A/N: Two chapters in 24 hours? Who is she?
*JJ's Instagram story, a video filmed by Sam*
jenniferjareau
'repost from samlam'
Bailey-Rose walks out of the front doors of her school, her backpack bouncing on her back as she comes down the stairs. She's looking towards her dad, who is behind the camera, and she is obviously incredibly confused.
"Dad? Why are you pickin' me up early? Is Momma ok? And Pippa?"
Sam chuckles. "Everyone's fine, B. I'm takin' you out of school early because Mom and I have a surprise for you"
Bailey-Rose stops in front of her dad, squinting up at him in the sun. "What?"
There's a pause while Sam sets his phone down inside the passenger seat of the car, before kneeling down in front of his daughter, both of them now captured within the frame. "You and I are goin' on a little trip"
"Where to?"
"Well," Sam said with a smile, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a t-shirt he had tucked into it, shaking it out and holding it up in front of his daughter. It reads 'Team Jareau 2018'. "You're gonna need to take this with you"
Bailey-Rose takes a minute to read it, before letting out a gasp. "Are we goin' to Nationals?!"
Sam laughs. "We sure are sweetheart. We're goin' straight to the airport to fly to Boston this afternoon"
Bailey-Rose is completely overwhelmed, bursting into tears as she throws her arms around her dad.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she says tearfully as Sam gives her a tight cuddle
"You're welcome baby girl," Sam says with a bright smile. "Shall we head to the airport now? And we'll see if JJ has time for a quick call before we get on the plane"
"Ok," Bailey-Rose says, wiping her cheeks as she pulls back, before jumping excitedly on the spot. "I can't wait, I can't wait!"
"You would think the big story tonight is Simone Biles' return to competition after two years away from the sport following a triple gold medal haul in Rio de Janeiro, but she's joined out there on the competition floor by the greatest gymnast in US history, Jennifer Jareau. Jennifer, or JJ as you may know of her, has ten Olympic medals to her name, five of them gold, and one of them is the prestigious Olympic all-around title, the most coveted title in all of gymnastics. Good to have you along here at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, I'm Terry Gannon, joined by two people who also know what it's like to win Olympic gold, Tim Daggett, and Nastia Liukin. Nastia, you yourself are an Olympic all-around champion, and you've tried to make a comeback after that win, what exactly does JJ have in front of her right now as she makes tracks towards the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in two years time?"
"Terry, normally I would say that she's got an incredibly difficult path in front of her, but we're actually watching JJ walk this path for the second time in her career. She came off the London Games, where she won five medals, and she was so eager to go for round two that she didn't even take a break, and she competed through the entire quad in the leadup to the Rio Olympics. For most people, not taking a break would be counterproductive, but for her, it seems to work, and I genuinely think she just gets better and better every time we see her compete. She's doing the same again coming out of the Rio Games, and last year we saw her open up about the struggles she's had with her mental health after losing her father to cancer in 2016, so it really seems as though being in the gym and working towards those incredible goals not only keeps her physically in the game, but mentally as well, it's great to see"
"Tim, Simone Biles is back after two years away from the sport. In the leadup to Rio, many were calling her the greatest of all time, she was expected to walk away with four gold medals… was what happened in Rio a surprise to anyone?"
"Honestly Terry, everyone had handed Simone that all-around gold before the team was even announced, but JJ had been closing that gap for the last two years, and by the time the day of the all-around final rolled around, it really was going to come down to whoever had the better day. Simone may have been pipped at the final hour, but regardless of what results she gathers up in the next couple of years, I would say it's fair to call her one of the greats, if only for the sheer skill and difficulty she shows out on the competition floor. She was so dominant leading into 2016, and I think that dominance remained throughout the Olympics, I mean, she still took out the golds on vault and floor, events she is renowned for, but she has serious competition in her own teammate and friend, Jennifer Jareau, and if you ask Simone Biles, she relishes that challenge more than anything. It's great to be at the top, but if you stay there for too long, you get comfortable, and what Simone wants is to be pushed to keep getting even greater"
"They really are very good friends though, Simone was a bridesmaid at JJ's wedding earlier this year, and they keep in touch almost every other day. You should've seen the two of them earlier this week in podium training, it was all laughter and smiles, lots of chatting... they are just having a blast out there"
"Now, obviously the Olympics are still two years away, we are at the halfway point between Rio and Tokyo, so right now, we are looking towards the World Championships in Doha, Qatar later this year. There is some stellar talent within the US right now, Tim, who should we be watching closely as we move through these championships towards Worlds?"
