Old Bridge Gymnast Laurie Hernandez Makes U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team

Old Bridge, NJ - She's New Jersey's newest favorite girl!

Laurie Hernandez, 16, on the far left, whose hometown is Old Bridge, just earned a spot on the U.S. Olympics gymnastics team Sunday night. Laurie trains with another New Jersey standout gymnast, Jazmyn Foberg, of Bayville, who was also expected to go to Rio until she was sidelined by an ankle injury. Hernandez now joins Simone Biles of Spring, Texas; Gabby Douglas of Tarzana, California; Madison Kocian of Dallas, Texas and Aly Raisman of Needham, Mass. as the U.S. women's gymnastics team. Here is the entire list of New Jersey athletes competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Other New Jersey athletes who will compete in the Olympics are track star Sydney McLaughlin, a senior at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, Connor Jaeger, of Rumson-Fair Haven, a swimmer (his second time competing in the Olympics) and Robby Andrews, who ran for Manalapan High School, who also qualified Sunday to make the U.S. Olympic Team.

Hernandez, who is nicknamed the "Human Emoji" because of her expressive eyes and wide smile, is the first American gymnast of Hispanic descent to make the Olympics since 1984, according to NJ.com. She is Puerto Rican. She was born in New Brunswick and started gymnastics when she was 5 years old after finding her dance and ballet classes boring.

“I started off doing dance and ballet, [but] it was pretty boring,” she told Teen Vogue. “Then I remember watching gymnastics on TV and telling my mom I wanted to do [that], and she put me right in.” She started taking gymnastics lessons in Old Bridge, where she met her coach, Maggie Haney, who is still her coach today. Laurie is the first Olympian Haney has coached. Photo: USA Gymnastics by Jason Lavengood