World Champion To Sports Photographer: Gymnast Morgan Hurd

In 2017, Florida Gators gymnastics commit Morgan Hurd was the No. 1 gymnast on the planet. After numerous untimely injuries and a newfound skillset, she now owns a new title: sports photographer.

Worldwide Success, Olympic Disappointment

At age 16, the Delaware native jetted off to Montreal for her first World Championships as an elite gymnast. She left Canada as the World All-Around Champion and the new it-girl in American women’s gymnastics.

The following year, Hurd bolstered her status as one of the world’s best, claiming bronze in the all-around and silver on the floor at the 2018 World Championships. Though 2019 was an off-season for the gymnast, she began the 2020 Olympic year as an immediate favorite to make the Tokyo team.

Hurd didn’t just win – she looked better than ever. Now a veteran, she debuted multiple upgrades to claim a runaway title at the 2020 American Cup. The Tokyo Olympics were just months away, and Morgan Hurd already looked like a seasoned Olympian.

But with her Olympic dream falling into place, COVID-19 struck. Just weeks after her win, the pandemic began. The Tokyo Olympics would be delayed a year, and Hurd would have to reconfigure her Olympic expectations.

In 2021, everything changed. Hindered by multiple injuries, Morgan fought through every routine leading up to Tokyo, but the USA Gymnastics selection committee determined it wasn’t enough. Hurd’s Olympic dream was cut short before it could even begin. After a tough showing at the U.S. National Championships, USA Gymnastics left the 5-time World medalist off the 2021 Olympic Trials roster.

Not only would she not fulfill her Olympic dream, but Morgan would not even get to compete for the chance to earn it. She was crushed. Months of soul-searching ensued, with Hurd entering a “self-crisis.” “If I do everything right, and I’m still not going to get to where I want to be, what does it matter,” Hurd thought.

An ACL Injury, New Opportunities

When she arrived at the University of Florida to begin her freshman season, those questions lingered. Shortly after arriving on campus, Hurd incurred another injury – a major one – a torn ACL.

She would redshirt her freshman season. For some, this would have been devastating. For Morgan, they describe the injury as “a blessing in disguise.” Hurd says the injury allowed her to find a calling and a community outside her sport.

“I think I still would have been stuck in the mindset of ‘everything I do is for gymnastics,’” she said. Instead, she “wanted to try to branch out.”

“I’ve always really enjoyed getting perspectives about the world,” Hurd added – but branching out wasn’t easy at first. A self-described introvert, Hurd was “really, really scared” to try activities outside of gymnastics.

She admits she “felt out of place” but pushed forward. She thought, “what’s the worst that could happen?” Sidelined from competition due to injury, Hurd saw her opportunity and ran with it.

Instead, the best happened. Encouraged by her friends, Hurd found community as a member of UF’s Chinese American Student Association (CASA). Within the association, a leadership position opened up: videographer. Hurd applied and promptly landed the position. Soon, her creativity would “ignite.”

What started as photoshoots with her friends quickly evolved into additional opportunities. Taking notice of her work for CASA, other UF organizations called on Morgan to photograph for their club events. She was hooked. Shortly, she would convince herself to get her first “big girl camera–” a Sony Alpha 7 III that she affectionately calls “her baby.”

As two seasons competing for the Gators passed, the World Champion continued to struggle with injuries. Whether it was her knee, shoulders, or ankles, Morgan could not catch a break. While Hurd occasionally appeared in the Gators’ floor and beam lineups, including a career-high 9.95 in spring 2024, she couldn’t quite find her groove.

“After the 2024 season, I was already thinking about what was going to come next for me,” she reflected. “I love the Gators, and I love the Gators gymnastics team, but I really just felt like it wasn’t my time anymore.”

Though she “still loved gymnastics,” Hurd felt that medically retiring was the right step forward. By “putting myself first, I was putting the team first,” she said. “I still love gymnastics, but I just don’t think I can mentally handle [it] anymore.”

Just like that, one of the most decorated U.S. gymnasts quietly withdrew from the competitive side of the sport. At first, she was terrified. Would her close friend and teammate, Victoria Nguyen, feel abandoned? Would she regret leaving the only sport she knew behind?

Over the past few years, Hurd felt she was in “a constant state of not necessarily failure – but disappointment.” “I felt like I was really letting myself… [and] a lot of other people down,” she said. It was time for Morgan to let that all go.

Hurd’s New Era

When she returned to campus in the fall of 2025, she applied for a photography internship within the University of Florida’s athletics department. Upon landing the position, things “just clicked.”

The self-taught photographer quickly expanded beyond her gymnastics bubble. Since beginning her internship last fall, Hurd has photographed competitions for Florida Gators basketball, tennis, soccer, baseball, and more. “I’m doing lacrosse tomorrow [and] a football practice this week,” she tells me with a smile.

“It’s been super fun,” she says. “I finally allowed myself to step out of that environment.” World-renowned for her artistry and effortlessly photogenic gymnastics, Hurd ironically prefers photographing athletes over being photographed. “I like being on the other side of the camera better, honestly,” she laughs.

Having a gymnast behind the camera has been a game-changer for her Gators gymnastics teammates. After years of hyper-fixating on “what looks good” from an athlete’s perspective, she can now provide insight as a creative. And there’s no question – Morgan Hurd knows gymnastics.

In a sport where athletes contort themselves into intricate positions, Hurd understands what her teammates want to see. “I’m not going to upload a photo where they’re making a weird face mid-swing on the bar,” Hurd laughs, adding that her understanding of gymnastics is an added incentive for teammates to execute their skills properly.

“It’s funny, I told them before the season started: don’t complain. You better hit your 180 [splits], or I’m not uploading.”

Though Hurd’s personal experience comes from gymnastics, she is committed to her craft while capturing all sports. Photographing tennis was new to Morgan, but she was determined to do her research. Hurd spent hours auditing athletes’ social profiles, making note of their photography likes and dislikes based on photos posted. Hurd also consulted a former collegiate tennis player to confirm a tennis shot list.

“I think it’s really important as a photographer to look at other athletes’ sports photos to see what they like,” she says. After a few minutes chatting or researching their pages, “it’ll become very obvious what they like and what they don’t like.”

Though she’s no longer nailing ring jumps on the beam, the World Champion carries elite perfectionism from the apparatus to the camera lens. Hurd describes the feeling of capturing a strong photo… only to notice that the gymnast’s foot is slightly flexed. She sometimes considers scrapping these ‘imperfect’ yet technically sound photos.

“I know I’ve had my sloppy moments [in gymnastics],” she says, but she still wonders – are her teammates “going to be mad that their foot is slightly flexed” in a photo? Though Hurd continues to grapple with perfectionism, she reminds herself – her photography career has just begun.

Though her next steps are uncertain, Morgan “definitely” wants to work in sports. Her dream photography opportunity? You guessed it – the Olympic Games. In the meantime, she would love to photograph for an NCAA or professional team as their designated photographer.

Despite her aspirations, Hurd is just “taking it day by day.” Before heading to Gainesville for her freshman year, she received college advice from New York Times bestselling author John Green that she continues to hold close.

“Do exactly what you want in college because after that, you’re gonna be told what to do,” Morgan says, relaying Green’s words. Now in her final semester at Florida, Hurd credits this mentality as “what’s been able to lead her to this point.”

Days after this interview, Hurd was formally inducted into the 2025 USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. “Even though I don’t know where I want to be tomorrow, that’s completely fine. Everyone has their own path,” she smiles.