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FORT WORTH, Texas — The last time Grace McCallum performed in Fort Worth, Texas, the sophomore gymnast's night ended early after an uncharacteristic landing to her vault routine.
The Olympian landed awkwardly and hyperextended her knee during the Metroplex Challenge on Feb. 11.
Utah head coach Tom Farden was hopeful that McCallum could get back out on the floor at some point during the season, but when she wasn't ready to compete during the team's regional appearance in Los Angeles, there was some doubt, even as Farden said she had made progress, that there was any time left for her to compete.
But as the Red Rocks gymnasts warmed up ahead of the semifinal round of the national championship on Thursday, McCallum was there on uneven bars and beam, working alongside her teammates. She had been cleared to participate.
And when it mattered most, McCallum gave the Red Rocks a much-needed lift to help the team to a second-half comeback and semifinal win.
McCallum's first opportunity back on the floor came at a pivotal time in the meet when Utah had fallen back to third place in the standings and needed a big effort from its bars team. As the anchor on bars, McCallum was the one responsible to put the finishing touches to the team's performance.
Four of the five gymnasts that went before McCallum scored a 9.9125 or higher, but every tenth mattered in a highly competitive semifinal round against No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 4 UCLA, who remained locked up in a fight against Utah.
McCallum didn't need to be perfect.
But much like her performances before injury derailed her season, McCallum delivered a nearly flawless routine that ended with her perfectly sticking her dismount. And with it came a fired up Farden and an emotional release of tears from the gymnast to celebrate a 9.950 score that lifted the Red Rocks past a once-surging Bruins team.
"Right when I finished my routine, I knew. I was like, 'Dang, I really did that.' I wasn't sure I would be able to stick my dismount, because I just started doing them just a couple of days ago, but it felt really good," McCallum said. "It felt probably like the most accomplished feeling I think I've felt my whole gymnastics career. And I told myself I wasn't gonna cry, but then I just couldn't help it. Just the amount of support I had from that team in the moment, it was just unreal. And so (tears) just kind of started flowing."
NEVER count Grace McCallum out‼️
— Utah Gymnastics (@UtahGymnastics) April 14, 2023
She's worked so hard for this comeback and scores a 9.95 in her first routine since Feb. 11!
📺 ESPN2
📲 https://t.co/Gh6jmhnKMZpic.twitter.com/n0IWc2EomZ
McCallum's night wasn't done, though.
On beam, the Olympian, again, served as the team's anchor in its final event of the night. Just moments before McCallum performed, teammate Maile O'Keefe, who won the all-around and beam title, scored a perfect 10.0 and eliminated UCLA from contention in a wild comeback for the Red Rocks. On paper, McCallum's performance wasn't needed for the team to advance.
McCallum went through her usual routine — graceful wolf turns and all that characterize her performance — and topped it off with another stuck dismount. When the judges returned a 9.9250 score, it lifted the Red Rocks to the top of the leaderboard to point an exclamation point to a remarkable second-half effort from a team that, moments earlier in the meet, looked to be in trouble.
It was even more remarkable given that McCallum didn't start training again on beam until a week ago.
"I was back in the gym right away; I was doing everything I could, like therapy," McCallum said. "And then I guess it was a couple of weeks ago, like last week, I started doing dismount on bars on landings, and then beam I did my first beam routine just last week on Tuesday."
McCallum said the "road here was kind of tough," but she persevered and found a way back onto the floor when it mattered most. That didn't make the recovery time any less difficult, though.
"Getting hurt that late in season, but also having enough time, I didn't know if it was possible," she said. "But I didn't really let that get to me. I kind of said, you know what, if you want to compete at nationals, you're going to do everything you can, so I went in the gym extra days; I did extra workouts and did everything I could to get back here, and just did all the (physical therapy).
"It definitely wasn't an easy road, but it was so worth it. And it made nationals this year just so much more meaningful. And just the team support throughout the whole journey coming back has been unmatched. It's been amazing."
The road back was certainly worth it for McCallum and the Red Rocks, but they're not done yet. The Red Rocks will pursue their 11th national championship on Saturday (2 p.m. MDT, ABC) as it hopes to end a 28-year drought since the program's last title.
