Laurie Hernandez Announces New Book: “I Got This”

Laurie Hernandez (Getty Images)

New Jersey Olympic champion Laurie Hernandez has announced the writing of her memoirs in a book titled “I Got This: To Gold and Beyond”, according to a report by People.com

The title is an homage to one of her breakout moments at the recent Rio Olympic Games, when she uttered the phrase to herself before taking the balance beam, a ritual that she does each time before her routine.

The book tells of the star gymnast’s struggle of balancing homeschooling and practice, while also recovering from injuries, including tearing her patella ligament and bruising her MCL, and how she overcame those obstacles to become an Olympic champion.

“I hope I can help inspire people to go for their dreams,” Hernandez told People. “It was really fun to go down memory lane and reflect on how I got to where I am.”

Somehow the 16-year-old Hernandez (Old Bridge, NJ) had time to write her memoirs while also participating in the Kellog’s Tour of Champions, as well as the ABC show, “Dancing with the Stars”.

Hernandez (Old Bridge, NJ) emerged as one of the big stars of the 2016 Olympics, earning a gold medal in the team all-around gymnastics competition, as well as besting teammate and golden girl Simone Biles for a silver medal on beam. It’s likely that had the American team not been so loaded with talent, Hernandez could have had an ever bigger medal haul.

The American public fell in love with the teenager’s electric personality and vivid emotions, which popularized her nickname, “the human emoji”.

Hernandez has begun to cash in on her newfound fame, after announcing that she would go professional just before the Rio games. The decision has allowed her to earn revenue from sponsors, and now the book deal, money that she wouldn’t have been allowed to take had she followed through on her initial committment to the University of Florida.

The book is expected to be released January 24, 2017, and is being published by Harper Collins. People even earned an exclusive look at the prospective cover.

The Kellogs’s Tour of Gymnastic Champions is currently on tour through the tri-state area, including stops in Brooklyn on November 6, and the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Novemeber 11. Full remaining tour dates and ticket information can be found here. 

The tour boasts a full cast of Olympians, including Hernandez, Biles, Aly Raisman, Jordyn Wieber, Ashton Locklear and Dannell Lleyva, among others.

The tour wraps up in Boston on November 13.