Do It For That Girl with Skye Blakely

Sarah Spain (0:01)

Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're grateful all four NWSL playoff games are kicking off at different times this weekend. We love the idea of Decision Day, but after an ESPN2 whip around that everyone agreed had almost no whipping and little to no rounding, we'll be happy to take it one game at a time in the postseason. It's Friday, November 6th, and while y'all are listening to this, I'm in Miami, bitch. I'm down in America's wang celebrating my husband's birthday today, so we're skipping the need to know and we're getting straight to my conversation with new gymnastics world champion, Skye Blakely. She talks winning the all-around world title at last month's world championships, persevering after suffering last second injuries ahead of the US Olympic trials, not once, but twice, and how she balances competing in both elite gymnastics for Team USA and college gymnastics for the University of Florida. That conversation is coming up right after this.

Joining us now, she's the 2026 world all-around gymnastics champion, a Florida gator. She's the first woman to be a concurrent NCAA gymnast and world gymnastics champion. A Texas native, she was a member of the teams that won gold at the 2022 and 2023 world championships and silver at this year's Worlds. Her favorite food is chicken and waffles and she's probably got more shoes than you do. It's Skye Blakely. Hi, Skye. Hello, hello.

How's the buying of shoes going? I know you get a lot of free ones as a Nike athlete, but you're also adding to your collection regularly.

Skye Blakely (1:29)

Yes, and I think it's time for a couple of new pairs, so we'll see. We'll see soon.

Sarah Spain (1:34)

Treat yourself. You're a winner. Yes. You know, maybe some gold ones.

You're back from Rotterdam where you won gold in the all around, silver with your US team in the team competition and bronze on vault and uneven bars. Take me to the team event first. How did y'all feel about the silver medal finish just behind China?

Skye Blakely (1:53)

I mean, of course, coming in, the goal is to be on top of the podium, but we had a great competition and silver is still a huge accomplishment, especially for so many young girls, which it was their first world championships. So for the competition that we had, we were strong. We didn't give up any fight and we got the job done and qualifying our country to the LA Olympics.

So I can say there's so much to be proud of and we're walking away with the silver world medal.

Sarah Spain (2:21)

Yeah, it's a big deal. It's also, as you mentioned, securing a spot for Team USA in the games, it feels like a given that the US would be there, but you get it wrapped up more than a year in advance. How nice does it feel to just say, okay, we've got that part taken care of, we took care of that job?

Skye Blakely (2:37)

It feels really good. That's just something you check the box, we move forward. It's not something that we have to focus on doing next year. We can just focus on just doing our best as a team and individually. So it definitely feels good that we were able to go out there and just get the job done immediately.

Sarah Spain (2:51)

There is so much pressure on any US gymnastics team because the legacy is so incredible. Do you feel that pressure knowing the folks that came before you and the success they've had? Or are you able to or maybe your coach is able to articulate that every single opportunity to compete, every single competition is something new and you don't have to carry the weight of the people that came before you?

Skye Blakely (3:12)

I definitely say there is pressure knowing how well our country does in these competitions year after year. But I also say it's a great opportunity knowing that we are a part of that legacy and we're growing our own legacy. Knowing that our country has done so well, it's also an honor to go out there and wear the flag on our clothes and on our Leos and to do as well as we did. Yes, there's pressure, but again, it's a great opportunity and people are watching us because of that.

It's just amazing.

Sarah Spain (3:37)

Yeah, you get a lot of attention and a lot of love because people are like, oh my gosh, it's the next batch of superstars that we're going to get to know.

You mentioned how young this group was. Very few folks with a lot of world championship or big international competition experience. Then, Hesley Rivera goes down right before. What was it like adjusting and knowing that in the last minute, you were going to have to move around some pieces because Hesley wouldn't be able to compete?