Florida gymnast Trinity Thomas can see the City of Light at the end of her tunnel
After hobbling away from her last college meet two months ago, Trinity Thomas thought it might be time to move on for good.
She’d done just about everything a gymnast could do. Her lower right leg ached from yet another injury. Was it time to call it a career?
“I was definitely like, ‘Hmm, we’ll see,’” Thomas said.
She contemplated for a couple of weeks. Her thoughts always came back to one thing.
“I love gymnastics, and I still have fuel in the tank,” she said. “So let’s see how much.”
Buckle up, Trinity Thomas fans. Her ultimate journey has begun.
Thomas announced last week she’s returning to Florida to train for the 2024 Paris Olympics. She’ll also be a student assistant coach and begin work on her second master’s degree.
Thomas will also plot how to get the last laugh on the injury demons that seem to particularly enjoy kicking her in the teeth. Or in this case, the ankles.
She didn’t say that last part. I'm bemoaning for her.
“I know that no road is smooth all the way, and that is totally okay,” Thomas said. “And you learn so much through adversity.”
By now, she has a PhD.
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Thomas injured both ankles a month before the 2021 NCAA meet. That wiped out UF’s title aspirations and Thomas’s hopes of making that year’s pandemic-delayed Olympics.
She stayed healthy in 2022 and virtually owned the sport, winning the NCAA all-around title and the Honda Award as the nation’s top gymnast. Then those demons decided she’d had enough fun.
Thomas strained her lower leg in the NCAA regional meet. Something just popped in the middle of her floor routine. Florida’s national championship hopes pretty much went with it.
“I had a strain down here. Where my calf and my Achilles meet,” Thomas said. “We were just trying to make sure that I didn't tear it, basically.”
At the NCAA meet two weeks later in Fort Worth, Thomas got a 10.0 in the vault. It was a record-tying 28th perfect score in her career. But she struggled (for her) on the bars and couldn’t even try the beam or floor competitions.
Oklahoma won the team title by 15/100ths of a point. That’s the breaks of the gymnastics game.
“You get knocked down, you get back up, and you kind of just play with the cards that you're dealt,” Thomas said.
She thought about folding after Fort Worth, but as Michael Corleone said in “The Godfather: Part III,” “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
That lure was enhanced by how the sport has evolved. Gymnasts used to be washed up before they were old enough to legally drink. Now they train smarter, not longer, spending less time grinding at practice and more time taking care of themselves.
Then there’s NIL. After they peaked in international competitions, gymnasts used to cash in with exhibition tours, which would sacrifice their college eligibility. Now they can combine school and business. Thomas will pursue a master’s in entrepreneurship.
“The NIL world has opened my eyes to some pretty cool things,” she said. “I want to learn how to navigate my own business one day.”
As for navigating her way to Paris, only five gymnasts qualify. As accomplished as Thomas is (she was named SEC Female Athlete of the Year on Thursday), it’s far from certain she’ll make the U.S. team.
The plan is to take things slowly, train smartly and peak in a year. If Thomas gets antsy, she’ll have a new competitive outlet of sorts. Coaching up Florida’s gymnasts on some things she’s learned over the years.
“Just to be able to push them and let them know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said, “even when it’s really hard in the moment.”
Fittingly enough, what Thomas sees at the end of her tunnel is the City of Light. Knowing Thomas, she’ll discover she has plenty of fuel left in her tank.
If she can run over those darned injury demons, there’s no telling how far she might go.
David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidEWhitley
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida gymnastics star Trinity Thomas has the Paris Olympics on her mind
