As Olympic gymnast and “Final Five” superstar Laurie Hernandez stepped up to the balance beam Tuesday, the TV cameras caught her mouthing, “I got this.”
It was a poignant moment of focus and determination that spread like wildfire across every form of social media, only to be topped the next day by a GIF of Hernandez winking at the judges before her floor routine. No wonder the Jersey girl, and youngest member of the women’s gymnastics team, has been nicknamed the Human Emoji.
Brant Lutska, chairman of the New Jersey chapter of USA Gymnastics, says it’s all just Laurie being Laurie. “She is 100 percent herself,” says Lutska, who is also a friend of the Hernandez family.
“What you are seeing is what you really get,” he said. “That is the Laurie Hernandez I have known since she was 10 years old.”
Hailing from Old Bridge, the petite powerhouse is the first American-born Latina to make the US Olympic gymnastics team in 30 years. Known for her sassy floor routines and charisma, Hernandez comes from a tight-knit Puerto Rican family and starts every event by looking at her parents in the audience and mouthing her “I got this” mantra.
And despite the controversy that ensued after she was passed over to compete in the individual all-around competition in favor of teammates Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles and Aly Raisman, Hernandez has still managed to become the darling of the final five who won the gold for the team all-around.
“I think Laurie handled it really well,” says Lutska. “And I don’t think there are many 16-year-olds who have such a great attitude. Watching her on television [during Thursday’s all-around competition] celebrating her teammates’ success was incredible to me. That’s a sign of a champion. A lot of the credit goes to her coach and her parents for raising her so well. They have instilled such wonderful values in this girl.”
The home-schooled daughter of Wanda and Anthony Hernandez has been training with coach Maggie Haney since age 5. Lutska, who also co-owns a leotard company called Plum Practicewear, says his business partner discovered the rising star at a gymnastics meet six years ago. He was impressed with her ebullience and wanted her to model for the company. Lutska recounted Hernandez’s unwavering determination shining through at their first photo shoot.
‘What you are seeing is what you really get…That is the Laurie Hernandez I have known since she was 10 years old.’
- Brant Lutska, chairman of the New Jersey chapter of USA Gymnastics
“On the way to the shoot, someone rear-ended Laurie and her mother in their car,” Lutska recalled. “Her mom said, ‘Maybe we should go to the emergency room just to be safe.’ And Laurie said, ‘Mom, I have to be at this photo shoot. They are counting on me to be there. We can do it later.’ When she got to the shoot, we were immediately telling her she needed to go to the emergency room. Even when she was 10, it showed me that she was someone who had dedication and follow-through as a team player.”
In mid-July of this year, Hernandez — who had verbally committed to attend the University of Florida — and Haney declined to say whether she would still go to college or turn professional.
“Me and my coach haven’t really talked about that yet,” Hernandez said at the time.
But days before heading to Rio, she announced that she’d do the latter, opening up the possibility of lucrative product endorsements.
Steve Rosner of 16W Marketing, who has represented Olympic gold medalists like speed skater Dan Jansen and gymnast Kerri Strug, says Hernandez has a bright future — especially with consumer beauty brands.
“Laurie’s a winner,” he says. “Being so young and not having the spotlight on her in the past, she comes across as real. That has struck a chord with a lot of people.”
He adds that Hernandez has even more room to excel than Strug did in her heyday. “With social media these days, opportunities are a little different than they were 20 years ago. Also she has the Latino and Hispanic market that can be tapped into.”
But Rosner also points out that Hernandez still has to do well in her balance-beam performance on Monday. And unlike Strug — who helped her team clinch the gold medal in the 1996 Olympics despite suffering torn ankle ligaments — Hernandez hasn’t yet had a significant heroic moment.
Lutska has his own plans for the pride and joy of Jersey.
“I think she’ll have a lot of offers. I’m hoping she goes on ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ ” he says, clarifying that she has not been offered a spot on the show.
But all that will have to wait a minute. As her brother Marcus Hernandez said in a sweet Instagram message, the family has more low-key plans.
“As soon as you land” back at home, he wrote, “we’re going straight to Wawa.”