Athletes Who Inspire: Joscelyn Roberson and Jordyn Wieber
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — It takes dedication and perseverance to become an elite gymnast, and even then only a select few become Olympians.
18-year-old elite gymnast Joscelyn Roberson is hoping to be a part of the 2024 team in Paris, and she has a member of the 2012 Fierce Five to support her.
“I have been getting up in the morning to go to practice probably since I was like nine or ten. I don’t think you can ever get used to getting up this early,” Roberson said.
It’s the start of a typical morning for Roberson.
“We are going from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. We do get a break in there,” Roberson said.
The daily routine all tailored towards one goal, the Olympic games in Paris.
“Just fell in love with watching it on TV, and I wanted to be those girls one day when a cup started. And then, I feel like it was just like a ball that started rolling, and I just got better and better and better. And, I ended up making world and I was like, wow. Like, I really did that,” Roberson said.
A member of the Fierce Five at the 2012 Olympics, Roberson’s coach Jordan Wieber’s path has helped her around the sport she loves.
“Arkansas really wasn’t on the plate when I was thinking about college. I was like, ‘No’, but I was like, ‘But I want to talk to Jordan, so I’m going to call her.’ I was like, ‘I have to be her one day,'” Roberson said.
“I think coaching really fills that gap of missing gymnastics and competing the first couple of years after I retired. It was really hard for me to be out of meet and not be out there performing,” Wieber said.
“[Roberson] is very team-oriented. That is the way her brain works. I’ve texted her a few times when she’s been overseas competing internationally, and she will always say, ‘No, the team is my first priority,'” Wieber said.
“Five girls in the whole world make the USA world’s team. You know, I was soaking up every aspect that I could,” Roberson said.
During the World Championships in 2023, Roberson injured her foot while warming up on the vault.
“I land short, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s not fine,'” Roberson said.
“Having that realization that you physically cannot do that, it makes me emotional, now, just because I’ve wanted it so bad,” Roberson said.
Battling through an injury is just as much mental as it is physical. A journey she is navigating day by day.
“I know that any Olympic journey team or not is a really difficult one, and I’LL be proud of her no matter what,” Wieber said.
“Just be there and say that I mean it. And that little girl was right when she said she was going to be there when she said she was going to make it,” Roberson said.
The gymnastics Olympic trials are at the end of June in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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