Inside Interview, Terin Humphrey (Part 2)

Forced into early retirement due to a back injury, Terin Humphrey now finds her gymnastics career behind her. Focused on getting healthy and being happy, the 2004 Olympian and Alabama gymnast is now starting her “real life.” We continue with our candid conversation with the 2004 Olympian who became a fan favorite through her strong work ethic, focus on artistry and positive attitude...

INSIDE: What’s your best memory from those Games?

HUMPHREY: It was all really hard. Really tiring. But seeing my flag being raised—second place or not—was so cool. To see it being raised, at the Olympics; that was a dream come true.

INSIDE: You talk about how hard the Olympics are. Did you enjoy it at the time, or was there just too much pressure and stress?

HUMPHREY: Honestly? I didn’t enjoy it until we got home. Not until the parades, and that kind of stuff. The tour [was a] lot of fun.

INSIDE: Some of your ’04 teammates ended up going NCAA also. Did that influence you?

HUMPHREY: I was [the one] who was kind of ready to be done, but, yeah, we talked about it. A lot. We were all making those decisions. [On the tour,] you didn’t know how much money you [could] make until you finished, and then you had, like, a week to decide [whether to accept it, and forgo your NCAA eligibility, or not].

So, we’d just talk all the time. We’d joke about, ‘What if I go to Alabama and you go to Georgia and then we’ll be the biggest rivals? We’ll have to hate each other in public, but secretly we’d still be friends.’ We’d just joke around about that kind of stuff.

INSIDE: If you could give the girls in this Olympic cycle vying for a spot on the team one piece of advice what would it be?

HUMPHREY: I would probably tell them to work hard now. As hard as you can so that, later, you’ll look back and have no regrets about anything. That’s the worst thing. Tough it out now, ladies! It will be OK later.

INSIDE: Do you have any regrets?

HUMPHREY: You know, I don’t right now. I think I went out and did the best I could. But there’s always that [thought]: ‘What if I could have worked that little bit harder one day?’

INSIDE: Do you keep in touch with your Elite coaches, Al and Armine Fong?

HUMPHREY: I go to work every year at their camp. And, you know, when I go back home, we have BBQs and talk about old times.  It’s nice.

I respect them a lot more now that I’m older and know what they went through.

INSIDE: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

HUMPHREY: (laughs) Oh my, gosh. Ten years?! I don’t know, because there are so many things I want to do and accomplish. I want to do this and do that. I’m really excited [about the future].

Right now, I’m just going to stay in school for a little bit longer, until I graduate and get my criminal justice degree. I’m going to intern [at a law firm] this summer and see if I like it or not. See if I want to go to law school. No matter what I decide to do, I’ll take a year off [before graduate school].

INSIDE: It sounds like you’re really enjoying your free time.

HUMPHREY: I love it! It’s just little things, like, if I’m tired, I can take a nap. I’ve never had that choice before. I absolutely love it.

INSIDE: Do you feel like you were missing out all these years when you were in gym six to eight hours a day?

HUMPHREY: Not missing out, necessarily. I got to experience something that no one else has. I got to travel and see the world. But, yeah, I’m happy to be ‘normal.’ I’m enjoying it.

INSIDE: As a gymnast, how would you like to be remembered?

HUMPHREY:  I hope that people remember that you don’t get anywhere other than through hard work. I hope people remember me as a hard worker. I hope they don’t take it for granted.

You know, I wasn’t a very talented gymnast. I always had to work hard.  I had to work twice as hard as everyone else. It was harder for me to do stuff; not to learn stuff, but to perfect it.

INSIDE: You talk about hard work. Was there ever a time, before the Olympics, that you seriously considered quitting?

HUMPHREY: Oh yeah!  I think every athlete has wanted to quit, probably more than once. It happened to me a couple of times where I was like, ‘Forget it. It’s too hard.’

INSIDE: What kept you going?

HUMPHREY: Honestly? It was my dad. My dad always told me how he wanted to do football and basketball in college and regretted not [sticking] with that. I didn’t want to go through my life regretting. I didn’t want to think, ‘Well, I WAS a good gymnast maybe if I …’ I didn’t want to be left wondering.

INSIDE: You were part of the first generation of gymnasts that came up under the Karolyi camp system, going to the Ranch once a month or so, for National Team training camps. Was that as difficult as it seems?

HUMPHREY: It is hard. It is every bit as hard it looks, as hard as it seems, and probably more. But, at the same time, other countries are really strong, and working really hard. In order to keep up I think that was what the U.S. needed, and needs, to do.

INSIDE: What do you think the U.S. women’s chances are this summer?

HUMPHREY: Honestly? I haven’t really had a chance to watch. I was at Championships [last summer] and, when I’m home, I watch Ivana (Hong) and Sarah (DeMeo) in the gym. But, otherwise, I don’t really keep up on it like I should.

HUMPHREY: I probably will. I’ll watch Trials, for sure; I’m going. I’ll watch every once in a while to see how they’re doing.

INSIDE: You’ll be at Trials to be inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame as part of the 2003 gold-medal-winning World Championships team.  Is that a big honor for you?

HUMPHREY: Mostly I’m excited to see everyone [from the 2003 team] and watch Trials. And when you can be inducted into a Hall of Fame, that’s always a good thing.

HUMPHREY: Thank you. It’s been fun.

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Photos by Lloyd Smith, Scott Einuis