Meet the new mum who competes in men’s gymnastics
Just eight weeks after delivering twins via C-section, mechanical engineer and life-long gymnast Julia Sharpe was suiting up for another season of intense pre-comp training, eager to shape up in time for nationals.
But perhaps even more remarkable than her return to the demanding sport so soon after giving birth was the fact that Sharpe was competing in the men’s gymnastics division.
Sharpe made the switch in 2012 when she discovered that, according to club rules, she could compete for either gender — just not both at the same time. The decision to boost numbers on the MIT men’s team and pursue a new challenge was a no-brainer.
“I was able to go back to the basics and learn so many new things just from the other people on the team,” Sharpe told The Cut.
After adjusting her training intensity during the pregnancy (read: scrapping tumbling drills for, frankly, still hugely impressive dips and handstands. Check it out in the video above), the physical toll of the C-section and the missed training sessions initially left Sharpe unable to even perfect simple moves like backward and forward rolls. However she soon regained her confidence on the mats, as this extraordinary footage shows.
