'Really harsh' - Laurie Hernandez makes honest confession about life after gymnastics retirement

Retired gymnast and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Laurie Hernandez has recently offered her perspective on moving forward in life without the sport. Hernandez, who was one of the members of the Final Five in the Rio 2016 Olympics, gave a positive outlook on her successful journey.

In her recent appearance on “NBC News”, the gold-medalist artistic gymnast from the Pacific Rim Championship in team event, shared her thoughts on her transition from the sport to moving with a different perspective on life.

“I think something that I found interesting was the transition outside of gymnastics into the next chapter of life is really harsh and can be so sharp. And I feel grateful that, all of the knowledge that I learned in my gymnastics career, I still get to use that even as a retired athlete. I get to take all the feelings and all the heart and the empathy of the sport, and translate that to people who may be new to it and also just to connect with the fans who might even know the sport betther than I do," she shared [2:20 onwards]

Laurie Hernandez began her passion for gymnastics from a very young age. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won the individual silver medal in the balance beam event. In 2015, she was named the US junior national champion. One of the eminent gymnasts from the US, Hernandez suffered an injury before Tokyo Olympic trials and is now retired from the sport.

Laurie Hernandez reflects on her favorite Olympic team tales from Rio 2016

Madison Kocian, Simone Biles; Laurie Hernandez and Aly Raisman at the Team USA Awards - Source: Getty

Laurie Hernandez recalled her most cherished memory when she was a member of the Final Five Olympics team, which competed at the Rio Olympics in 2016. The team included arguably the most decorated gymnast Simone Biles, three-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas, two-time Olympic medalist Madison Kocian, and six-time Olympic medalist Aly Raisman. In an interview with “AccessHollywood” Hernandez shared her favorite memories from Rio in 2016.

“Oooh! What I remember most. We were roommates together, in Rio, and so...it was really fun. We had a lot of giggles. Our favorite thing was to really, like, annoy Aly Raisman. Our whole team was there, but for some reason, just getting under her skin was the best. You know, she'd have to, like, bang the wall to tell us to be quiet because we were laughing too hard.”

Furthermore, she also expressed that Simone Biles is a “joy to be around”. Hernandez also competed in DWTS season 23 and won the competition with her dance partner, Valentin Chmerkovskiy.