"Without a doubt, Morgan Hurd is one to watch, she finished right behind JJ in the all-around competition last year. It was initially expected to be JJ and Ragan Smith in the competition, but when Ragan got injured right before qualifications, Morgan was pulled in as the alternate and boy, did she deliver. She's got great technique, great artistry, and she's absolutely in the mix right behind JJ and Simone for that team heading to the Middle East later in the year. Right alongside her, I would throw Riley McCusker, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, even newcomer Grace McCallum… all of these girls have the potential to help Team USA as they look to defend their World title from 2015, so it'll be very interesting to see how everyone performs over this weekend"
"I wouldn't count Ragan Smith out either, she's hungry for some World competition after that injury she got last year, and she's working so hard to be a top contender again. That ankle is in pain every single day, she's getting it worked on about three times a week, so she's doing everything she can to be in the mix"
"Nastia, going back to JJ for a minute, do you think she can maintain the level she's at, or even increase her skill level as the cycle moves on?"
"Look, watching her in London, I thought she was great, and so often we see gymnasts hit their physical peak in the Olympic Games and then they can never quite match that again. But over the last quad, she increased her difficulty on all four events, began competing a second vault, and made it look easy. So while she looks great this season, I wouldn't be surprised to see her look even greater over the years to come, I mean, she is absolutely someone who was just born to do gymnastics, and to do it at the highest possible level"
"She's had a big year, coming off an Achilles injury, getting married in May, still working on her mental health, but she looks incredibly relaxed here in Boston, she's ready to get out on the competition floor once more. We are actually going to start with her on her pet event, the balance beam, where she is the two time reigning Olympic Champion, five time reigning World Champion, and eight time reigning National Champion"
"Yeah, that's not normal, I wish I'd had the confidence she has on beam"
"It's funny, normally gymnasts hate starting on beam, but she told us after podium training the other day that she loves it. The event she actually hates to start on is bars, because it's the only event we've ever seen her have problems on"
"You'll notice her leotard tonight, all white, is actually inspired by her wedding dress. Very nice touch for her first night back at Nationals"
"Feel good?" Nick asked as he finished fixing the fastening of her competition number on her back.
"Really good. Excited," JJ replied with a smile.
"Good. That's the headspace we want," Nick said with a grin, holding out a fist for her to bump. "Just in the zone, ok?"
JJ nodded, knocking her knuckles against Nick's before he made his way off the podium. She allowed herself a moment to look up across the arena, where she'd already spotted her cheer squad sitting opposite the floor in the front row.
"Look B, JJ's lookin' over here," Will said softly, nudging his niece. Bailey-Rose turned excitedly, fixing her gaze on her aunt standing over on the other side of the arena. She stood up at the railing, giving JJ a little wave, giggling happily when JJ returned it.
"On balance beam for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"
The roar that filled the arena as JJ lifted her arms and saluted the judges was indescribable, a clear indicator of her popularity following the all-around wins in both Rio and Montreal. Taking a deep breath as she turned to face the end of the beam, she narrowed her gaze and cemented her focus. Moments later, she was taking a light run towards the springboard, jumping up and punching her feet hard off the board, flipping cleanly through a front pike onto the beam.
"She is just SO consistent with that, it is unreal"
A little bit of choreography was first up to set herself up for the first of her two acrobatic series, followed by a standing Arabian, or a back tuck with a half turn, to get her facing the right way.
She flipped back, turning as she did to turn the skill into a front walkover, immediately connecting it to two more aerial walkovers.
