Can you imagine building a life around a goal and seeing it all go to shambles in a moment? This is exactly what the former Australian gymnast Ava Costa’s reality has been.

In 2023, Brisbane, 14-year-old Costa was shaping her life around the Olympics, hoping to represent her country on the biggest scale one day. But a split-second mistake during a training session resulted in a severe spinal cord injury.

“Gymnastics was my whole world,” Costa tells PEOPLE exclusively in early June 2026. “It wasn't just a sport to me; it was who I was. I remember hitting the mat and instantly knowing something was seriously wrong because I couldn't move. The moments afterwards were terrifying and surreal.”

The injury left her paralyzed below the level of her injury despite emergency surgery. Overnight, a life full of relentless training, competitions and hopes for the Olympics turned into a survival battle, just to move again.

“That was one of the hardest parts because I wasn't just grieving physical movement. I was grieving the life I thought I was going to have,” she explained. “Gymnastics had shaped my identity for so long, and suddenly, everything I had planned disappeared overnight.”

But even if it looked like a dead end, Ava Costa was yet to realize something she couldn’t have understood inside the gym, on the mats.

Ava Costa, a Champion of Resilience

It took endless trials of rehab, medication, and therapy to accept the person she had become. But soon, Costa felt the need to share her journey on her social media, Walking with Ava, inspiring thousands.

“If sharing my journey helps even one person feel less alone, then it's worth it,” she said. “Before my injury, strength meant physical performance, medals and pushing my body to its limits. Now strength means resilience.”

Costa, 17 now, is also involved with The Sharing Shed Foundation. And now, instead of Olympic medals, the former gymnast’s dream is to help “people access essential mobility and disability equipment that can completely change their quality of life.”

Instead of podium finishes, Costa now mentors people navigating disability. Does her journey inspire you? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Deblina Roy