This story was originally published by Time.
Before climbing onto the balance beam during the team competition in Rio in August, 16-year-old gymnast Laurie Hernandez whispered to herself, “I got this.” She proceeded to nail the routine, helping the U.S. seize gold.
That quote is now the title of her first book, which comes out Jan. 24 and explores the life of someone so expressive that she earned a spot in Olympic lore as “the human emoji.”
Since winning America’s heart, along with an individual silver medal in the balance beam, the native of New Brunswick, N.