Gymnastics Injury Report: Katelyn Ohashi's Elite Comeback Headlines a Summer of Major Returns

On June 24, 2026, the gymnastics world received one of the most unexpected injury-return announcements in the sport's history: Katelyn Ohashi is coming back to elite competition.[1][2]

The 29-year-old former viral sensation took to Instagram to confirm her return, posting a video of herself tumbling at Pacific Reign Gymnastics. "After a few years of contemplating whether I wanted to continue chasing a dream I had as a little kid, I have decided to go for it," Ohashi wrote.[1][2]

Ohashi's elite career was famously derailed by severe back and shoulder injuries shortly after she won the 2013 American Cup—a meet where she outscored a then-17-year-old Simone Biles.[2]

While Ohashi later found immense success and viral fame at the NCAA level with UCLA, she has not competed in elite gymnastics in 13 years, and hasn't competed collegiately in seven. Her return marks a monumental personal victory over the physical toll the sport took on her early body.[1][2]

Ohashi's announcement headlines a busy mid-season injury report across the global gymnastics landscape, as several top-tier athletes navigate the grueling rehabilitation process for major joint injuries.

In Great Britain, the gymnastics federation is closely monitoring the continued recovery of 2022 World Floor Champion Jessica Gadirova.[4]

Gadirova suffered a devastating full tear of her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during warmups at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp. After a grueling 513-day initial layoff, she made a tapered return to domestic competition in 2025.[4][5]

Now, midway through the 2026 season, Gadirova is methodically reintroducing high-impact tumbling to her repertoire. Rather than rushing back to all-around competition, her coaching staff has prioritized a phased return, utilizing lower-impact apparatuses like the uneven bars to maintain her competitive edge while her knee fully solidifies.[4][5]

Meanwhile, Gadirova's British teammate, Ondine Achampong, is executing her own high-profile injury return. Achampong suffered an ACL tear in early 2024, which kept her out of the Paris Olympics.[6]

Achampong has since transitioned to the NCAA, competing for the University of California, Berkeley. After being limited to balance beam routines during her initial recovery phase, she is now training all four events for the upcoming collegiate season, providing a massive boost to Cal's national title hopes.[6]

In the U.S. collegiate ranks, LSU is eagerly anticipating the full return of Zoe Miller. Sidelined by nagging injuries during her freshman and sophomore campaigns, Miller's elite-level uneven bars routine is expected to be a centerpiece of the Tigers' 2026 rotation.[6]

The success of these returns points to a broader shift in gymnastics sports medicine. Advancements in surgical techniques—such as quadriceps tendon grafts and the newly introduced BEAR (Bridge-Enhanced ACL Restoration) implant—are allowing gymnasts to heal with greater stability and less donor-site morbidity.[7]

Furthermore, the culture of the sport has fundamentally changed. The days of athletes being pressured to compete on compromised joints have largely been replaced by criterion-based physical therapy, where gymnasts only progress to high-impact landings when biomechanical testing dictates they are ready.[8]

For athletes like Ohashi, Gadirova, and Achampong, this modern approach to injury management is proving that a severe diagnosis is no longer a career death sentence. As Ohashi noted in her announcement: "I'm taking it one day at a time; one skill, one event, one dream."[1][2]