"I don't think people realise how hard that series is… if you are just… ever so slightly off, that whole series can come undone"
"She's so surefooted up there, she's like a mountain goat"
She felt so calm, so secure as she swung back into her second series.
"Flip… flip… layout FULL!"
Applause rang around the arena as she smacked her feet into the beam at the end of the full, her arms coming up above her head to steady her centre of gravity.
"Every country wishes they could have a Jennifer Jareau masterclass on balance beam"
"Tim, I think Team USA wishes they could have a Jennifer Jareau masterclass on beam"
The hardest section was done. The rest of it, by comparison, was a complete walk in the park. She had the slightest wobble at the end of her turn, but disguised it quickly as she found her centre again.
"She's so good!" Bailey-Rose said in an excited squeal, her eyes fixed on JJ's every move.
The bell rang, indicating she had ten seconds to get off the beam. She took a second to prepare, bringing her arms up above her head and letting out a breath before she flipped back… one flip… two flips… full twisting double tuck… STUCK!
A roar filled the arena as she straightened up and saluted the judges with a smile that could've lit up the entire place.
"What a start for Jennifer Jareau, a stuck landing on the hardest beam dismount in the competition… she's on the hunt for a second national all-around title this weekend, Simone Biles better have brought her A-game"
"Really good," Nick beamed, high fiving her with both hands as she made her way down the stairs, before wrapping her up in a tight hug. "Really well done"
"Had to put on my best performance for B-Rose," JJ said with a grin, making Nick laugh.
"Well, let's bring her to every competition from now on"
"I think they're talking about JJ's niece… oh yeah, there we go, the camera's gone to her family, so that little girl sitting next to JJ's husband is their niece. Apparently JJ is her favourite person in the entire world, and so her parents surprised her with a trip to Boston to watch her at Nationals"
"Imagine your aunt being the greatest gymnast in American history"
"Yeah, that's serious playground bragging rights right there"
Clutching her water bottle, JJ took a seat on one of the chairs near the beam, allowing her gaze to drift over to the floor while Nick sat down in front of her and began preparing to tape up her foot for the next rotation.
"JJ's coach, Nick, starting to tape up that right ankle, obviously, JJ tore her Achilles at the end of the World Championships last year. It's all healed now and she said to us the other day that it feels great and her doctors are super happy with how it's come together, but they still like to tape it up for a bit of extra support during the leg events of floor and vault"
"Let's go Jade!" she called out, clapping her hands together as Jade Carey stepped out onto the floor exercise to start her routine. Before long, she was underway, and JJ had to give her serious props for how much she had improved on her technique in the time since Worlds.
"15.700 on beam, very nice start," Nick said as he glanced over his shoulder towards the live scoreboard on the other side of the arena. "Keep that up and you might be in the hunt for a second national all-around title"
"That's the plan," JJ replied with a grin. "Gotta keep Simone on her toes"
Nick laughed, tearing off the piece of tape he was working on and securing it in place.
It wasn't too much longer in the rotation before Simone was taking to the floor, and JJ was not at all surprised to hear the roar that accompanied the three time World champion as she was introduced to the watching crowd.
"Now we go over to floor, the reigning Olympic champion, Simone Biles"
"This mount is outrageous. She'll do a double layout with two complete twists. Un. Real"
"Same mount we'll see from JJ in the next rotation"
"Come on Simone!" JJ called from the sidelines, having moved closer to the edge of the floor to cheer for her friend. Music booming through the arena, Simone took off across the floor, launching into a superb double twisting double layout, landing it to ecstatic applause.
"Nice! Come on!" JJ yelled out, clapping her hands as Simone danced through the lineup for her second pass. The routine was solid all the way through, despite a bounce out of bounds on both of her last two passes, and at the end of it, Simone was walking off the floor with a smile on her face.
"Too much oomf, I'm always bouncing out," she giggled as JJ bumped her fists into hers.
"You're just a little pocket rocket," JJ teased, falling into step beside her friend as they walked back to the chair bank.
"I saw your beam at the start, so good! Beam queen remains," Simone laughed, hugging her new coach, Cecile Landi as they reached their bags.
