Evita Griskenas’ Winding Journey To Paris Spanned School In New York, Training In Chicago

Suffice to say that few athletes have traveled farther in their Olympic preparations than rhythmic gymnast Evita Griskenas.

The past three years have been an odyssey of airports and occasionally makeshift training spaces as Griskenas commuted between New York City, where she earned a psychology degree from Columbia this spring, and Chicago, where her longtime coach put her through her paces during the second half of each week.

As a result, Griskenas is a world-class athlete and a world-class packer, a master of hoop, ribbon and the subtle art of arriving at a gate exactly 30 minutes before boarding time.

“I had it down to a science, I really did,” laughed Griskenas, who qualified for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, last November. “I was crazy enough to fly between New York and Chicago every single week, studying full time and doing all those things while also training full time and making that work. I think that’s an incredible achievement; it even surprises me!”

Her efforts will be rewarded at her second Games, where Griskenas’ four expression-filled routines are programmed to delight judges and spectators from around the world. Inside Porte de La Chapelle Arena on Aug. 8-10, she’ll be performing for everyone, but especially for three who could not be with her at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: her parents and younger brother, who will be in the crowd.

“Going into Santiago, that was one of the background thoughts in my head: I want to give my family the Olympic experience that they deserve that they never got to have,” the 23-year-old said. “The journey to get to this Games has been more tumultuous and challenging than expected, and it’s really developed my character and my faith in a way that is encouraging to me. And also I’m really excited to have an audience this time. Rhythmic is about that energy, and I do mean it. I’m very excited to give my family the experience that they deserve.”

All of it has been fulfilling and none of it easy. Griskenas encountered skepticism when, post-Tokyo, she decided she wanted to pursue higher education and higher results within her sport.

“I’ll just say that I faced a lot of resistance from a lot of different areas, and I had to prove myself as worthy,” she said. “Nothing was given to me, and I don’t take anything for granted.”

Rhythmic gymnastics is notoriously all-encompassing, with top elite athletes dedicating five to 10 hours each day to training. For the majority, earning a degree is something that comes after, not during, the years of intense preparation that culminate in an Olympics.

Griskenas thought there was a way to do both and was open to a certain logistical flexibility. She stacked her course schedule with lectures on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, freeing herself up to train halfway across the country Thursday through Sunday. When she was competing abroad on the world cup circuit, she persuaded professors to let her take finals early or do extra assignments to make up for time she missed.

Her focus was apparent from childhood. At 4, when Griskenas’ interest in rhythmic was piqued by seeing a competition on TV, her mother took to an artistic gymnastics gym. Griskenas took one look, declared “This is the wrong kind of gymnastics!” and then sat and refused to have anything to do with it.

That strong will beneath the surface has made her open to doing things differently. After obtaining her Olympic berth in Chile, scans showed the foot Griskenas broke in May 2023 had not healed. She spent the winter of her senior year in an open-toed boot, using a knee scooter to navigate the icy streets of Manhattan.

“Do not recommend,” she said with a laugh.

She was not allowed to put weight on the foot but did what she could in a little dance studio connected to her dorm, as well as Pilates, HIIT training, lap swimming and “ballet in a pool — which I thought I invented,” she added sunnily. “Turns out I didn’t.”

Competing in Chile and dealing with the injury kept her from devising her Olympic year routines until February but, true to form, Griskenas has navigated the obstacle with characteristic aplomb, finding a timetable that, while unorthodox, works for her.

Several competitors in the rhythmic competition have chosen Parisian themed-music for one of their routines, and Griskenas is no exception. Her new ribbon exercise is set to Charles Aznavour’s “La Boheme” — “an ode to France, and also an ode to nostalgia and love and beauty and just how raw human emotion can get,” she said. “It’s a piece that I’ve loved for a really long time and I’m very grateful that I have found the right place and time to use it.”