Shayla Worley

Junior career

Worley competed at Level 9 in 2001, placing first in the all-around competition at the Florida State Championships. Her final meet of the season was the Level 9 Eastern Championships, the highest meet to which a Level 9 gymnast can advance, where she placed second all-around. She finished off the Junior Olympic levels by placing second all-around at the 2002 Level 10 Florida State Championships.

In 2002, Worley became a junior national elite, now referred to as pre-elite. She won the all-around title at the American Challenge and also placed well at the U.S. Challenge.

She advanced to junior international elite in 2003. At the U.S. Classic, she placed high enough to qualify to the U.S. National Championships, where she finished fourth all-around. This earned her a spot on the United States national team.

In 2004, Worley helped the U.S. win a dual meet against Japan, and at the American Classic, she finished fourth all-around and again qualified to the U.S. National Championships. A few weeks later, she finished fourth all-around at the Pacific Alliance Championships. She also competed at the U.S. Classic, where she placed second all-around. In the fall, she won the all-around at the U.S. vs. Japan meet and was named to the Junior Pan American Games team, but could not compete because of a back injury.

Worley's final year as a junior was 2005. She started off her season at the International Tri Meet, which the United States won. She also went on a European tour that included meets against lower-ranked Great Britain and Switzerland; the U.S. won both. Her next competition was the U.S. Classic. A potential winner, she finished fourth all-around after falling on floor. At the national championships one month later, a fall on bars kept her down in the standings on Day 1. She battled back and tallied the highest all-around score on Day 2, finishing third overall behind Natasha Kelley. In her final meet of the season, the Massilia Cup, Worley only competed on bars, where she finished second.

Senior career

Worley turned senior in 2006. Her first senior outing was the American Cup, where she finished second all-around behind Nastia Liukin. Next, she competed at the Pacific Alliance Championships, where she helped the U.S. win the team title and finished second on bars, making her the highest-placed American.

A hamstring injury prevented Worley from taking part in further competition in 2006. As a national team member who had scored well in the first half of the year, she had hopes of being named to the U.S. team for the World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, but her injury kept her from competing.

Worley was ready in time for the 2007 American Cup, but a fall on her uneven bars dismount meant she narrowly missed qualifying for finals. She was also selected to compete in the Britain vs. U.S. dual match in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, on St. Patrick's Day. She made no major errors this time, and in the absence of the world's top two bars competitors, Britain's Beth Tweddle and American teammate Liukin, she took the bars title and finished second all-around. At the U.S. Classic, she only competed on bars and beam. She placed second on beam, but one of her grips ripped in the middle of her bar routine, causing her to place out of the top three. At the Visa Championships, she was the runner-up to Shawn Johnson and was also second on uneven bars. She was selected to represent the U.S. at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

At the World Championships, the U.S. team finished first overall in team qualifying, about four points ahead of the second-place team, China. Worley qualified eighth for the all-around competition, but Liukin and Johnson placed ahead of her, and because of rules permitting only two competitors per country, she was excluded from the final. She was also excluded from the balance beam final because of the two-athlete-per-country rule. During the team finals, she competed on bars and floor, scoring 15.575 and 14.675, respectively. The scores contributed to the U.S. total of 184.400, which earned the gold medal.

In 2008, Worley competed at the American Cup and finished third on vault and bars. She then traveled to Boston, Massachusetts, for the Visa National Championships, but had to pull out after aggravating a herniated disc in training the month before. She successfully petitioned to compete in the Olympic Trials, where she placed 14th all-around without competing on floor exercise. She was then invited to the final training camp in Texas, but ultimately was not chosen as an Olympic team member because of a broken leg. Soon after, she retired from elite gymnastics.

Personal life

Worley attended William R. Boone High School in Orlando. Outside of gymnastics, she has competed in speech oration contests; modeled for Disney, Tupperware, and Lands' End; and done commercials for Disney and Universal Studios.

At the end of 2008, after retiring from elite gymnastics, Worley committed to NCAA-level gymnastics with the University of Georgia Gymdogs. She double majored in marketing and advertising.

Worley is also involved with the Cards for Hospitalized Kids foundation.