Getty McKayla Maroney makes her "not impressed" face after winning the silver medal on vault at the 2012 Olympics. Maroney and her facial expression went viral and became a meme.
At the 2012 London Olympics, McKayla Maroney first made headlines for her near-perfect Amanar vault at the team final competition for women’s artistic gymnastics. Her block off the vault table allowed her to gain so much height, giving her more than enough time to complete the two and a half twists before sticking the vault cold.
After the seemingly flawless vault, Maroney’s face was filled with glee. It also gave the world a glimpse at who was a likely favorite to become the women’s vault gold medalist at the Games.
But when vault finals came and Maroney came short of first, earning the silver medal, she became a viral sensation for the “not impressed” face she displayed on the podium during the medal ceremony.
Nearly a decade since Maroney’s reaction turned into a meme, she can still be seen on television today, flipping in a red, white and blue leotard — just not in a competitive setting.
Maroney Has Starred in Her Own Geico Commercial
Maroney has recently been seen on television and online in a fashion similar to the one the world became acquainted with. In a commercial for Geico, Maroney uses her gymnastics skills to run, swing and leap up onto a roof where a frisbee has landed. She grabs the frisbee off the roof for the two men who were throwing it around, flips off the roof and hands it back to them.
When one of the men tosses the frisbee only for it to yet again land on the roof, the camera cuts to Maroney making the “not impressed” face she became known for in London.
The Geico appearance was Maroney’s first public instance of gymnastics since retiring.
On an Instagram live, Maroney mentioned the commercial made her think of wanting to come back to the sport.
I should probably add she quickly changed her mind lol.
After the 2012 Olympics, Maroney went on to redeem herself by winning the vault title at 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, but it was the last time she competed in the sport.
An NBC Sports article noted that the vault specialist had knee surgery in March 2014, forcing her to sit out the season, in addition to dealing with depression and burnout. Less than a year later, Maroney announced her retirement from the sport.
In February 2015, she did an interview with the gymnastics podcast Gymcastic and announced she was done being a competitive gymnast.
She is Sharing Her Health and Wellness Interest with Others
At the end of January, Maroney launched Glohe, a new Instagram account separate from her personal one. The bio states that the account is for health and wellness.
In one of the earliest posts from the profile, Maroney mentioned that her interest in health and wellness came from her own personal experiences with each area. For example, her issues with keratosis pilaris led to an interest in skincare, whereas her experience with binge eating and post-traumatic stress disorder led to an interest in mental health.
Her posts on Glohe often provide inspiration, encouragement and tips on how to lead a healthier life.
Most Recently Becoming Involved with Music, Maroney Has an Entertainment Career
Since the London Olympics, Maroney has become involved with the entertainment industry.
First, she got into acting. Her page on IMDb lists a recurring role on “Hart of Dixie” as her first acting credit, appearing in several episodes from 2012 to 2016. She also made guest appearances on “Bones” in 2013 and on “Superstore” in 2016.
In 2013, Maroney also appeared in the band 30 Seconds to Mars’ video short for its song “Up in the Air.” She and her Olympic teammate Jordyn Wieber were both featured in the video.
Last year, Maroney released her own music. Her first song is titled “Wake Up Call,” and it debuted in March 2020. Her artist page on Spotify lists two songs — both of which were released in 2020. The Olympic gymnast has not released new music since then.
She is Writing a Book
On Twitter, Maroney’s bio mentions that she is working on a book. The two-time Olympic medalist provided further details regarding her book in a tweet from May. She noted that she is now ready to revisit her gymnastics history and record it, finding it was “too hard” to do so before.
Maroney’s gymnastics career is best known for her accomplishments at the 2012 Olympics, but she was also one of the hundreds of gymnasts who was abused by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.