As a level 8 gymnast, sophomore Madison Maynard was at the top of her game. She competed in many meets and even won the Region 3 vault championship in 2012. Her goal was to go to the Olympics. Last year, however, elbow injuries caused Maynard to take a break from the competition.

“My cartilage came off of my radius and the bone deteriorated,” Maynard said. “The same thing happened to both of my arms at the same time. [My right arm] was worse, so we got it fixed first.”

The initial surgery on her right elbow involved taking bone from her knee and putting it into her elbow. This year, while everyone else attended the first day of school, Maynard underwent the same procedure to fix the opposite elbow.

“The whole process was tiring,” Maynard said. “I was tired of all the questions and I just wanted it to be done.”

Although she only spent two hours in the hospital after the operation, the process caused Maynard to miss the first three days of school.

“It was hard to catch up, and I’m still catching up,” Maynard said.  “When you miss the first several days of school, you don’t get everything explained to you. The teachers just hand you the paperwork and expect you to know what to do.”

As for gymnastics, Maynard is unsure if she will return after her recovery.

“I’m not really sure if I’ll go back to gymnastics,” Maynard said. “I’m not sure if I would be going back for myself or for everyone else.”

If the vault champion does decide to return, she would first have to spend a minimum of 5-6 months recovering from her injuries before she could practice. If she does not return to gymnastics, Maynard has a couple sports that she would like to try.

“I love to run,” Maynard said. “I was going to do track this year, but I wimped out. Also, I had a lot of fun playing soccer so I might try that. Gymnastics has been a big part of my life, so if I don’t go back I will definitely miss it.”