"Beam queen is never leaving," JJ said with a grin, stretching out her back.
The first rotation was over before long, and the second got underway. JJ stayed focused throughout the entire rotation, waiting for her turn on floor which came right at the very end.
"Remember not to overpower your tumbling, otherwise you're just going to pitch every landing right over the boundary," Nick reminded her softly as they hovered by the stairs after Grace McCallum's routine. "Even if you need to back it off and almost step into the tumbling line, you'll find you still generate enough power out of the backflip to get the skill over"
JJ nodded, lifting her hands and high fiving her coach as she was given the go ahead to head up onto the floor podium.
"We're gonna join Jennifer Jareau over on the floor exercise now, and what are your thoughts on this routine Tim?"
"Oh, she's exceptional. I mean… she was good in 2012. She got a silver medal at those Olympics. Handful of World medals over the years. World title last year. I mean… she just keeps getting better. She was telling us in training this week that her coach, Nick, just throws new skills at her for her to try, and it only takes her a few attempts to get the mechanics of it. She's deceptively powerful. I mean, you look at Simone Biles and you go 'yeah, she's powerful, she's built for power', but JJ is so lean and elegant, you expect her to be a phenomenal bars worker-"
"-and then she busts out a double double layout"
"Exactly"
"On floor for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"
"Come on JJ, you got this!" Bailey-Rose yelled from the sidelines, making JJ's lips quirk into the smallest of smiles as she took her place on the floor mat.
"Cheer from her biggest supporter"
"She definitely heard that too"
Her music began, energetic and loud as it pounded through the vast space. She took it in, allowing her muscles to relax and follow the beat as she began her choreography, carrying herself across the floor and into the corner for her first tumbling run. She turned without hesitation, taking off at a run. Following Nick's advice, she drew back on the power ever so slightly just as she hurdled into the roundoff. The flip that followed was technically perfect, and she found herself rebounding into a clean, tight double twisting double layout, which she landed with her chest up and her feet glued to the floor.
"PHWOAR! That's how that's done!"
Her next pass was just as clean, a full twisting double layout with the slightest of steps back to catch herself on the landing - but clear within the boundary line.
"Nice JJ, let's go!" Will yelled out, clapping his hands together as he watched his wife line up for her third run. Almost identical to Aly's opening pass of 2012, she catapulted through a 1.5 twist step-out into a double Arabian, also landing it without a flicker of movement.
"Oh she is on fire today"
Last pass, and this was where she knew she could make the biggest difference to her performance from the Classic. She took off, generating the power she needed before kicking it off as she hurdled. And just like Nick said, the backflip technique was perfect again, driving her up off the floor into an easy double double, which she punched into the floor with her chest upright, a bright smile on her face as the crowd roared with applause. She punched out the last bit of choreography, finishing the routine with nothing short of an exclamation point.
"That was phenomenal!"
"That will be a very nice score for Jennifer Jareau"
She was all smiles as she jogged down the stairs to high fives and hugs from Nick, Simone, Cecile, and a couple of the other girls in her rotation.
"See? I told you, drill the power back in the run and it'll come back on when you need it," Nick chuckled as he gave her a squeeze. "Amazing work, let's keep it up"
The rotation music came on, moving everyone into action as they began to move around to their next event. As JJ got to the vault, she could see Andrea Joyce and Tom Forster standing nearby, clearly conducting a mid-break interview while the gymnasts got warmed up. Andrea was all smiles as usual, while Tom looked like a fish out of water.
"I'm here with Tom Forster who is the new high performance team coordinator for the women's program, and uh, you're in your first national championships here. You're coming off the most successful Olympics ever, followed by two, very very rocky years. What's the biggest challenge for you in this new job?"
