ATHENS, Ga. — Team USA is preparing to compete in gymnastics after dominating qualifying rounds. But one local gymnast's Olympic dreams have come to an end.
On a night when the American women's gymnastics team was soaring to new heights, a Canadian-born, Georgia-educated Olympian was coming back down to earth.
Brittany Rogers fell during the qualification round on the uneven bars and team Canada as a whole fell just short of the finals.
"Devastated and heartbroken, but extremely proud to be Canadian," Rogers told Channel 2’s Carl Willis.
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She's also proud to be a Bulldog. The encouragement from Athens keeping her spirits high.
"I feel like I have another country behind me, because they're so big and their support is just overwhelming and it's amazing," Rogers said.
Willis talked to Rogers before she set off to Rio. This her second time competing in the Olympics.
"I didn't think I would make it this far, and not a lot of college athletes come from college and go back to the Olympics, so I’m definitely an anomaly," Rogers told Willis.
She's just a few months removed from her collegiate career.
Rogers told Willis that her time at UGA, where she won an NCAA championship on bars, changed her.
"Just the support that the Bulldogs system has is absolutely incredible," Rogers said. "I've become a different person. I've learned more about myself as a person as opposed to an athlete."
With that growth and the support in Athens, Rogers pushed through years of pain and sacrifice to make a rare return to the games.
"You could say you only get to go to the Olympics once, but I’m very lucky that it's happening again for me," Rogers said.
Cox Media Group
