Secrets of Powerful Women: Gymnast Lori Vollkommer

Gymnast Lori Vollkommer

You’re Not Too Old. You’re Just Getting Started.

At what point do we decide it’s “too late” to chase the thing that lights us up?
On a recent episode of Secrets of Powerful Women podcast, I sat down with Lori Vollkommer, a competitive gymnast from Long Island who, at 58, is still training, still competing, and still proving that age is just a number. Lori has won multiple gold medals on the world stage, but what moved me most wasn’t the medals. It was the message her life delivers to every woman who has ever whispered, “Maybe I missed my chance.”

Lori began gymnastics at 9 and poured her heart into the sport. By 16, she reached an elite level, then one fall on the uneven bars changed everything. She fractured her spine, and in an instant, her dream ended. The kind of ending that doesn’t just take away an activity, it takes away identity. For years, she couldn’t even watch gymnastics on TV without tears. She described it as a “hole in my soul.”

Life moved forward. Marriage, 3 kids, a business. Like so many women, Lori poured herself into everyone else’s goals. And underneath it all, the dream waited.

Then, in her late 40s, another fall, this time slipping on ice. Her back was fractured again and led to a diagnosis: spondylolysis, a condition that made her spine vulnerable. Rehab was brutal, but it also made her stronger. And one day, her chiropractor said something that sounded impossible: “You can do gymnastics. Go find a place to play.” That sentence became a spark.

Terrified of judgment and of losing it again, Lori walked into an open gym at 49. No snickering teenagers this time; just music, movement, and muscle memory that shocked her. Weeks later, she found herself asking the question that changed everything: “What if I compete again?”

She says her first meet in 33 years was completely overwhelming. She fell during her routine and didn’t qualify for the next level, but she didn’t care. She showed up. She reclaimed herself. “I felt like I won the Olympics,” she told me.

And then came more setbacks: an ACL tear, surgery, more rehab. Later, another knee injury, a serious car accident. Enough to make anyone quit. But Lori chose something different: faith, support, clean living, strength training, and one guiding principle: just take the next step. “Dreams don’t die,” she said. “Age shouldn’t be a factor. Trust the nudges. Surround yourself with people who believe in you.”

If you’re reading this and you feel stuck, if you think you’re too old, too late, too far gone, Lori is proof that you’re not. Because sometimes the dream you thought you lost doesn’t disappear. It waits until you find it.

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