"Uh, well part of the challenge is we have a lot of new athletes and only two returning Olympians, Simone and JJ, but, they're great, so that really helps," Tom said with a grin. "So, all the athletes that are coming up, now vying for the next Olympics, it's new to them too. This is a big pressure meet for them, and watching them handle it, we want to create an environment for them to calm down, settle in, so I'd say that's probably the biggest challenge. Of course, they're being shown the way by our veterans, you have Jennifer Jareau who started out with such a solid routine over on beam, and then Simone performing and having fun on floor, they're really showing the younger athletes how to take it all in their stride"
"You have an opportunity to put your stamp on this program. We've heard some of the athletes already talking about a more open atmosphere. In your mind, what does the Tom Forster era look like?" Andrea asked.
Tom paused, before chuckling. "I don't know, I haven't really thought about it"
"What do you want it to be? What do you want the atmosphere to be, because there's been so much talk about what it's been in the past, and what it should be"
"Well, I want every athlete in the program to feel valued. It doesn't matter if you're the best on the national team, or you're just trying to make the national team. So every athlete has to feel valued, and I want the athletes to feel they can voice their concerns, voice their complaints, whatever, without fear of retaliation, and I don't know if they were ever retaliated before, but I've heard that they felt that way, so I just want to make sure the environment isn't like that"
"So some would say you have what's called an embarrassment of riches. You've got the most decorated gymnast in American history, who is also the reigning Olympic, World, and National all-around champion, you've got a three time World all-around champion who is better than she was when she last won the title, you've got a handful of World medalists. What is the challenge there, when you talk about all the challenges, to bring that together as a cohesive team?"
"Well, the biggest challenge is that we haven't had a training centre to consistently bring the girls together so they can bond, so they can form their friendships and relationships, and push one another in a positive way, so they've been a little fractured and only coming together at competitions like this, and they're not used to that, they're used to being together, so that's really been the biggest challenge, is trying to get them unified. I mean, you have JJ at the moment who's really the leader of the program, and she's really taken it upon herself these last 12 months to lead these younger athletes and help form a bit of team unity, but at the same time, she's 24 years old… there's an eight year age gap between her and the first year seniors this year, which makes it harder to form relationships that are more than say, a colleague type relationship. I mean, how do a 24 year old newlywed and a 16 year old sophomore really relate on a human level? Some of these girls were only 10 or 11 when she won her first Olympic gold medal, which is a little crazy to think about. So even though she's really taken that leadership role on, I know it's been a little hard for her because she had such close relationships with the girls she competed with through the 2012 and 2016 quads, and now pretty much all of those athletes have left the program and she's still standing. But now we have Simone back, and Simone is essentially new. Her previous competitors or teammates, aside from JJ, are not with her, so she's working hard to form new relationships as well, and I've seen in the last few weeks since the Classic that having Simone back is actually helping to bridge that gap a little between JJ and some of the younger girls because Simone sits more in the middle of the age range"
"Well, good luck with all of that, sounds like you have a lot on your plate, thanks for joining us"
"Well, we finish up day 1 of the national championships with a leader who may be a surprise to some, a no brainer to the rest, of course it's our reigning Olympic, World, and National all-around champion, Jennifer Jareau, who is ahead of the pack today, but not by much, no, Simone Biles is only a couple of tenths behind her!"
"JJ is also leading the standings on three of the four events, vault is the only event where she's been pipped, Simone Biles got her on difficulty there"
"It's definitely shaping up to be an interesting day of competition on Sunday. Do you think JJ can retain that national title, Tim?"
"I think if she goes out there on Sunday like she did tonight, it's her title to lose, she was so clean, so secure, so confident, even Simone Biles may have a hard time beating that performance"
"Well, tune in with us again on Sunday evening here at the TD Garden in Boston, and on Sunday we will crown our 2018 National champion. Thanks for joining us, and good night!"
"Hey you!" Will said happily as JJ clambered up onto the podium nearest their seats and walked up to the barrier. Leaning over the railing, he gave her lips a quick peck. "You were amazin', well done"
"Thanks," JJ replied with a smile.
"That beam routine was one of the best I've seen you do," Sandy added from behind him.
"Yeah, Nick's trying to figure out how to bottle that and sell it as we speak," JJ joked, earning laughter from her family. "What did you think of your first time at Nationals, B-Rose?"
