The nerves were there. They were unavoidable, really. Yet rather than greet them with anxiety or fear as she did the last time she stood on the competition floor, Laurie Hernandez embraced them.
Yes, it's been more than four years — a lifetime and then some in women's gymnastics — since she walked off the podium at the 2016 Olympics with a star-making smile and a pair of medals around her neck.
Her journey since leaving Brazil included dabbling in the trappings that came with newfound stardom, moving from New Jersey to Los Angeles and parting with a coach currently serving a 5-year suspension for abusive behavior.
Oh, and then there's the dash of skepticism about whether her comeback was legit. Yet all of it faded into the background on