LSU gymnastics standouts McKenna Kelley and Ashleigh Gnat share what they learned from their Olympian mothers

It was Los Angeles in 1984, and fate seemed unkind to Team USA.

Right before the summer Olympic games began, Team USAs great womens gymnastics hope had suffered a knee injury. And there was stiff competition from the rest of the gymnastics world to snatch the gold.

But Mary Lou Retton wasnt going to let something like an injury stop her. She was a 16-year-old powerhouse, after all. Retton, with her tiny frame and bob haircut, was about to take U.S. womens gymnastics to a level it had never been before.

She earned perfect 10s on both her floor exercise and vault, becoming the first American woman to win the all-around gold. The fame that accompanied it was immediate: Retton was named Sports Illustrateds Sportswoman of the Year and became the first spokeswoman for Wheaties.

But for McKenna Kelley, the legendary Retton is just mom. The Olympic gold medals at the familys house in Houston are an added bonus, of course, considering that Kelley is an LSU gymnast and part of the universitys standout last two gymnastics seasons.

Growing up, I dont think I ever fully grasped what it even meant for her to be an Olympic champion, Kelley says. I had heard that so much, but she was just mom to me.

Gymnastics is not like baseball or basketball, sports that are easily passed down to your children through afternoons spent on the court or playing catch. Its rigor and dedication to training can be a more solitary endeavor. Even still, theres no guarantee of success.

Yet, for LSUs squad, success seems all but hereditary. The team is home to two exceptional athletes whose mothers were Olympic gymnasts: Kelley and her All-American teammate, Ashleigh Gnat.

While Gnats dad, Ray, was a collegiate gymnast at LSU, her mom, Joan, did a bit of history-making herselfwinning 10 national championships and competing in the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

Theres footage of her floor excercise on YouTube, and she floats and flutters like a butterfly. Ashleigh loves to watch her.

I watch the videos a lot, actually, Ashleigh says. Shes so beautiful to watch.

That sentiment is mutual for her mother.

Sometimes I get overwhelmed, Joan says. Not only at her gymnastics performance, but just the person shes become. She has a great heart. Shes beautiful inside and out, and I get so filled with pride every time I watch her.

Joan says Ashleigh was practically born in the gym. Joan and Ray Gnat opened up their own gymnastics facility as coaches in Florida and would take Ashleigh to work with them every day. They first brought her to the gym two days after she was born.

As she started walking, she started doing forward rolls and then cartwheels and then handstands, and I think it just grew from there, Joan says.

While raising Ashleigh, Joan says she never forced her daughter to keep up with gymnastics, but Ashleigh fell head over heels for the sport anyway. Now, Ashleigh confides in her mom and dad about all things gymnastics.

Kelleys road to the sport mirrors Ashleighs. Retton put Kelley in gymnastics when she was 2 years old, along with her three sisters.

Gymnastics was what she knew, and she wanted her kids to try it out, Kelley says, smiling at the memory. I mean, what kid doesnt love to run around and jump on a trampoline? Its easy to put them to sleep after that.

Like Joan, Retton never pressured her children to continue gymnastics, leaving it up to them to decide. Kelleys passion was born out of true love for the sportthough she did inherit her mothers dedication.

I would miss birthday parties, playdates and sleepovers because I wanted to be at the gym, Kelley says. Even when I was little, I always looked forward to practice.

Having an accomplished Olympic mother does come with a certain amount of pressure, and Kelley isnt totally immune. There are those who criticize her, saying shes benefited from nepotism and has only come this far because of who her mother is. But doubters and critics come with the territory, and it helps that her mother has always been there to help her find her own path, she says.

Now that shes old enough to understand the scope of her mothers accomplishments, she, too, cant get enough of watching old footage of her mom.

Ill watch interviews of her after the Olympics and Im like, oh my God. She was so cute with her little voice and her hair, Kelley says.

While the girls forge their own paths, gymnastics will always bring them and their mothers together. The sport is the backbone of both the Kelley and Gnat families, a bond that despite time and age cannot be broken.

But Kelley still laughs at all the talk of having an Olympian mother.

Its so funny when people ask about her, because I still just see it the same, Kelley says. Like I dont get it. Shes just my mom. lsusports.net

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