A/N: They say the third time is the charm.

This story has truly become such a big part of my life. I'm proud of the amount of effort I put into remaking it into something I've been proud of.

But now, I feel like I could've done so much more with it. More detail, more intricate backstory, more skill guides... the works. So, in honour of the fact that I've graduated university and can now spend my free time as I wish, I've decided my goal for 2018 is to start reworking it again. Before you all go OH MY GOD... the plot isn't going to change much. But there is so much more to this story that I failed to include in its first incarnation, and I really feel that as readers, you deserve my absolute best effort. It's just such an enjoyable story to write, and I'm more than happy to immerse myself in this universe for as long as possible to enhance your enjoyment of it. I also want to increase chapter lengths as much as possible. So, chapter by chapter, I'm rewriting Undying Champion. Never fear! The original will stay up until they become equal, so you can enjoy the story even while it's under renovation!

I really hope you guys love and enjoy this as much as I'm sure I will, because I'm excited to make UC my absolute best work yet.

Enjoy!

'Deep breath. In... out'

Chaifetz Arena was abuzz with energy. Her eyes were closed, but all around her, the excited audience cheered for the gymnasts out on the floor. Someone's floor music was playing... Mykayla Skinner's, she was pretty sure. A loud thud followed by applause told her she had landed a tumbling pass successfully.

She briefly wondered if Will was watching from home, her sweeter than sugar best friend of almost ten years. He always tried to watch her meets. He'd even flown out to Minnesota with her parents last year to watch the competition live.

The thought sent a sharp flutter of nerves into her stomach.

'Focus Jareau'

She flicked her eyes open, the sounds of the arena coming screaming into blinding colour. She was standing on the end of a chalky blue runway, bookended at the opposite end by the dusty vaulting table. Down to her left, her lifelong coach, Nicholas 'Nick' Romero was leaning against the raised podium, watching, waiting for her to get her green flag.

'Deep breath'

"So we're going to head over to the vault where we have Jennifer Jareau about to compete, just about ten feet in front of us... Tim, what can you tell us about Jennifer Jareau?"

"Well, she's kind of the underdog here Al. To the casual viewer, she may not be a name that sticks out to them for the Olympic team. We haven't seen her compete the all-around since 2010 due to an injury she sustained at the World Championships that year. But she actually did finish second behind Rebecca Bross that year... so we know she's capable of being competitive as an all-around gymnast"

"And last year, she was part of that gold medal winning team in Tokyo. She showed fantastic work there, winning the world title on the balance beam and picking up another medal on floor exercise. Her bars were not as strong as I've seen them in the past, but her coach did say that she competed a weaker bars routine last season to try and protect that shoulder"

"That's right Elfi, and she's put in a lot of work over the off-season to get back to a competitive level"

"Do you think she can make the team?"

"I think she is most definitely in the mix! Right now, we can quite safely say that Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas... and probably Aly Raisman are going to London. So that leaves a team that needs a bit of bulking out on bars, and quite honestly, a slightly stronger floor routine than Gabby's couldn't hurt them either. Now, if McKayla Maroney was the fourth member of that team, she would contribute on vault and floor. The only event that needs help is bars, so it depends if Marta thinks that JJ is the gymnast for the job, or if someone like... the returning Olympic Champion, Nastia Liukin, could do the job"

"It basically comes down to what Marta thinks she needs to boost on the team, if she takes the three most likely candidates"

Finally. The green flag.

"On vault for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"

A polite round of applause sounded for her as she stepped up to the line marker and raised her arms into a salute.

She breathed in deeply once more. She rubbed the tips of her fingers together, ensuring they were well chalked; a habit she'd picked up in the Junior Olympic system and kept to this day.

"This should be a nice clean start for JJ... if I know anything about her coach, it's that he does not let her return to full competition until she's ready to do so"

Stepping back as she poised herself to run, she fixed a steely gaze against the apparatus. Moments later, she had taken off down the runway, hurdling powerfully into her round off. She felt like her hands barely brushed the placement mat before she was flipping back onto the table. With a hard push, she blocked away from the suede topped surface, pulling her arms up towards her body as she started to rotate through the air.

Seconds later, it was all over. Her feet hit the mat as she straightened up facing the vault table, having completed two clean twists in the air.

She was happy with that, she thought as she turned and presented to the judges. She knew she'd piked her hips down towards the end, but overall, it was a solid start for her.

"That was good," Nick said softly, giving her a high five as she walked down the stairs and fell into step beside him as they walked back along the edge of the podium. "I always think you can get some more height, which will help you not pike down as much in the air. It's something we can keep working on"

"Ok," she agreed, giving him a smile as they reached the chair bank. He gave her a pat on the shoulder as she found her bag and dropped down into the chair beside it.

"Nice job JJ," came the voice of Jordyn Wieber as she unzipped her bag and dug out her water bottle.

"Thanks Jo," she replied, smiling at her teammate. Jordyn was the reigning national champion, as well as the reigning world all-around champion. But even with her titles and her almost guaranteed status on the Olympic team, she was one of the nicest people JJ had ever met, and they had gotten along well when they had competed in Tokyo the previous fall.

