Skye Blakely Returns to Florida Campus With World All-Around Title

Skye Blakely walked into the University of Florida dining hall on Tuesday morning, hours after landing back in the United States, and found herself surrounded by teammates from the Gators and athletes from other sports who wanted to congratulate her. Days later, students, passers-by and some of her professors on the Gainesville campus have continued to stop her.

Blakely, 21, won the world all-around title last Friday, 28 months after she ruptured her right Achilles tendon during floor podium training at Olympic trials in 2024. She took the lead in the all-around after her vault and uneven bars routines, and after her balance beam set she had effectively locked up the title. She cried and hugged her coach, Owen Field, when the floor score came in as her final event of the day. "It was just so surreal," Blakely told ESPN over Zoom on Thursday, adding that she was reflecting on the work required to return from injury and "emotional hardship." She also earned bronze on vault and uneven bars and a silver medal with the team.

Before Friday, her Olympic chances had been cut short twice. At 16, she tore the ulnar collateral ligament in her left elbow while warming up on vault at Tokyo trials in 2021. She made U.S. teams for worlds in 2022 and 2023, helping the squad to gold each year, but fell off the balance beam in an individual event final in 2022 and during qualifying in 2023. She finished second in the all-around at the 2024 national championships behind Simone Biles, then ruptured her Achilles at trials. "I'm devastated and heartbroken but I believe everything happens for a reason," she wrote on Instagram at the time.

Blakely returned to elite competition in the summer of 2025 and made her NCAA all-around debut in 2026, where she posted two perfect 10.0s on bars and beam and finished second on bars at both the SEC and NCAA championships. Florida won the SEC title in March but placed third at the NCAA championships behind Oklahoma and LSU. Blakely has not missed a team activity this fall while training for elite, including two weeks away for worlds. She returns to practice Monday to begin working on her 2027 routines.

She also has leaned on teammates Leanne Wong, the 2025 world all-around silver medalist, and Kayla DiCello, who ruptured her Achilles at the same 2024 trials. Blakely has called DiCello her "support system" during their shared recovery. "Having Skye through this whole process was something that I really loved," DiCello told ESPN during the 2026 season.

Blakely was seven in 2012 watching Gabby Douglas win Olympic all-around gold in London. "It really opened my mind, seeing her, someone who looked like me, and her just succeeding being so young as well," she said, adding that she wanted to do the same. With the 2028 Los Angeles Games under two years away, Blakely continues to train elite routines alongside her NCAA work, putting in extra gym hours after team practice ends. She said she is building a foundation of mental strength while adding difficulty. "I feel like I'm in a great place and I'm just going to keep the same mindset and push each day," she said.

Classes kept her busy this week regardless. Hours after her Thursday interview, she took a nutrition education midterm, with a microbiology lab exam scheduled for Friday morning. "It's a lot of hard work but it's not that overwhelming," she said.