Skye Blakely didn't want to hear it. Just like most teenagers whenever their parents offer to help. Stephanie and Steven Blakely approached their youngest daughter twice in the aftermath of the 2021 Olympic trials — a meet that ended with the 16-year-old's left elbow requiring surgery, ending any shot she had at making the five-woman U.
S. team — and both times Skye respectfully blew them off. “I didn't want to talk to anybody,” Blakely said.
“Honestly, I kind of shut down after that meet.” The pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics unexpectedly had opened a door for the Dallas-area native. If they went on as originally scheduled, she would have been too young to qualify.
When they were pushed back, she pushed to get ready and arrived at trials with a chance to make an impression on the selection committee. Instead, she left St. Louis in tears after her elbow gave way during vault warmups, tearing the ulnar collateral ligament and ending any shot she had at making it to Tokyo.
Not being named to the team is one thing. Having your body betray you is another. “It was traumatic and I had to have surgery,” Blakely said.
“So that was a big shift in my world, and for while it was hard for me to understand, and it just really hurt my feelings in my heart.” So no, she didn't want to talk about it. While she did have a meeting with a mental health professional the day after the injury, she admits now that it wasn't “for real.
” It was more like checking off a box. Then S.