She took a swig of water, just enough to wet her mouth and throat, before closing the cap and replacing the bottle in her bag. Digging around, she found her grips bag and tape, pulling them out and dropping them into her lap. The competition continued around her as she unearthed her grips from within the soft canvas bag and set about preparing herself for the uneven bars.

This would be her first time competing her full bars difficulty since sustaining the infamous shoulder injury at the World Championships in Rotterdam two years earlier. Even two weeks earlier, at the Secret U.S. Classic, she had omitted some of the connections between her skills so as to not overdo it on her first meet of the season.

She listened, but didn't watch, as Gabrielle "Gabby" Douglas took to the bars over in another group. Gabby was another girl she had competed with last year in Tokyo. She was a quiet, but hard working gymnast, whose release skills on the uneven bars left all of the other girls on the national team positively drooling. 'The Flying Squirrel' as she was affectionately known by Martha Karolyi, had most definitely put together another stunning routine judging by the cheers.

"On floor exercise for Brestyan's, Alexandra Raisman!"

Hearing the name of her best friend, JJ immediately looked up. She usually had a rule of not watching anyone else compete so as not to make herself nervous. But she always watched Aly's routines. And Aly always watched hers.

Hava Nagila started, thumping out of the overhead speakers with intensity and passion. Aly held her head up with pride, waiting for that first note on which she would begin to move.

For Aly, this was her second season competing this floor routine, and JJ knew just how much it meant to her personally. Aly's family were proud Jewish people who valued hard work, passion, but most importantly, family, and JJ knew this particular routine spoke to the core of her traditional values she was so proud of.

She sprung to life, stepping forward and flourishing both of her hands before pulling back into the corner for her first tumbling line. JJ watched, transfixed by Aly's natural ability on the apparatus as she carried out the tumbling pass she was becoming well known for; round-off, 1.5 step-out, round-off, back handspring, double Arabian flip, rebounded directly into a laid out punch front.

Each tumbling pass was put solidly to her feet, just as Aly was known for, and it seemed like it ended all too soon when she swooped through her final movement and struck her finishing pose.

"For Brestyan's, Alexandra Raisman!"

Aly saluted, turning and heading over to the stairs where her coach, Romanian expat Mihai Brestyan, was waiting for her. As she reached the steps, she happened to glance up in JJ's direction. Catching the eye of her friend, she grinned, giving her a thumbs up before descending the podium.

It felt like hours later, but was probably only twenty minutes or so, that JJ was standing beneath the uneven bars, waiting yet again for her green flag. She had a feeling she was going to be doing a lot of waiting at these Championships. Because of the sponsorship deal between NBC and USA Gymnastics for the upcoming Olympic Games, NBC didn't want any of the top contenders for the team competing at the same time. This was to ensure they could get all the 'important' routines on live television. To JJ, it didn't seem fair; all the girls here had worked hard to qualify to nationals. Just because some of the girls didn't really have a chance at making it through to the Trials, it didn't make their routines any less important.

Either way, she had had to wait because Gabby was on beam. But Gabby had just dismounted, so surely, any moment now, she was up.

Sure enough, her flag came just moments later.

"On uneven bars for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"

She saluted quickly, turning her attention to the low bar as Nick focused himself at the side of the apparatus. Being that she was still regaining confidence on the event, he was there to spot her through her releases, a backup in case she fell.

Not that she was planning on doing that.

"So we round up the first night of competition for the women at the 2012 Visa Championships. As expected, Jordyn Wieber is out in front, with Gabby Douglas nipping at her heels. Holding her own in third is Pittsburgh's own Jennifer Jareau, and her partner in crime, her best friend Aly Raisman, is right behind her in fourth. This Olympic team selection is shaping up to be VERY interesting indeed!"

"I saw you standing there for bars, you were up there for ages, I was like 'oh my god, just let her go already!'" Aly jabbered as she slung an arm around JJ's shoulder. They were walking out of the arena, following Jordyn's coach, John Geddert, as he led them on the short walk back to the hotel. The hotel allocations for Championships were always organised by each attending gym, but being that Aly and JJ got along so well, Mihai and Nick had taken to making joint bookings. As it so happened, this year, they had also picked the hotel where Twistars, Chow's, and GAGE teams, the teams of Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas, and Sarah Finnegan respectively, were staying as well.

"It's so stupid. Like, if we're there, ready to go, let us go. Show it on replay. I don't care if Will sees it five minutes after it happened," JJ groaned. Aly laughed, pushing on the double glass doors as they reached the street.

"I love how Will's the first person that comes to mind," she teased.

"He's the only person I know of that's definitely watching on TV," JJ said dryly. "Some of my school friends might be watching, but they usually wait to hear how I went first. I think I scarred them for life in Rotterdam"

"Honey, you scarred everyone for life in Rotterdam, but it's ok, because we still got a silver medal out of it"

Laughing, JJ shook her head, hoisting her backpack higher on her back as they strolled behind John up the sidewalk towards the hotel.