Ashton Locklear

At 26 years old, Ashton Locklear has this physical status:

Ashton Taylor Locklear (born January 13, 1998) is a retired American artistic gymnast from North Carolina.

She was a member of the gold-medal winning United States team at the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and she is a two-time national champion on the uneven bars (2014, 2016).

Locklear was an uneven bars expert and served as an alternate for the 2016 Summer Olympics U.S. gymnastics team, the Final Five.

Personal life

Locklear was born in Lumberton, North Carolina, to Carrie and Terry Locklear. Angelia, her older sister, is also a gymnast.

Locklear was homeschooled until the 8th grade. She is a member of the Lumbee Tribe and a Native American. In 2017, she became Nike's ambassador in 2017.

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Gymnastics career

Locklear watched her older sister's gymnastics lessons and started imitating her at a young age. She also cites watching the 2000 Olympics on television as a spark to begin competing. She began her gymnastics career as a trampolining, but then moved to artistic gymnastics. Terry Barrett of Physical Awareness and Gymnastics, in Hamlet, NC, began her gymnastics training with her partner Terry Barrett.

Locklear's first competition was a state-level trampoline and tumbling title she earned at age five. She began training at KPAC (Kristie Phillips Athletic Center) in Lake Norman and was mentored by Kristie Phillips for a short time. When she was eleven years old, she began training at Everest Gymnastics in Huntersville, North Carolina, with coaches Qi Han (a former member of China's national team and a graduate of Beijing Sports University) and his wife, Yiwen Chen. Huntersville's family lives in Hamlet, North Carolina, due to the distance between Huntersville and Locklear's hometown.

Locklear placed seventh on the all-around and balance beam, first on uneven bars, and ninth on floor exercise at the Nastia Liukin Cup in 2013. Locklear recovered from a stress fracture in her back that limited her to four months and prompted her to quit competing on the floor and vault later this year.

Locklear's breakout appearances came during the 2014 season. She came in first on the uneven bars with a score of 15.700, beating Kyla Ross, the reigning world silver medalist on bars, by more than a half-point. Locklear competed at the P&G Championships in August, becoming the national champion on the uneven bars with scores of 15.850 on Day 1 and 15.200 on Day 2. On Day 1 and 13.550, she placed eighth on the balance beam, scoring 14.550. In Mississauga, Ontario, she was selected both to the national team and the United States team for the Pan American Championships.

MyKayla Skinner, Maggie Nichols, Madison Desch, Amelia Hundley, and Madison Kocian) won the team gold medal in Mississauga, beating silver medalist Brazil by more than six points. Locklear also won gold on the uneven bars with a rating of 14.975.

Locklear was selected to participate in the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, China, on September 17. She earned the team a gold medal and finished fourth in the uneven bars final with a score of 15.266.

Locklear sustained a shoulder injury in 2015 and had to have surgery. Following intense physical therapy, she returned to elite action and competed in the Secret U.S. Classic on July 25. She only participated in exhibition competitions, implying that she received a 0 on both uneven bars and balance beam. She said she would have a complete challenge back in the P&G Championships.

Locklear competed on uneven bars and balance beam at the 2015 P&G Championships on August 13 and 15. Despite a lower start price (removed inbar stalders and applied toe-on skills), she scored 15.400 for the second highest bar score of the night on night 1. On beam, she collapsed on her backhandspring-layout series, ending in a 12.950. She earned a 15.400 on bars and 13.750 on beam on night 2, and 13.750 on beam. She came in second place on bars behind 2014 Worlds teammate Kocian and ahead of Bailie Key with a total score of 30.850. With a total score of 26.700, she ranked 13th on beam. Locklear was named to the senior national team and invited to the 2015 Worlds selection camp a week after the tournament, a week before.

Locklear initially committed to the University of Florida, but the information on her USA Gymnastics athlete profile was changed on September 10, 2015, sparking rumors that she had uncommitted. She later updated her Twitter biography. Almost a month later, on October 2, 2015, she revealed on her personal Ask.fm profile that she had chosen to forego NCAA eligibility.

Ashton began her 2016 season at the City of Jesolo, Italy, where she competed for the City of Jesolo Trophy. She aided the United States team win the gold medal and qualified in first place in the uneven bars final. Locklear captured the gold medal with a score of 15.250 in the final.

Locklear was a participant in the 2016 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships in April. She also qualified for the uneven bars final, gaining the gold medal with a rating of 15.625.

Locklear earned the gold medal on uneven bars in June 2016 in the United States Secret Classic, where she finished fourth on beam with a score of 14.750, ahead of the reigning world champion, Kocian, who earned the gold medal on uneven bars.

Locklear dominated the national championship in St. Louis later this year, edging out Kocian by a wide margin of 0.150 on both days on uneven bars. Locklear also performed on balance beam on both days of competition, scoring 14.450 and 14.150 to finish eighth, 0.050 behind Kocian. Locklear was named to the United States National Team in 2016 and qualified for the Olympic Trials in San Jose, California.

Locklear was on the beam at night one but ended with a score of 15.700 on bars night 2. Locklear was chosen as an alternate along with MyKayla Skinner and Ragan Smith.

Ashton began the 2017 season at Jesolo, Italy, winning the team gold medal and the bronze medal on the uneven bars, alongside Russia's Elena Eremina and fellow US teammate Riley McCusker.

Locklear performed on just balance beam at the U.S. Secret Classic in late July. She finished eighth in the event with Kalyany Steele.

Locklear participated in the P&G Championships in Anaheim, California, in August. Despite competing in clearly detested routines on the uneven bars, she came in second, just 0.250 of a point behind event champion Riley McCusker. She also ranked tenth on the balance beam, placing her tenth.

Locklear was chosen to represent the United States in the 2017 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Montreal with Ragan Smith, Morgan Hurd, and Jade Carey. During qualifying rounds, Locklear competed on uneven bars and balance beams. She qualified for the uneven bars finals in 7th place, earning her a score of 14.566. She made an unexpected early mistake, resulting in an 8th-place finish in the uneven bars finals. Locklear also revealed that she had re-injured her shoulder during the uneven bars final, resulting in a subpar appearance.

Locklear migrated to Spring, Texas, where he trained with Simone Biles at the World Champions Centre after recovering shoulder surgery in the fall. In the summer, she underwent knee surgery and spent the remainder of the year recovering. Locklear revealed in July that she had been sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar, who took to Instagram.

Locklear, a French gymnast, revealed that she would return to the WOGA Classic in February and not only on uneven bars and balance beam, but also on floor exercise, something she hadn't competed on since 2013. Locklear's lowest score on uneven bars at the WOGA Classic ended on a 12.350 point on balance beam, down twice and 12.550 on balance beams. Locklear finished first on uneven bars with a score of 13.450 and tied for fourth on balance beam with a score of 12.600. Her results did not qualify her to participate in the American or U.S. Classic.

Locklear officially announced her exit from the game on Twitter on May 16th.

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