Whitney Bjerken is an American social media star, former gymnast and aspiring musical artist who had become a national, state and regional level artistic gymnast champion at the age of 11. She had been making useful and entertaining gymnastics-related content on her self-titled YouTube channel since she was 5-6 years old, but quit gymnastics after turning 18 to nurture her passion for singing and better utilize her massive fan base.
Career
Whitney Bjerken started appearing on her eponymous YouTube channel in May 2011, when she was still five years old. Although her channel would become known for her its gymnastics content, her first video was a cover of the song Jesus Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood. She soon started to make gymnastics videos that provided entertainment as well as educational value to aspiring gymnasts ever since. Her videos provided a real perspective on what gymnastics competitions were like by showcasing more than the highlights of her gymnastic career. Instead of just showing her routine and practice sessions, the videos provided an inside documentary on her gymnastics lifestyle including what skills she warmed up with, her training on a row of beams, how many times she practiced a specific skill, how often she took rests, and so on.
She was not popular only because of her online fan base; she was also appreciated for her talents and consistently ranked as one of the top-100 gymnasts within her age group at the national level. Whitney, who trained at Atlanta North Stars Gymnastics, gained attention after she became Georgia AA State Champion at Level 4 in 2012. In 2015, she was selected as a member of the US National TOPs B Team. The following year, she was named Gymnast of the Year by Gymnast Mag. Nevertheless, she suffered setbacks as well; she had to undergo elbow surgery in August 2018 while a sudden growth spurt made things even more difficult for her. She continued to push on and even made commitment to the University of Alabama.
Quitting Gymnastics
It came as a shock when Whitney Bjerken, at the age of 18, announced through a YouTube video that she was quitting gymnastics due to a loss of passion for the sport. While some were quick to deduce that she was neglecting an incredibly privileged opportunity for her interest in music, she subsequently appeared on the New York Times podcast First Person and talked about the perils of being a “kidfluencer”. Interestingly, an article on TheMedalCount website hailed her for being brave enough to “quit” and be truthful about it rather than just calling it an “early retirement” due to health issues or some other excuse like that. Pointing out that it is better for a gymnast to quit when gymnastics is no more joyful, the article also mentioned how her future in gymnastics was limited compared to pursuing other activities that make her happy.
Family Life
Whitney Bjerken grew up with a sister named Blakely and two brothers named Sterling and Braxton.
