Multi-time individual and team national champion Maggie Nichols, one of the greatest collegiate gymnasts of all time, met the press Wednesday to discuss her new memoir, “Unstoppable!”
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Go ahead and get started.
00:01 If you will use the hand raised reaction for questions,
00:05 just so I can kind of moderate a little easier,
00:07 that would be great.
00:09 I have with us Maggie Nichols.
00:11 She's one of the most decorated, if not the most decorated,
00:14 sooner.
00:15 She's the 2020 AAI Award winner, 2019 Honda Sport Award winner,
00:20 and 2019 NCAA Inspiration Award winner,
00:23 a two-time Big 12 Gymnast of the Year,
00:25 two-time Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year,
00:27 six individual national titles, two team titles,
00:30 and a whole lot more accolades that I
00:31 could go on and on forever.
00:34 She released her official memoir, Unstoppable, last month.
00:38 She'll be here Friday for a book signing.
00:40 Maggie, thank you so much for being with us today.
00:44 I'm just going to go ahead and open the floor for questions
00:45 if you're ready.
00:46 Yes, of course.
00:48 Yeah, we'll start with Ryan.
00:51 Hey, Maggie, good to see you again.
00:53 Good to see you.
00:55 Tell me about why was it important for you
00:57 to write this book, and what have you
01:00 gotten out of the process of it and the reaction
01:04 since it came out?
01:06 Yeah, so I kind of wanted to write a book
01:08 throughout my whole college career.
01:10 And then when I graduated, I had the opportunity to do so,
01:13 and definitely took it and ran with it.
01:16 I really just wanted to share my story and all the highs
01:20 and all the lows and the lessons that I learned.
01:24 Throughout my career, I dealt with a lot of injuries,
01:27 and then obviously a lot with USA Gymnastics.
01:30 And so I just wanted to share my story,
01:32 how I overcame with a positive outlook.
01:36 And so far, with the book being released,
01:39 it's been really good.
01:40 I've gotten a lot of positive feedback.
01:42 And I just hope that people are inspired by my story
01:46 and also learn a lot from it.
01:49 I feel like there was a lot of detail in my book
01:51 that people don't really know.
01:52 So I just hope that they took that away from it.
01:56 Was it tough getting into more detail about things
02:02 and what you've been through?
02:04 And just how important do you feel
02:06 like that is to share with other people,
02:09 whether they've been through similar things or just--
02:13 [INTERPOSING VOICES]
02:15 I don't like to be a stressor.
02:17 --and avoid the shame of it sometimes
02:19 because of some of those things happening.
02:22 Yeah.
02:23 It was definitely difficult to relive
02:25 some of the dark and hard times of my life and my career.
02:30 But I thought it was really important to do so, again,
02:32 just to educate other people and also people
02:35 who may have dealt with the same things
02:38 and could relate to it and just feel less alone.
02:41 And also, I talk about how I overcame
02:44 and what helped me move on with a positive attitude
02:49 and just to get through.
02:53 So I just hope people took that away from it.
02:54 Obviously, it was hard to relive it.
02:56 But I just knew in the back of my mind
02:57 it was going to help other people.
02:59 So that's what helped with that.
03:01 Appreciate it, Maggie.
03:04 All right, Jenny.
03:07 Hey, Maggie.
03:07 Sorry I'm not on video.
03:08 I'm driving.
03:09 So I'll try to multitask here.
03:13 I wanted to ask you about the title.
03:16 Those of us who spend our lives writing
03:18 know how important headlines and titles are.
03:20 Talk about the title for the book.
03:23 How did you land on that?
03:25 What other options were out there?
03:27 Why did you think that was the right title for this book?
03:30 Yeah, that's a great question.
03:32 I don't think I've been asked that yet.
03:34 We kind of juggled with a few different titles.
03:38 I think the other one we were kind of leaning towards, too,
03:41 was "Undeniable."
03:43 But we ultimately chose "Unstoppable"
03:45 just because, again, in my story,
03:47 I dealt with a lot of injuries and also the sexual abuse
03:52 at USAG, and then went on to Oklahoma
03:55 and just won a bunch of titles there.
03:57 And so we just felt like nothing in my path could stop me.
04:01 And I just overcame everything.
04:03 So we just felt like that was most fitting.
04:06 And I just love that word.
04:07 I feel like it's very empowering.
04:09 So that's kind of how we landed on that one.
04:12 And I truly love it.
04:15 Yeah, I was going to say, what does that do for you
04:17 when you see your memoir with that title?
04:21 I mean, that's a pretty powerful word.
04:23 Like, how do you feel when you see it?
