It’s difficult to argue the fact that it has been a fantastic season for LSU gymnast Christina Desiderio.
The fifth year senior, who is now 21, has been hitting new season highs left and right. Despite the harsh physical effects that gymnastics puts on their bodies by this age, Desiderio was able to set a new career high on floor (9.95) during the team’s meet against Auburn this season. She also put up the highest score (9.925) for the team on beam that night. The Southeastern Conference named her the SEC Specialist of the Week after one of the greatest performances of her collegiate career.
“We talk a lot about Christina Desiderio,” Head Coach Jay Clark said of the senior. “She was a big part of that meet with a 9.925 and a 9.95. That’s incredible. Not a lot of teams have someone who can start you off at that level. Her demeanor was unlike anything I’ve seen.”
Clark has said time and time again that Desiderio is one of his most reliable gymnasts. Which is likely the reason she’s at the top of the lineups on both floor and beam. The graduate student averages 9.87 on beam and 9.79 on floor, making her the best leadoff performer in the country.
“It’s definitely an important spot and I kind of set the tone for that event,” she spoke. “I carry the momentum from the previous event so I do feel a little bit of pressure, but I normally work better under pressure.”
Her season and career highs on the two events sit at 9.95 each. She also holds the No. 42 spot in the nation on balance beam currently. Desiderio is not only a leader during performances, but in the practice gym as well.
“This is my fifth year, so I have a lot of experience so I definitely try to help lead and guide any of the girls on this team through this journey,” she said. “They’re the most genuine, sweet group of girls I’ve ever been with.”
Desiderio wasn’t always the cool and collected veteran on the team that she is now. Back in the summer of 2017, a fresh-faced kid from Hackettstown, N.J., officially joined the LSU gymnastics program at the age of 16.
“So I was homeschooled since 5th grade and then came here at 16 so that was a really big deal for me,” she said. “[My parents] were really sad and a bit nervous, but deep down they knew I could handle it.”
Being a level 10 at the age of 11, the LSU gymnast was forced to grow up quickly. Her path to gymnastics first began when she was six years old because her mother wanted her to partake in a sport she always wanted to do growing up. Only a few years afterward, Desiderio was training in the gym from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. She soon began traveling every month for elite competition. Though she loved the sport, she admitted that the elite level was extreme and often lonely.
The USA Gymnastics Elite Program is a seasonal competition that holds several events at a multitude of locations in the U.S. Its purpose is to raise American gymnastics to the Olympic level. During the season, several male and female gymnasts travel across the country to make the required points to qualify for elite status. Elite competition is highly competitive and asks gymnasts to put their bodies through brutal training well before their bodies are fully developed.
“She did a beautiful all-around, but she came in with a shoulder that was so bad I don’t know how she got through Olympic trials,” former head coach DD Breaux mentioned about Desiderio’s junior career. “She limped through her freshman year, had to have it tightened up a little bit.”
During the 2012 regionals of the junior elite division, Desiderio was the beam and vault champion. She also placed sixth in the all-around. In 2013, she exclusively competed at States, taking the floor and beam titles as well as the fourth spot in the all-around. Later that year, she qualified for Junior International Elite status. She placed tenth in the all-around at the American Classic and thirteenth at the National Championship. In the following years, she placed eighth in the all-around at the 2014 U.S. Classic and tenth in the subsequent year’s event. She announced her verbal commitment to LSU in the fall of 2015.
Desiderio’s potential had only just begun at that point. During her Senior International Elite career, she was named to the national team once again and placed twelfth at the 2016 Olympic Trials with a score of 114.250.
“Making the national team twice and competing at Olympic Trials were the absolute best times of my life,” she said. “Getting there wasn’t easy, but knowing I accomplished my goals and dreams was worth every minute of it. I will carry those experiences with me throughout the rest of my life.”
However, during the summer of 2017, the New Jersey native decided to retire from elite gymnastics after a back injury. She dropped back down to level 10 after months of mentally wrestling the decision and accepting that her body couldn’t withstand the physical demands of the sport anymore.
“I felt pretty lost,” Desiderio admitted. “I felt like I accomplished so much but I didn’t know where to go from there. I was debating whether I should train for another four years and try for the Olympics again, or drop down to level 10 to enjoy my last two years before college.”
She graduated high school a year early after the coaches at LSU spoke with her about coming to Baton Rouge sooner than she committed. She joined the LSU Tigers in 2018 and hasn’t looked back since.
The former elite became the star of her recruiting class. As a freshman, she earned All-America and All-SEC honors with career highs of 9.95 on beam and 9.90 on floor. She also thrived in the classroom, making the SEC First-Year Academic Roll, which is something she’s done every year since. She’s even been an Academic All-American twice, despite the struggle of transitioning from a homeschooled student to a full-time collegiate student athlete.
“I am so happy that I made the transition to college,” Desiderio expressed. “It was definitely a big transformation from elite to college, but I love being on a team. It’s something that I’ve been waiting for my whole career.”
Although beam and floor were her specialties, Desiderio desired to jump back into the all-around division eventually. She and Sarah Edwards were the only freshmen (out of six) to compete consistently in more than one event that season. With stars such as Kennedi Edney, Sarah Finnegan, Myia Hambrick, and Lexie Priessman on the team, making the lineup was more competitive as ever.
Similar to her elite aspirations, Desiderio was never able to achieve everything she hoped for during her collegiate career. Along with her back, injuries to her ankles and hip massively limited her. She stuck to the two events during her time at LSU. During the 2020 season, she didn’t even get to compete for a majority of the year.
“I expect a lot from myself, and most of the time that is good, but I also have to tell myself that not everything is going to be good all of the time; that’s just a part of life.”
Her impact on the LSU gymnastics program never faded though. According to Clark, she sets the tone for her fellow teammates. Her level of consistency is an uncommon trait in the gymnastics world.
“I feel like a lot of people are saying I look like I’m at my best right now,” she said. “Everyone says it’s because I’m genuinely happy, and I really am. I love this team and I love the sport.”
With gymnastics being the focal point of Desiderio’s life for the past fifteen years, it was unsurprising to hear that she (and four other seniors) decided to opt-in for a fifth year. The other four seniors who decided to return were Sami Durante, Sarah Edwards, Bridget Dean, and Reagan Campbell.
“I think I knew right away that I was going to come back because I love gymnastics as much as I did when I was little,” Desiderio spoke. “I wouldn’t say it was a group decision. We all just did what was best for each of us.”
Now a graduate student, the 21-year-old is pursuing a masters degree in human resources. She isn’t quite sure where her career path will take her after she leaves Baton Rouge. She expressed interest in taking a job at a junior gymnastics center in Dallas with her teammate Campbell, but she also wants to keep her options open.
Wherever Desiderio goes and whatever she decides to do, she’s certain that this sport will always be a huge aspect of her life.
