At the age of 16, McKayla Maroney has shown what determination can do. With a 2012 Olympic Gold Medal, as well as three 2011 Non-Olympic Gold Medals and a silver Medal, without the right motivation, we would not see such amazing stories. But what is it that motivated this young athlete to propel herself to the top?

December 9, 1995, Mike and Erin Maroney witnessed the birth.  McKayla told reporters that her mother put her "in gymnastics because I had so much energy and I was always running around" which would take away a portion of her "insane amounts of energy." However, not even a sport as energetic as gymnastics can handle her energy, as she also enjoyed soccer, ice skating, and tennis.  And it would appear that she was not the only athlete, however. Mike was quarterback for Purdue University.

Some would say public school would have taken away Maroney's time to practice, and that would be true.  She has been home-schooled just for the purpose of training to become an elite gymnast.

Beginning her career in gymnastics in 1997, being not even two years old, she has been motivated ever since the age of nine to go to the Olympics, "to go as far as I could go," she told one reporter. What was her  motivation?  Carly Rae Patterson, of 2004, was her first Olympic memory. That year, Patterson was the Olympic All-Around Champion, and she is now a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Maroney has had not only the right upbringing, but also the best of role models.  She shows that looking up and teamwork can get one anywhere they want to be in life.