04:26 I think it's amazing.
04:29 When I look at it, I just--
04:30 I don't know.
04:31 I feel empowered.
04:32 So I hope that other people do, too.
04:34 But yeah, I just love that word.
04:36 I think it's inspiring.
04:37 And I think it fits my story perfectly.
04:39 So I think it was the perfect fit.
04:42 And let me ask you one more thing.
04:43 You talked about different things
04:45 that are in the book that people might not
04:48 have known about you before, weren't sort of widely talked
04:52 about sort of things.
04:53 Are there any things in particular
04:55 that you're excited maybe to share with people
04:58 or aspects of your story that you
05:01 think people may be most interested to read in the book?
05:06 Yeah, I feel like there's a bunch of different things.
05:09 I mean, I always talk about my family
05:10 and my brothers in the beginning.
05:12 So I think that was kind of fun for people to kind of learn
05:15 more about me and my upbringing and stuff.
05:17 So I thought that was really fun.
05:20 Also, I think a lot of people didn't really
05:22 know about some of the injuries that I faced
05:24 throughout my career before going to Oklahoma.
05:28 So I really wanted to bring that into my story
05:30 and kind of tell that into more detail
05:33 just because a lot of gymnasts and athletes
05:35 deal with injuries.
05:36 So I thought it was important to talk about that
05:38 and how I overcame.
05:42 But yeah, I think people mainly kind of know me
05:45 as the gymnast from Oklahoma and then also as athlete A.
05:49 So I thought it was really fun to incorporate
05:51 other stories and other aspects of my career, my journey,
05:55 and my life into my story.
05:57 So yeah, it was cool to be able to incorporate all that too.
06:01 Great, thanks.
06:07 Great, we'll go to Catherine.
06:09 Hi.
06:11 I was wondering if when writing this,
06:13 you said with your messages you wanted to deliver,
06:15 if you had a certain audience that you wanted to reach,
06:18 like a certain audience or people out there in mind.
06:22 Yeah, I mean, I hope my story reaches everybody.
06:24 I mean, I feel like everybody can relate to life throwing
06:29 curveballs at you and life being really, really tough.
06:32 And my story is one of resilience and overcoming.
06:35 And so I feel like--
06:36 I hope I reach everybody, but I feel
06:38 like it's more targeted to athletes
06:40 just because I do talk about my journey and all the struggles
06:44 that I face throughout and just how hard it
06:47 is to be an elite athlete, a collegiate athlete,
06:50 things like that.
06:50 But I do hope that it reaches everybody, not just athletes.
06:54 Thank you.
06:55 Yes.
06:57 Great, apologies if I pronounce your name wrong, but Micaiah?
07:01 Oh, close, I'm Micaiah.
07:03 Can you hear me?
07:04 That was my second guess.
07:06 You're OK.
07:07 Hi, I'm Micaiah Croson.
07:09 I'm at Asian [AUDIO OUT] now.
07:12 And Oklahoma is one of the teams that I cover.
07:14 And I just wanted to know a little bit
07:16 about your experience, I guess your favorite moment
07:19 you can recall from competing at Oklahoma,
07:22 and I guess one piece of advice you would
07:24 give to the gymnasts of today.
07:28 Yeah, I have so many favorite moments.
07:30 But if I did have to pick a favorite,
07:32 it would probably be either my freshman year at NCAA Nationals
07:38 or 2019 Nationals.
07:41 There is nothing like winning a national championship
07:43 with your team.
07:45 It is truly a dream come true.
07:48 And you work so hard to get to that point.
07:50 You do all the 6 AM workouts together.
07:53 You go through season, all the highs, the lows,
07:55 and kind of do everything together.
07:57 And then coming out at the end of the competition
08:00 at such a high pressure situation
08:01 and take that trophy home, there's truly nothing like it.
08:05 And so those are probably my two favorite moments
08:08 in my entire life, not just my career at Oklahoma.
08:11 And if I could relive them again and again, I would.
08:14 There's truly something so special about it.
08:17 And then something I would hope that gymnasts
08:20 take away throughout their career,
08:21 or advice I would give them, I would say just be present
08:25 and enjoy every single moment.
08:28 It's not going to be easy and fun all the time.
08:30 But being a collegiate athlete is truly a dream come true.
08:35 And it goes by so fast.
08:37 So just enjoy every moment with your team, with your coaches,
08:41 walking to classes, the 6 AM workouts.
08:43 You're going to miss it when it's gone.
08:44 So just to be present and have fun throughout it all
08:47 and give it 110%, because taking those titles home,
08:52 it's truly so special.
