NEW WAVERLY, Texas — Laurie Hernandez is the reigning U.S. junior gymnastics champion, and she’s won every meet she’s been at over the last two years.
Yet when the U.S. team for the world championships is picked Thursday, Hernandez won’t even be up for consideration. At 15, she’s too young, missing the cutoff to compete at this year’s worlds by five months and 21 days.
“Obviously I would love to go to worlds,” Hernandez said before last month's national team training camp at Martha Karolyi’s ranch. “But I’m not old enough.”
Every Olympic cycle, there’s a gymnast who finds herself on the wrong side of the age divide.