DeWitt's Jordyn Wieber retires from gymnastics

April 13, 2015

Jordyn Wieber is hanging up her leotard.

The 2013 DeWitt grad and 2012 Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast announced her decision to retire from the sport in a self-written story posted Friday night at The Player's Tribune.

"Since the age of four, gymnastics was the center of my entire life," 19-year-old Wieber wrote. "Deciding to end that part of my life was one of the most difficult, emotion-filled decisions I have ever made."

Wieber's coach John Geddert, who also coached the "Fierce Five" at the Olympics, told the State Journal that he knew Wieber's decision for a while.

"She's just making it official now," Geddert said Saturday afternoon. "Any time you take as much time off as she had, the chances of making a comeback are certainly reduced - not that it was out of the question.

"You see it in the pros all the time, those athletes who want to hang on for one more season or one more game. She went out on top. You gotta tip your hat for that."

Wieber has not competed since she won a gold medal as part of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. Following the 2012 Games the "Fierce Five" went on a post-Olympic tour, stopping in 40 different cities to perform for fans.

"It goes without saying," Wieber wrote, "that the Olympics was the highlight of my career."

Wieber did not compete in the 2013 World Championships, which began her extended break from competitive gymnastics and foreshadowed her retirement. She enrolled at UCLA that September and has been serving as a student manager and adviser to the Bruins' gymnastics team since, Geddert said.

NCAA rules did not permit Wieber to practice or compete with UCLA. She told the State Journal before she began college classes in 2013 that she would "be on my own path when it comes to gymnastics."

"It was after enrolling at UCLA when I realized that the juggling act of being a student, team manager and professional gymnast wouldn't allow me the time that I needed to continue my competitive career," she wrote. "I also began to realize that I felt fulfilled with what I had accomplished in my gymnastics career, and was ready to move on to the next phase of my life."

"Although I'm leaving the sport I love," Wieber wrote, "the principles it taught — sacrifice, maturity, perseverance and dedication — are traits that will stay with me forever."

Geddert called Wieber's retirement "bittersweet." She won the World Championship all-around title in 2011, the U.S. National Championship all-around in 2011 and 2012, and three American Cup all-around crowns in 2009, 2011 and 2012 under Geddert's tutelage.

"She's been a great role model for young kids," Geddert said. "I'm certainly very proud of her."