08:55 So yeah, just be present and have fun
08:57 and give it everything that you have.
08:59 Thank you so much.
09:00 - I'll go back to Ryan.
09:04 - I can unmute here.
09:08 Maggie, just wanted to ask you about what you've been up to
09:12 since your career ended.
09:13 Obviously we've seen you around OU gymnastics
09:15 a decent amount, but how are things going for you?
09:19 And what do you have planned in the near
09:22 and long-term future?
09:25 - Yeah, so since I've been done, I got my master's at OU
09:29 and then coached the OU team for two years.
09:31 That was an amazing experience.
09:34 Definitely thought about collegiate coaching,
09:35 but definitely wanted to take other opportunities
09:38 before I chose to do that.
09:40 So now I am a online personal trainer.
09:43 And so I have my own fitness app, so I run that.
09:46 So that's really fun.
09:48 That's something I'm truly passionate about.
09:49 So I love doing that.
09:50 I also own a nonprofit organization
09:53 called the Maggie Nichols Foundation.
09:55 And with my nonprofit,
09:57 I also do a couple of gymnastics meets around the US
10:00 that I put on called the We Are Strong with Maggie Nichols.
10:03 So busy doing that.
10:04 And then I also have an agency.
10:06 So I do a lot of speaking engagements
10:08 at nonprofits, universities.
10:11 So I really enjoy doing that
10:14 and speaking to a lot of people and traveling a ton.
10:17 So I'm pretty busy.
10:18 I travel all the time, which I love it,
10:20 but it is busy, but it's really fun.
10:23 And it's fun to do a bunch of different things
10:25 and just to be able to experience all of this.
10:28 - Fantastic, Maggie.
10:30 I really appreciate it.
10:31 And like I said, good talking to you again.
10:33 - You too, thank you.
10:34 - All right, Jenny.
10:36 - Yeah, sort of a follow up on that, Maggie.
10:40 I mean, you obviously spent so many years
10:43 of your life competing.
10:45 And I mean, obviously you're still in arenas.
10:50 It's just a different arena now,
10:51 business and those sorts of things.
10:53 But has it been strange at all
10:55 to be out of the competing mode of gymnastics?
11:00 - Yeah, for sure.
11:01 I definitely miss that aspect of my life,
11:04 but it's really fun to be on the other side of it now.
11:07 And I'm still like involved in the sport,
11:09 especially going to my gymnastics meets
11:11 and kind of just being there for the athletes.
11:15 I know I'm not competing, but I'm still there.
11:16 I'm still within the community, which I love,
11:20 but I definitely miss that competitive side.
11:22 And working towards like a championship or something,
11:26 especially with a team, I really miss that team aspect
11:30 and working for a goal with a big group of people.
11:34 But I kind of find ways to fulfill that
11:38 within like my business and my personal training
11:41 and stuff like that.
11:43 - Yeah, I'm curious,
11:45 looks as though some athletes who did college gymnastics
11:51 might be trying to make Olympic teams,
11:54 which is not really something we've seen a lot
11:56 in women's gymnastics over the years.
11:58 What's your feeling about maybe having some collegiance
12:02 go back to the international stage,
12:05 how difficult that will be,
12:07 just the challenges potentially of that,
12:09 but also the benefits potentially of that.
12:12 - Yeah, it's super exciting to see
12:14 so many collegiate athletes
12:16 either qualifying to the Olympics or trying to do so.
12:19 It is kind of unheard of like in past years,
12:22 so it's really exciting to see.
12:24 And yes, definitely super challenging.
12:28 Collegiate gymnastics is pretty grueling during season
12:30 just because you compete every single weekend.
12:33 So it is a lot on your body and a lot of training.
12:35 So being able to juggle both elite gymnastics
12:38 and collegiate gymnastics is very challenging,
12:40 but it's super amazing to watch all of them
12:43 and be able to accomplish both at the same time.
12:47 And yeah, it's so cool to watch.
12:49 And I'll be cheering every single one of them on.
12:52 - If the timeline had aligned a little differently
12:55 for you age-wise,
12:57 do you think that's something you might've considered
12:59 or did you get to a point collegiately where you said,
13:02 "All right, that part of gymnastics is sort of behind me?"
13:05 - I don't know.
13:08 I definitely probably would have considered it
13:10 if I had maybe less injuries and stuff.
13:13 I had some knee injuries that kind of bugged me
13:16 all throughout starting in my elite journey
13:19 and then throughout my collegiate career.
13:20 So maybe if I was a bit healthier,
13:23 I totally would have considered that.
13:25 I mean, going to the Olympics is such a dream come true.
