Trampoline Gymnast Charlotte Drury Details Journey to the Olympic Games After Diabetes Diagnosis
As trampoline gymnast Charlotte Drury was preparing for the 2021 Olympic Trial, she had no idea of the obstacle that lay ahead.
After a year of training far beyond her limits in hopes of joining Team U.S.A. in Tokyo, she was shocked to attend the Women's Gymnastics National Team camp in March and realize it may not have been enough.
"I spent the last year, busting my ass, and pushing through the hardest trainings of my life to show up at national team camp in March and watch the other girls out jump me by miles," she wrote in a lengthy Instagram post Friday.
Drury, 25, continued, "I'd been feeling 'off' for months but wrote it off as depression linked to the struggles of living and training and going to school during a pandemic. On the way home from that camp I finally listened to that nagging voice in my head that was telling me something was wrong. Really wrong."
Charlotte Drury/instagram
Soon after, Drury said she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.
"I didn't go into practice for a week. I didn't even consider continuing with gym," she said. "This felt insurmountable and terrifying and there was just no way I could figure out how to manage a life changing diagnosis and get into Olympic shape in time for the first trial in 3 weeks."
However, with help and support from her family, friends, and fellow gymnast Logan Dooley, she decided to persevere and "give everything I had to the sport in the little bit of time I had left."
Earlier this month, Drury was named to the U.S. Olympic Team as the women's trampoline alternate.
VALERIE MACON/getty
RELATED GALLERY: USA Men's and Women's Gymnasts Look Fierce in New Team Photos
"Words can't describe how hard this year has been…but through all the adversity I'm most proud of myself for not giving up. I found out that I'm tougher than I think I am," she wrote.
She concluded, "So anywayyy this #T1D (and her trusty #dexcom) is getting her butt to Japan and then to god knows where next because there's an entire world out there to see!! and s— happens but we don't have to let the hard things stop us…sometimes we just have to allow them to (aggressively) guide us in new directions 🌎🧭💙"
Drury will join the rest of the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team for the Summer Games from July 23 to Aug. 8.
