How Laurie Hernandez Battled Self-Doubt During Her Memorable Olympic Journey
August 25, 2023; San Jose, California, USA; Laurie Hernandez during the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships at SAP Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
August 25, 2023; San Jose, California, USA; Laurie Hernandez during the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships at SAP Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
While gymnastics star Laurie Hernandez’s Olympic glory is known to all, a recent initiation for Olympic Day on June 23 shed light on an aspect unknown to many.
Hernandez, the youngest Team US member at the 2016 Rio Games, competed alongside reigning champions Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Gabby Douglas. Yet despite winning gold and silver medals, she battled imposter syndrome.
“I felt like I trained really well. And then I would go out and compete and make mistakes that I usually didn't see happening during training,” she said, according to Olympics.com reporter Evelyn Watta. “So, it was really easy to get in my head about that and question, ‘Am I meant to be doing this?’”
Laurie Hernandez on stage for GLOBAL CITIZEN FESTIVAL 2025, Central Park Great Lawn, New York, NY, September 27, 2025. Photo By: Kristin Callahan/Everett Collection2527S02 KH040 PUBLICATIONXNOTxINxCANxCHNxFRAxITAxJPNxNORxPOLxRUSxESPxUKxUSA Copyright: xx 2527S02 KH040 2527S02_KH040_H
Laurie Hernandez on stage for GLOBAL CITIZEN FESTIVAL 2025, Central Park Great Lawn, New York, NY, September 27, 2025. Photo By: Kristin Callahan/Everett Collection2527S02 KH040 PUBLICATIONXNOTxINxCANxCHNxFRAxITAxJPNxNORxPOLxRUSxESPxUKxUSA Copyright: xx 2527S02 KH040 2527S02_KH040_H
Winning all-around golds in the 2015 US Championship, International Junior Japan Meet, and U.S. Classic should have silenced her doubts. But they didn't. When the other gymnasts walked in, a 16-year-old Hernandez thought she didn’t deserve to be in the same room as them.
“I won elite nationals in my junior division last year!’ These are all-around Olympic champions, all-around world champions,” she revealed in a 2022 appearance at the UNC-Chapel Hill, to celebrate Latinx Heritage Month. “I don’t deserve to be here. How I got in was an accident.”
At one point, gymnastics didn’t even feel like her purpose. But Hernandez decided to keep going despite it all.
How Laurie Hernandez Reframed Her Mindset
The achievements that put her in the 2016 “Final Five” team or her silver medal on balance beam proved it was no “accident.” And Hernandez realized it not by blatantly fighting the self-doubts, but by acknowledging them and still giving her best.
“When imposter syndrome hits, you have to look it in the eyes and say, ‘I see that you’re there, but I’m not going to push away. You sit as long as you want,” she said at UNC-Chapel Hill on the same event. “Things only grow if you let them, and they grow bigger when you try to push them away.”
Embracing the vulnerability and showing resilience to it made Hernandez the champion she is, both on and off the mats. Her lifting the Dancing with the Stars trophy in 2016, the same year, only proves it even more.
Do you find her journey inspiring? Let us know in the comments.
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Written by
Deblina Roy