"It was so cool!" Bailey-Rose gushed excitedly.
"Do you wanna come with me and meet some of the girls?" JJ asked. Bailey-Rose's face lit up.
"Yes! Dad, can I go with JJ? Please?"
"You have to be on your best behaviour, ok?" Sam said firmly. "Stay with JJ and do what she tells you"
"I will, I will, I promise!" Bailey-Rose said happily, holding her arms up as Sam scooped her up under the arms and lifted her over the barricade. JJ laughed as Bailey-Rose did a happy little squirm, dropping down on her feet beside JJ and immediately grabbing her aunt's hand.
"Alright, we'll see you guys outside in a bit," JJ said with a smile. Together, the two of them walked off, jumping down from the podium and walking back over to where the majority of the athletes were still gathered around collecting their things.
"Oh hey B-Rose!" Simone said as she spotted the two walking over. "You get to be part of the action, hey?"
"My dad said I have to be on my best behaviour," Bailey-Rose replied with a grin, making JJ and Simone laugh.
"Well, I'm never on mine, so maybe you can show me what it's like," Simone giggled.
"Hey Morgan," JJ called, grabbing the younger girl's attention and leading Bailey-Rose the short distance over towards her. "Thought I'd introduce you to another Harry Potter fan. This is my niece, Bailey-Rose, she's come from New Orleans to watch her first elite gymnastics competition"
"Oh that's so cool! How did you like it?" Morgan said with a beaming smile.
"It's amazing! I want to compete at nationals one day," Bailey-Rose gushed.
"Well, I'm sure your auntie can teach you a few tips," Morgan replied. Bailey-Rose giggled, nodding her head in agreement. "Who's your favourite Harry Potter character?"
"I like Hermione," Bailey-Rose said immediately. "She's really smart, smarter than the boys!"
"Yessss, girl power!" Morgan said, holding out her fist to allow Bailey-Rose to bump it, which the younger girl did with a happy giggle.
"Oh you are so cute," came the voice of Jade Carey behind them, making JJ and Morgan laugh. "Did you know you look like a mini-JJ?"
"Yes," Bailey-Rose said proudly, puffing out her chest as the three athletes laughed together. "Are you Jade? You went to Worlds last year!"
"I sure did," Jade giggled. "What's your name?"
"Bailey-Rose. B-Rose, or B for short"
"Nice to meet you, B-Rose!"
"Ah, we've adopted an extra!" Nick said with a smile as he walked up to the group. "How are you B-Rose? Did you like watching the competition?"
"Yeah, everyone is so good!" Bailey-Rose replied happily. "Maybe one day I can go to Nationals too!"
Nick grinned. "Absolutely you can kiddo!" Looking up, he gave JJ a smile, lifting up the two backpacks in his hand. "I've got all your stuff, so we're ready to head out whenever you are"
"Cool, can we wait for Simone?"
"Yeah, sure can"
Before long, they were walking out as a group through the athlete's exit, finding both JJ's and Simone's cheering squads waiting on the other side.
"Dad! Dad! I met Morgan and Jade! They both went to Worlds with JJ and won medals!" Bailey-Rose shrieked, running and jumping into Sam's arms as the rest of the adults laughed.
"You also got to hang with the one and only Simone Biles," Sam pointed out with a laugh.
"Yeah but I already know Simone! I met Simone at the party last year!"
"Fair point," Simone shrugged, grinning as she walked up to Stacey and gave him a quick kiss.
"Do you guys have plans for dinner, or shall we find somewhere to go together?" Sandy suggested, looking across to Nellie and Ron.
"No, no plans here," Nellie said with a smile. "What did you have in mind?"
"I could smash a pizza right about now," Simone piped up.
"Seconded," JJ added with a grin.
Will laughed. "The Olympic gold medalists have spoken"
"Alright then. Pizza it is," Sandy chuckled, falling into step beside Nellie, Paul on her other side, all of them making an unlikely ragtag group as they exited the arena to enjoy a pizza meal as not just teammates and supporters, but friends and family.