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1 week ago | 
essentiallysports.com | Prasun Chakrabarty |Himanshi Garg
There’s only one rule you have to obey if you play from Jordan Chiles’s side. It is about pure aggression. A freshman from the UCLA Bruins gymnastics program knows this fact. That’s why after landing a huge team score of 198.45 in the Big Ten Conference final this year. The freshman left some big words on her social media handle. And what was that? “Just the warmup. #B1GCHAMPS.” A pure threat to the opponents before the mega NCAA final? You can decide.
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1 week ago | 
essentiallysports.com | Prasun Chakrabarty |Himanshi Garg
“Like Beyoncé, but with an F.” On April 9, 2022, someone wrote these words as the caption of an Instagram post. However, can you guess what the post was about? It had Simone Biles sitting beside her special friend, Kayla Simone, flaunting their engagement rings with smiles on their faces. Now, three years later, things are different. On April 13 this year, Simone Biles shared several photos on her Instagram story, celebrating Kayla’s big day. Yes. Kayla is now pregnant with her baby boy.
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1 week ago | 
essentiallysports.com | Prasun Chakrabarty |Himanshi Garg
Imagine someone texting her father before every gymnastics competition she enters. Well, it isn’t very unexpected, right, especially for someone close to her father? However, how would you respond if we told you that the daughter still sends brief texts before competing in gymnastics events, even though the father passed away four years ago? Touchy, right? Yes. That has been Konnor McClain’s story for the last four years.
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1 week ago | 
essentiallysports.com | Prasun Chakrabarty |Himanshi Garg
“Someone asked before the race how would I love to go out, and I said I would just enjoy the moment.” Those words hung gently under the July sky, spoken from the heart by a legend standing on the sacred track of the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in 2016. The crowd leaned in—not just to hear, but to feel. Because this wasn’t just any track, and this wasn’t just any athlete. This was Sanya Richards-Ross.
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1 week ago | 
essentiallysports.com | Prasun Chakrabarty |Himanshi Garg
“People still hated on me all the way to the point of my retirement.” Shocking, isn’t it? To pour your heart into a sport, to climb the ranks, to stand at the pinnacle of the Olympic Games—and still be met with hate. For a track and field athlete, it’s not just about running fast or jumping far. It’s also about carrying the weight of expectations, scrutiny, and public perception.
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1 week ago | 
essentiallysports.com | Prasun Chakrabarty |Himanshi Garg
For a teenager from Minneapolis, earning a spot on the inaugural gymnastics team at Talladega College in Alabama was like stepping into history. The small HBCU had become only the second in the country to launch a gymnastics program, following in the pioneering footsteps of Fisk University in 2022. But for that teenager, this wasn’t just about joining a team.
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1 week ago | 
essentiallysports.com | Diptarko Paul |Himanshi Garg
“I’m going to marry this girl one day,” thought North Battleford native Colby Cave to himself when he came across Emily’s Instagram page in 2013. Life moved on for the hockey star, who left behind his WHL days to go and suit up for the Bruins and the Oilers in the NHL. But one thing remained the same, and that was his fondness for the girl he saw on social media. Naturally, for Emily Cave, too, it’s impossible to forget about her former husband, despite Colby leaving the mortal plains years ago.
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1 week ago | 
essentiallysports.com | Prasun Chakrabarty |Himanshi Garg
It’s been five days since the curtain closed on the much-hyped inaugural edition of Grand Slam Track — Michael Johnson’s bold attempt to revolutionize professional athletics. But instead of basking in unanimous praise, the question echoing through the world of track and field is… Did it deliver? On paper, everything was in place: a world-class lineup, a flashy new format, and the crown jewel of Caribbean athletics — Kingston’s National Stadium. Jamaica seemed like the perfect launchpad.
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1 week ago | 
essentiallysports.com | Prasun Chakrabarty |Himanshi Garg
“Oh how we missed watching @_KonnorMcClain on floor.” That’s what LSU Gymnastics posted on April 9—and they weren’t kidding. After months, Konnor McClain returned with a bang this season, and her success story continued in the NCAA Regional Final, scoring a stunning 9.900 on the floor. Her performance wasn’t just a comeback—it was a clutch. Her score helped seal the deal for LSU, pushing them past powerhouse programs like Arkansas, Kentucky, and Michigan State. But the road doesn’t stop there.
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2 weeks ago | 
essentiallysports.com | Prasun Chakrabarty |Himanshi Garg
Whether she’s flipping through the air in front of the world or just vibing on X about her latest craving, one thing about Simone Biles has never changed— her love for pizza. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2016, when she was chatting about her rise to global stardom and dishing out classic advice like “never give up” and “don’t forget to have fun,” or if it’s 2024, with Simone raving about her love for Chicago and throwing out tweets like: “pizza & hotdogs..
