Senior and gymnast Mina Popovic, who had been preparing for the 2020 Junior National Olympics, shifted to new opportunities such as being recruited by Oregon State University (OSU), she said in a Zoom interview.
Following the pandemic, Popovic shifted her focus from the Olympics to Division 1 gymnastics, she said. She believes that despite the stress it is causing, the pandemic is a blessing in disguise because it allowed her to reflect on herself and her goals. Oregon State University ( recruited her this year, and she is happy to be going to college, she added.
“I visited them last year, and I just fell in love with the team and the atmosphere and the coaches,” Popovic said. “I’ve been talking to them for a long time, but this year, they reached out and they said, ‘What’s your goal in gymnastics?’ so I told them I wanted to do college gymnastics, and then I was recruited to be on their team,” she added. “Even though school is online, all the girls that are on the team are still over there and training. Next year, I’ll … be over there training.”
Although the pandemic slowed down the pace and pushed back events, Popovic is still training six days every week, she said. However, she had to cut down her hours from at least five and a half to four per week due to COVID restrictions, she said. To ensure safety, the number of people in each gymnastic group has been reduced by a half, and she and her fellow gymnasts train in masks and practice social distancing, she added.
The pandemic has affected her gymnastics tournaments, she said. “Our season was cut in March, so we didn’t finish last season,” Popovic said. “At the moment, we are not starting our season which is in December. Hopefully, in 2021 towards May, we get to compete [at] our state championship and national championship that we didn’t get to compete [in] last year.”
At OSU, Popovic is planning to major in kinesiology and minor in social work, she said. She chose her major because physical therapists and sports medicine doctors have helped her with injuries throughout her gymnastics journey, and she wanted to help others the same way she has been helped, she added. Popovic has always loved kids and grew up around people that have been in the foster care system, which inspired her to minor in social work, she continued.