U.S. all-around champion Konnor McClain will miss upcoming domestic gymnastics meets while recovering from recent hand surgery.
McClain, 18, will miss the U.S. Classic on Aug. 5, putting her in line to miss the U.S. Championships later in August.
“Right now her focus is getting healthy,” a representative for McClain said.
A USA Gymnastics spokesperson said that McClain must “compete at Classic and hit qualifying marks if she aspires to qualify for and compete at Championships.”
McClain’s rep said that she hopes to return to elite competition later this year and that they are discussing a possible petition for a world championships team selection camp in September.
Later Thursday, LSU announced that McClain will join that program this fall rather than defer to after the 2024 Olympics, which had been the plan.
The last U.S. female gymnast to compete collegiately in the season leading up to making an Olympic team was Kelly Garrison in 1988.
Last year, McClain withdrew from world team consideration due to a back injury. She has not competed since.
Before that, she became the sixth woman to win the all-around in her senior nationals debut since 2000. The other five later won Olympic and/or world all-around titles, the most recent Simone Biles.
McClain, the 2019 U.S. junior all-around silver medalist, was originally too young for the Tokyo Olympics but became age-eligible when the Games were postponed one year to 2021. She skipped the 2021 nationals (and a shot at Olympic Trials) to focus on a 2024 Olympic bid.
