Laurie Hernandez officially traded the gymnastics floor for the Broadway stage. During her debut in & Juliet, one celebratory moment brought her straight back to the intensity of the US Olympic Trials.

Two-time Olympic medalist Laurie Hernandez is making a big splash in the world of entertainment after retiring in 2021 from artistic gymnastics. The 25-year-old made her Broadway debut with & Juliet musical on March 17, 2026.

At the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in New York City, she has featured in a heavy-dance role of Charmion in the musical, and the debut run will continue till June 14 of this year.

In her recent interview with Olympics.com, Hernandez revealed the Broadway debut moment that instantly reminded her of the US Olympic Trials while speaking about her experience on stage with & Juliet musical.

She said, “I remember the confetti. There’s a lot of confetti that happens at the end of the show. I had immediately thought of, like, Olympic trials, when all the confetti comes down, and you’re kind of just taking in that moment, and there’s a feeling of pride, and ‘I made it, and I did it.’ And I never thought that I would have a similar feeling to that again, and I had that during bows,”

She also talked about her first performance as Charmion in the musical during the interview.

Hernandez remarked, “Oh my goodness, the first performance, the Broadway debut, was just… It was, it was pretty mind-blowing. I also completely forgot that when I get really nervous or when I’m anxious for something, that I get really short of breath, and I’m trying to sing and dance at the same time, and all of a sudden, I’m like that’s definitely not the note I’m supposed to be singing.”

“Just make sure to take in the bows. The bows are, like, the most important part, and I feel like I was able to do that,” she concluded.

On April 30, & Juliet hosted a select group of Olympic athletes to watch fellow Olympian Hernandez perform. It included names like Amber Glenn, Anthony Ponomarenko, Alysa Liu, Danny O’Shea, Emilea Zingas, and Haven Shepherd, among others.

Laurie Hernandez is currently graduating from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts

Laurie Hernandez never competed in the NCAA in her gymnastics career after going elite as a junior in 2012 and transitioning to the senior level in 2016. After retiring from the sport nearly five years ago, she is currently graduating from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.

Hernandez was a part of the US women’s team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, which won the gold medal in artistic gymnastics. She, alongside Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman, was famously hailed as the “Final Five” in the sport.

She also won the silver medal on the balance beam at Rio 2016. Shortly afterwards, Hernandez featured on the 23rd season of Dancing with the Stars and won it alongside her dance partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy.

Following her break from the sport, which began in 2016, she decided to return to elite gymnastics ahead of Tokyo 2020. But she couldn’t make the US Olympic trials to qualify for the Olympics and retired soon after.

Read more at Gymnastics Digest!

Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Kaamna Dwivedi