Imagine this: a young gymnast, moments before stepping into the arena, heart racing, hands chalked, nerves pulsing through her fingertips, pauses to send a text. Not to a coach. Not to a teammate. But to her father. Sweet, simple, routine—except for one thing. Her father passed away four years ago. Yet, before every gymnastics competition, Konnor McClain still texts him. It’s not about expecting a reply, though. It’s about connection, memory, and love that hasn’t faded with time. It’s her way of keeping him close, of grounding herself in the one voice she used to hear cheering the loudest. Touchy, no?
Konnor lost her father, Marc, in 2021, when she was just 16. He battled COVID-19 during its most unforgiving days. His condition became critical. He was placed on a ventilator. And even as the world felt like it was collapsing around her, Konnor didn’t give up. She FaceTimed him as often as she could, just to let him hear her voice. “I was just like—if my dad dies, I die,” she said in ESPN Originals’ latest feature. Her voice trembled as she revisited those helpless nights, wishing, praying, hoping he could somehow still hear her.
However, the Tiger Lady from LSU still searches for traces of him—in the gym bleachers he once sat in, in the halls of competition venues where he once stood proudly. Her grief became her quiet companion and, somehow, also her strength.
The report is developing…
The post “If My Dad Dies, Like I Die”: LSU’s Konnor McClain Makes Gut-Wrenching Confession as She Recalls Heartbreaking Details From the Past appeared first on EssentiallySports.
