Shayla Worley’s world, it seemed, had come crashing down.

On the eve of the selection of the 2008 U.S. women’s gymnastics Olympic team in July, Worley fractured her right leg during a balance beam routine and saw her lifelong Olympic dreams evaporate in an instant.

“My main goal was to make the U.S. Olympic team, and I did everything possible to make it, I left no stone unturned and my body just couldn’t take it,” Worley said. “It was really devastating, and it felt like the world was ending because that was my main goal and I didn’t put much thought into anything after 2008 or after the Olympics.

Freshman Shayla Worley solidified her role for the Gym Dogs after Friday’s meet. Photo by Daniel Shirey

“But I realized that life goes on, and now I’m here at Georgia and this is the best thing that has ever happened to me, being a part of this team.”

A year and a half later Worley — as “injury free” as a gymnast can be — is coming off the best meet in her young collegiate career. She earned a 39.5 in the all-around — the second highest score in the nation — and has adapted to life as a Gym Dog.

One of the greatest challenges that freshmen collegiate gymnasts face, in addition to classes, is being a part of a team. In club level, gymnasts compete for themselves, but Worley had no trouble adjusting.

In fact, she embraced it.

“She walked into our team in the first team meeting and said, ‘We’re gonna win. We’re here to win.’ She knows what Georgia’s about,” senior Courtney McCool said.

Worley is a winner. She won a gold medal at the 2007 World Championships as a part of Team USA as well as a plethora of medals in national competition.

“Her personality is of a winner in every aspect of her life,” McCool said. “She is hardcore at school, she is hardcore at the gym, she is hardcore at sleeping, she is hardcore at resting, she is hardcore at everything. … Sometimes its like ‘whoa whoa whoa, you don’t have to be like that in everything,’ but that’s her personality. She wants to be great at everything she does.”

Worley knows she has an outspoken personality. She wants to be the best, and she wants her team to be the best.

“I do have a very outspoken personality about doing well and winning and I’m very confident all the time about our team and I think we have the greatest team athletically and talent-wise,” Worley said. “I’m not afraid to tell everyone that we are the best and we are always going to succeed.”

And for her first few meets as a Gym Dog she struggled, falling below the expectations placed on her by herself and others.

But following Georgia’s shocking loss to Auburn on Jan. 29, something clicked. She called head coach Jay Clark to set up a meeting in his office the following Monday. She wanted to know what she could do better to help the team, and in practice that day, something was different about her.

“She was herself,” McCool said. “We said ‘there’s Shayla. There she is.’”

Despite being a freshman, Worley doesn’t shy away from speaking her mind. If she’s unhappy with something, she says so. If she doesn’t like a teammate’s attitude, she says so.

“She loves speaking her mind,” sophomore Kat Ding said. “Sometimes the filter is lacking, but that’s the fun part. She likes to tell you how it is and she’s not afraid to tell you. I love the way she talks to you. She’s so honest, and it’s a refreshment from everything else.”

Added freshman Christa Tanella: “Shayla is a highly intense person. I call it a ‘D personality.’ She is direct, she takes control of the situation. She likes short statements, she doesn’t like you going on and on about stuff. She is very to the point and very aggressive… even in her conversations. In conversations with other athletes she is always trying to be right and always trying to fight the other person and she doesn’t want to back down and she doesn’t take no for an answer. She’s as stubborn as a mule and you gotta love her.”

This past Christmas, Worley endured the loss of her grandmother, which continues to affect her. Prior to every routine on the balance beam, Worley looks skyward and says, “This is for you, Grandma.”

“She has been to every one of my competitions since I started and it’s really special for me to do beam for her,” Worley said.

Even the song that is played during her beam routine, has added significance for her. A piano player at her church in Orlando, Fla., played the song, “You Raise Me Up,” at Worley’s grandmother’s funeral and recorded it specially for Worley.

In Friday’s win over Kentucky, Worley had a breakout meet, becoming the first Gym Dog to win the all-around this season, and earned a 9.925 on the beam, and a 9.95 on the floor exercise. None of which surprised her teammates, they knew it was only a matter of time before she found her feet.

“She’s finally getting things together,” Ding said. “Freshman year is really hard because it takes awhile to get into that rhythm and we can all talk because we’ve all been through the stage of where we suck for a while. And this is the Shayla Worley we recruited.”