Women in sports matter, right?

Not if you’re Kayla Williams, according to Sports Illustrated, a publication whose website is currently plastered with the images of men.

In the era of #RunLikeAGirl, a slogan made famous during this year’s Super Bowl to promote ladies being badasses, Sports Illustrated has stripped Williams of her every title and achievement, including World and NCAA Championship titles, and even her name, relegating her simply to “gymnast girlfriend” in the title of the article announcing her proposal from Seattle Seahawks receiver and longtime boyfriend Kevin Norwood (who gets a lengthy description of his accolades in SI’s story).

Good job, Kayla! #RunLikeAGirl #StraightToTheAltar

As a fan of Williams’ since she made history in 2009 by going from club gymnast to World Champion in the span of six months, I was thrilled to see news of her proposal on Twitter directly following Alabama’s senior night, which celebrated Williams and three of her teammates for their accomplishments during their tenures at Bama, including a national title during the Super Six in 2012, their freshman year. Though lame scoreboard proposals at sports games make me hurl, Norwood – who spent much of the past year away from his now fiancé during his whirlwind first season as a Seattle Seahawk – truly made an already special night even more memorable by greeting her on the floor after the conclusion of her last meet at Coleman Coliseum. It was an adorable gesture and had gym fans squealing all over Twitter well into the night.

Then it went viral. Football blogs picked up on it after Norwood tweeted “she said yes!” with a beautiful photo of the proposal attached. And Sunday, two days after the fact, Sports Illustrated made it news, including it in the “Extra Mustard” section on their website after seeing the story on Al.com.

That’s great, right? Any publicity for gymnastics is good publicity.

Except gymnastics is mentioned exactly once in the story, which centers on Norwood, quoting him and sharing his story while ignoring every detail about the “gymnast girlfriend” whose only success in life is apparently becoming a bride-to-be, right?

Wrong.

In 2009, no one who followed elite gymnastics really knew anything about Kayla Williams either. At 16, she had a long history of Junior Olympic titles as a level 10 gymnast, but wasn’t really on the radar until she earned national all-around, vault, and floor titles in her division at the 2009 J.O. Championships.

Her success there prompted her to try elite gymnastics for the first time at an age where many elite gymnasts begin to confront retirement. With more difficult routine requirements demanding twice as much time in the gym, very few gymnasts can handle the pressure when they attempt to make the switch and even some of the top J.O. gymnasts fail to qualify.

At any given time, there are about 1600 level 10 gymnasts competing in the United States, making it an exclusive club on its own, but elite? 80. Max. And most of these girls train from a very young age with elite in mind, building routines over the years and becoming nationally ranked elite gymnasts by the age of 12 or 13. So at 16? Williams had every odd against her.

Yet within two months of winning her J.O. titles, Williams qualified in 5th place to U.S. National Championships, where she placed 7th in the all-around and 4th on floor in addition to earning the national vault title.

As the only U.S. gymnast competing two vaults – a requirement to make it to World and Olympic apparatus finals – Williams was a lock for the 2009 World Championships team. With a solid double-twisting Yurchenko already part of her repertoire, upgrading her second vault to a Rudi – a handspring front layout with 1.5 twists competed by very few women in the world – made her unbeatable on an international stage.

In London that October, Williams competed two clean vaults to become World Champion on the event by over half a point – a landslide in a sport where hundredths and even thousandths of a point can determine medals. In her victory, she notably defeated 2008 Olympic vault champion Hong Un Jong of North Korea, who came into the competition with vastly more difficult vaults, giving her a 0.9 lead over Williams before they even got started, but she crashed both when it counted, placing 5th.

Williams went from a J.O. champion to the World vault champion in just six months, an unprecedented rise in a sport that solidified her as a U.S. legend even though she retired from elite as quickly as she came, going out on a high note with a World gold medal around her neck.

She spent the next two seasons preparing for college after receiving a full-ride athletic scholarship from the University of Alabama, one of the top gymnastics programs in the country boasting six NCAA national titles, eight SEC championship titles, and an NCAA record 29 regional championship wins. She changed gyms in 2010, opting to train at Cincinnati Gymnastics with famed elite coach Mary Lee Tracy for the remainder of her J.O. career, which included a return trip to nationals in 2011 before moving to Tuscaloosa.

So far at Alabama? In 2012, Williams helped her team to an NCAA Championship title as a freshman. In 2013, she was a first team balance beam All American and scholastic All American as well as the NCAA regional vault champion. In 2014, she ruptured her Achilles in warm-ups early in the season but stayed on as team captain and was a scholastic All American with a 3.697 GPA. She graduated early, finishing her BA in public relations last August and is currently pursuing a Master’s in sports management while finishing up her senior season, currently ranked 5th with her team, 27th on vault, and 41st on beam going into postseason.

That’s the Kayla Williams I know. The Kayla Williams her “football boyfriend” loves. The Kayla Williams a major national sports publication turned into nothing more than just a “girlfriend” even though Friday night, her senior night, was as much a celebration of seven years as one of the best in her sport as it was a celebration of her engagement.

An engagement is exciting, but women are more than girlfriends. In sports, women fight hard enough for recognition, and yet even on nights that exist solely to recognize their achievements, the mainstream sports media has found a way to make it all about the men.

The Gymternet would like to wish the best of luck to Williams and Norwood as they embark on new journeys both personally and professionally! 

Article by Lauren Hopkins
Photo thanks to Kayla Williams via Instagram