Olympic Champ Maroney Still on Crutches

Olympic champion McKayla Maroney is still grounded.

Maroney said Sunday that her right foot will be in a boot for another four or five weeks, and she will have to wear the stabilizer on her left leg for a few more weeks after that. She has rejoined Fierce Five members Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and Jordyn Wieber on a national gymnastics tour - Kyla Ross is only doing a few shows - but Maroney's only appearance comes at the end of the show when the cast is introduced.

"It's really hard to watch them do it because I know (the show), too," Maroney said. "But it's still cool to be here. I could be stuck at home."

Maroney had two screws "the size of my nose" inserted in her left tibia last month to repair a fracture, which occurred when she fell on her uneven bars dismount during the second stop of the 40-city tour. She had a second surgery about a week later to repair a break in her right big toe, which she aggravated at the London Olympics.

The Fierce Five claimed the gold at this summer's London Games, the first Olympic title for the U.S. women since 1996. Maroney also won a silver on vault.

"It was a really big disappointment. I was just sitting at home and couldn't do anything," she said of her injuries. "I pretty much just stayed in bed for the first week."

She still needs crutches because she can't bend her left leg and can only put weight on her right heel.

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But when she is healthy again, she plans to resume training and said she hasn't ruled out going through the Rio Olympics in 2016.

"I think gymnastics is going to be a part of me for a little longer. I'm not really done yet," said Maroney, who won the vault title at the 2011 world championships. "I'm still young, still 16. Everyone goes through injuries, and I have four years until the next Olympics."

Maroney and her teammates have been in high demand since they returned from London. They hobnobbed with Stephen Colbert and David Letterman during a visit to New York and got to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. They were presenters at the Video Music Awards, where they met Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Katy Perry. Maroney also will appear in an upcoming episode of The CW show, "Hart of Dixie."

"I try to enjoy every minute of everything," she said. "Even with the injury, everything happens for a reason. You just have to accept it and enjoy it and go along with the journey."

Besides, as "annoying" as the injury is, it does have one advantage.

"Everyone has to carry my bags," Maroney said.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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