13:28 So maybe I would have, but my knees and stuff, I don't know.
13:32 - Fair enough.
13:34 I could only imagine.
13:36 Thanks, Maggie.
13:37 - You're welcome.
13:38 - Great. Kenzie?
13:40 - Hi.
13:42 I'm not sure if somebody already asked this earlier on.
13:45 I had audio issues on my end.
13:47 So I apologize if I'm asking a question
13:49 somebody else already asked.
13:50 But what made you decide to share your story?
13:54 What was the moment that you realized,
13:56 "Okay, I need to share this"?
13:59 - Yeah. Okay.
13:59 So yeah, we did share this.
14:01 I'll just say what I said before.
14:03 So I wanted to write a book all throughout college
14:06 and I kind of thought about doing so
14:09 just because I thought I had kind of a unique story.
14:12 I dealt with a lot of injuries throughout my career
14:14 that kind of set me back, but kind of at an early age,
14:18 I learned how to see the positives of the situation,
14:21 even though they are very difficult
14:23 and overcome with a positive manner.
14:26 So I just felt like a lot of people could relate
14:28 to my story, learn from my story, be inspired by my story.
14:32 And then also, obviously I dealt with a lot
14:34 from USA Gymnastics, being athlete A,
14:36 and wanted to share that aspect of my life too,
14:40 just because it is a big part of who I am.
14:41 And again, I just wanted to help other people
14:47 whether they are dealing with the same thing,
14:49 know people who have experienced similar things
14:52 that have happened to them and just learn
14:54 and just educate them, but also to have them know
14:58 that they're not alone and things like that.
15:01 So I just really wanted to share all of my story,
15:04 the ups, the downs, and then obviously my career at Oklahoma
15:07 just how amazing my experience was there.
15:10 But yeah.
15:12 - And with your experience at OU,
15:14 how has OU impacted your love for the sport of gymnastics?
15:19 - Oh yeah.
15:20 Going to Oklahoma truly made me fall in love
15:23 with the sport again.
15:24 Being able to be a part of such an amazing team,
15:28 it felt like a family to me.
15:30 And to be able to work every single day together in the gym
15:33 and then also at competitions
15:35 and just having every single person behind you,
15:37 cheering you on, truly meant so much to me.
15:41 And I loved giving it everything I had
15:43 at University of Oklahoma to help them win championships,
15:46 to help them win every single meet.
15:50 It was the best experience of my life.
15:52 And I'm so thankful that I went
15:53 to the University of Oklahoma.
15:57 - And what would you say to little girls
15:59 who are also facing adversity?
16:01 - I would say that it's just part of the journey
16:07 and just to stay positive and just to kind of take a step
16:11 back and realize like this situation,
16:14 even if it's an injury or a mental block,
16:16 that it is teaching you something.
16:18 It is growing you into such a stronger athlete,
16:21 a stronger person.
16:22 And so just to lean on your coaches,
16:25 lean on your parents and just,
16:27 you're gonna get through it.
16:30 So just try to stay positive and just to try to see
16:33 what this is teaching you and growing you into.
16:36 - Thank you.
16:37 Sorry for making you repeat yourself earlier.
16:39 - No, you're totally fine.
16:41 - Maggie, can you take a second and talk about
16:45 what it means to do a book signing back at your alma mater?
16:48 - Yeah, I am truly so excited.
16:50 Being able to do a book signing at the LNC
16:53 where I competed for four years,
16:55 truly means so much to me and to have Sooner Nation come
16:59 and to sign their books.
17:01 I'm just so excited to meet each and every person
17:04 and also just be in such a special place.
17:07 That means so much to me.
17:09 And I'm so excited that I can also cheer on the number one
17:12 Oklahoma Sooners afterwards.
17:14 - Anybody else have any last minute questions?
17:18 Catherine?
17:19 - What do you think about the current team at OU
17:23 and how they're doing so far?
17:25 - Oh my gosh, they're doing so incredible.
17:27 I mean, obviously they're ranked number one,
17:29 but they seriously look so strong this year, so consistent.
17:33 They have so much depth and I'm just the proudest alumni.
17:37 I love watching all the competitions,
17:39 going to as many competitions in person that I can,
17:42 but I don't know, I'm just so proud of them
17:46 and I'm just proud that I came from that team.
17:51 But yeah, the coaches are seriously
17:53 the best coaching staff in the country
17:55 and it truly shows in each team every single year.
17:58 So I'm really excited to watch the rest of the season
18:01 and hopefully watch them win another national championship.
18:05 - Hopefully.
18:07 Yes.