Three-time all-around gymnastics state champion traded the mat for motherhood
LONSDALE, Minn. — Many argue Minnesota is a well-known gymnastics state. Just ask someone who was one of four women to be a high school champion three times.
Bailey DuPay won the all-around MSHSL state championship title three times in her high school career in the early 2010s, while competing for Northfield High School.
"My senior year was almost 10 years ago, and that doesn't feel that long, but at the same time feels like a lifetime ago," said DuPay.
Now her 2-year-old daughter, Summer, is the one doing the jumping and tumbling inside their Lonsdale home. She's excited for her daughter, as young as she is, to watch the USA Gymnastics Olympic Trials in their home state.
"It's inspiring to my almost 2-year-old just to think that the athletes are as powerful as they are," said DuPay.
To earn all her MSHSL titles, DuPay put in a lot of work, which doesn't even compare to how much Olympic hopefuls put in.
"They are just so dedicated to the sport and to practicing multiple times a day, 6 to 7 days a week," said DuPay.
DuPay topped competing in gymnastics after high school. Her body told her it was time.
"I have degenerative disc disease in my back and I've herniated like eight discs," said DuPay.
However, the sport taught her back then to dream big, which she still carries with her today.
"That's how you get places in life. It's not being content with where you're at, it's wanting to continually be better as a person, as a mom," said DuPay, who teaches her daughter to dream big too.