just amazing. People need to layoff saying she needs to upgrade. Yes our depth is deep but she has been very smart and no major injuries from pushing too hard. Some gymnasts have all the difficulty but perform it terribly...Kyla obviously has enough difficulty to be an Olympian and performs is perfectly!!! GO KYLA!!!

[tomgallowitz]

UCLA gymnastics has a wonderful gymnast in Kyla and a wonderful manager/coach in Jordyn

[christinamonica]

This looks amazing! Kyla looked really comfortable with you which is awesome! ! Keep up the good work!!

[tribe]

Thank you so much for this update!  Such a treat to see the new pac full and hear her thoughts on the year ahead.

[m.lizziebrooks]

It's so cool to see that she was training with Fish and Brielle before UCLA !

[MOllinda]

Deanna! I am watching this after watching your videos following UCLA gymnastics this season! When Kyla says, "Kind of like Peng" my heart melted!

[MZ_]

I like that Kyla is patient enough with her gymnastics. She wants to peak next year and doesn't seem to rush it. Obviously, upgrades are needed if she wants to factor into the medals at the Rio Olympics but she doesn't seem to get too desperate and respects her body. 

I do not count her out for the next Olympics at all. At the Secret US Classics this year she was injured and played it safe. If she heals up in time and doesn't get seriously injured again, I think she will be on the olympic team for sure. At Worlds 2013 she was incredible! And that was with lower start values. I said it before and I'll say it again, but the fact that she was able to medal at the 2013 and 2014 Worlds with much lower start values is such an achievement.

I'm obviously biased as I fell in love with gymnastics during the 2012 Olympics, but my dream podium for the AA in Rio would be: 1. Kyla, 2. Larisa Iordache, 3. Simone. (Obviously, for the VT final I want McKayla Maroney to take home the much deserved gold but I have a feeling that she might not even go for it again... The fact that she didn't show up at the 2015 US Classic makes me quite nervous as to her gymnastic plans...).

[heatherwicker]

So hoping she can win an individual gold medal at the Olympics. I love her style. Glad to see she is upgrading. Praying she makes it all the way and wins a gold. I love her consistency too. Good job with the video. Very well done.

[jennas]

I've been following her since London and she is my favorite. I hope she is able to make it to Rio. Such a talented gymnast and she seems so sweet.

[zyxcba]

On vault her form is now pretty much perfect! She fixed the slight leg break she gets on the block and she didn't pike down on landing, her legs were straight all the way through. At Antwerp she scored 15.366 with slight hop, slight break on Block so maybe she could get 15.5s with a DTY, which would be huge considering most gymnasts get that score with an amanar.

[kyoto]

Kyla Ross is one of my favorite female athletes.I am very happy she declined the endorsement dollars, and is going to have a full college experience at The Universiy of California Los Angeles.She is so beautiful, and graceful in her gymnastics routines.She makes me think of a butterfly floating across the sky.I wish her much success academically, as well as, in gymnastics.She is from a georgeous part of the world Hawaii.I hope the island people are routing for Ms.Kyla Ross, as much as I am.Unfortunately, I do not receive PAC 12 TV in New Jersey, so hopefully the coach will download many You Tube Videos. God Bless Kyla Ross, and hope for her lifelong success. Sincerely, Michael David Silverman.

[erikgarcia]

I ❤ you Kyla. You are awesome no matter what other ppl say. I have faith on you!!! Thanks for this video it gave me chills can't wait to P&G.

[IvanIvanovsky]

Rocking the bHARDwaj! And oh my God, kyla's DTY is to die for. Such form.

[winterkeptuswarm]

2:36 "the person is not always like a machine" 😭💗 Great coach.

[SheaNDamon]

Thanks for the update! So many people think Kyla will be overtaken by up and comers, but I have faith that she'll make the upgrades she needs. She always hits her routines when it matters most. It really doesn't matter what gymnasts can do during training if they don't compete well. Kyla has proven on multiple occasions that she can handle the pressure.

[fe-neri]

There is something about her I really love. She is so mentally strong, as the youngest on the Olympic Team she showed, grace, maturity, and stamina. Go Kyla!
I hope to see you in worlds and in Rio! Bring home another team Gold!

[RegionGymnasticsInsider]

Deanna, very nice video feature. Love seeing upgrades from Kyla. Pak full looks like she has done it for years. Nice work!