UCLA Gymnastics: Madison Kocian Fought Through Injuries All Season Long

It hasn’t been an easy road for gymnast Madison Kocian, especially considering the string of injuries she had to deal with over the last couple of years. But, there wasn’t a lot of info about the extent of her injury...until now.

Back in December, Kocian admitted she hurt her shoulder months prior to the Olympic Trials and pushed through it to win a Gold and Silver medal. Now, Kocian admitted in an interview with NBC Sports just how bad her injuries really are. She suffered a partial dislocation during Olympic Trials and hoped some much-needed rest after Rio would help her shoulder.

But it didn’t.

Instead, she suffered a torn labrum and partially torn rotator cuff. Yes, you read that right, a torn labrum and a partially torn rotator cuff. Even with these injuries she still competed all season for UCLA and, out of 14 meets, she competed in the All-Around in 12 of them.

What makes this story even more incredible is the time frame. When competing in elite competitions, competitions usually come around a few times a year. In college gymnastics, competitions are every week. Every single week there would be a huge amount of stress on her shoulder, yet she came through every week for UCLA and even snagged herself four All-American honors. Incredible!

Now, it’s about what’s next for Kocian. With the extent of her injury, the only way to fully heal is to have surgery. But she’s not an opting for that right now. Instead, she has opted not to compete in the upcoming P&G Championships in August and will take the summer off. Hopefully, the rest will do her some good and she’ll be ready to compete again come January.


Go Bruins!