The careers of Olympians like Simone Biles mirror the rise of adult gymnastics. 'I'm never leaving.'

Every few years when the Olympics would roll around, the unmistakable pangs Jen Castellano knew were coming but was powerless to stop would hit.

Of chalk on her hands. The beam underneath her feet. The sounds and smell of a packed gym. The intoxicating mix of frustration, determination and joy while trying to master a new skill.

Only, as her 20s turned into her 30s, the director of investment operations at a firm in Raleigh, North Carolina, felt she had nowhere to go to turn those pangs into something tangible.

“I never thought I would do gymnastics again,” Castellano said.

Then, in the summer of 2021, she watched Simone Biles (23 at the time) and 33-year-old mother of two Chellsie Memmel compete at the U.S. championships. Castellano soon found herself on a website ordering a couple of leotards.

Not long after the Tokyo Olympics, inspired by what she'd watched, Castellano summoned the courage to visit Triumph Gymnastics in Cary, North Carolina, the rare gym that offered adult classes. She quickly discovered those familiar pangs were not unique to her.

The demographics surrounding the sport are shifting, and not just at the elite level, where Biles and the oldest women's team the U.S. has ever sent to the Olympics — the aptly nicknamed “ Golden Girls ” — returned to the top of the podium in the team final on Tuesday night.

On Thursday, Biles will try to become the oldest Olympic all-around champion in 72 years. Her stiffest competition figures to come from 25-year-old Brazilian Rebeca Andrade in an event that also includes Ellie Black of Canada and Filipa Martins of Portugal, both 28.

Their longevity is reflective of a global movement of a sport long considered the realm of the very young. Not so much anymore, as doors long thought shut have swung back open.

Participation in adult gymnastics — from former competitors like Castellano who returned after a long hiatus to novices trying to get the hang of a forward roll — is soaring.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Gymnastics Clubs serves as a landing spot for gymnasts over 18 at the non-elite, non-NCAA level. While the majority of its membership consists of college students who compete as part of a club, it also offers a “non-student” division, meaning anyone at any age can compete at one of its meets, including its national championships.

NAIGC executive director Ilana Shushansky estimates that 20% of the participants at nationals earlier this year in Albuquerque, New Mexico, registered as “non-students." It's a percentage Shushansky believes will continue to rise, fueled in part by former gymnasts rediscovering — and in many cases redefining — their relationship with the sport that drew them in as kids only to seemingly abandon them as young adults.

“This is allowing them to meet the sport on their terms,” Shushansky said.

That's the way it is for many of those who have made their way to one of the adult camps hosted by Memmel, who retired for good in 2021 and now serves as the co-lead for the USA Gymnastics women's national team when she's not running the gym she and her father, Andy, run in Wisconsin.

Memmel wasn't trying to prove a point when she came out of retirement in 2021. She did anyway. Messages of support poured into her social media accounts as other 30 and 40-somethings latched onto her journey.

The comments often included a common refrain, some version of “hey, we want to get back into gymnastics, too, but how do we do it?"

“It’s that unfinished business,” said 44-year-old Angela Fuller, who like Castellano quit in her teens only to feel the itch to return while watching Memmel in 2021 and now competes at 5280 Gymnastics outside Denver. “It’s that dangling carrot. We needed someone to lead the way and show us that it’s possible and that’s what Chellsie Memmel did for gymnastics.”

In the summer of 2022, Memmel opened registration for an adults-only camp. She hoped 40 people would sign up. Within hours she had to cap enrollment at 75 out of fear she couldn't find enough coaches to handle the workload.

Now several times a year athletes from their 20s to their 50s with various levels of experience — and in the case of some, none at all — spend a weekend at a camp led by an Olympic medalist who has become a touchstone for a movement.

While Memmel sees it as a way of giving back, selfishly there's something in it for her, too. The vibe in the camps are a stark contrast to the culture at the elite level she grew up in, in the best way possible.

“This fills up my cup so much,” said Memmel, whose most recent camp in June had 90 participants. “Their energy, enthusiasm, love for the sport. When we have new coaches come in, they're just like in awe of the gymnasts, the camaraderie and all of the support they give each other.”

Gina Paulhus' expectations were low when she began running a website and created the Facebook group “ Aging Like Fine Wine ” centered on giving adult gymnasts a place where they could connect to the sport and each other.

The group now boasts more than 13,000 members. The website — which has the phrase “this sport is not just for kids anymore!” in all caps on the front page — offers training videos, forums and ways for interested athletes to find classes or a team.

Paulhus also runs an adults-only camp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Back in 2015, she believed hers was the only camp of its kind. Now there are more than 30, not to mention hundreds of meets across the country every year that are open to athletes over 18.

“I think it’s one of those cases where ‘monkey see, monkey do’ and now it's sort of reached this critical mass,” she said.

Things are evolving so rapidly that it's becoming apparent that supply is struggling to keep up with demand.

Memmel says the feedback she hears most often at camps comes from those who essentially coach themselves back at their home gyms because there is no one to fill the void.

One of the biggest issues is insurance. Policies to cover adult classes are substantially more expensive than ones that cover children because of the risk of injury, leading some gym owners to shy away from the opportunity.

That didn't stop Debra Bell when she and her husband opened Triumph Gymnastics, where Castellano trains. One of their main tenets was creating a space where adults could come because, as the former competitive gymnast pointed out, “for some of us, it never leaves you.”

It never did for Castellano, who briefly got into coaching during college before immersing herself in the corporate world.

She believes she is better now at 34 than she was as a teenager, even if her training looks far different than it did two decades ago. She's at the gym for an hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays and two hours on Sundays. It's not just her schedule that's changed. Her mindset has, too.

“When I got back into it, I didn’t take it for granted at all because I knew what it was like to not have gymnastics in my life,” she said.

It's a common refrain among her peers. They're not doing this because their parents signed them up. Most of them have families and careers. Their relationship with the sport has evolved from something they are to something they do, a critical shift.

Fuller spent decades bothered by both an ankle injury from the balance beam and the constant sense she needed to excel to earn validation from her parents.

It's not that way anymore. She is part of an adult team at 5280 that boasts more than 40 members. She travels all over the world competing, sometimes in both men's and women's events.

Occasionally she'll receive notes of encouragement from young girls who see the mother of two teenage sons do her thing and realize their love of doing gymnastics doesn't need an expiration date.

“They tell me ‘I can do this at your age,'" Fuller said. “'I can do this forever.’ ... And that's great. Because I'm never leaving."

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Angela Fuller, 44, trains at 5280 Gymnastics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

Angela Fuller, 44, works out on the high bar as she trains at 5280 Gymnastics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

Angela Fuller, 44, rubs chalk on her hands as she trains at 5280 Gymnastics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

Angela Fuller, 44, rubs chalk on her hands as she trains at 5280 Gymnastics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

Angela Fuller, 44, works out on the high bar as she trains at 5280 Gymnastics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

Angela Fuller, 44, puts on grips as she trains, Wednesday, July 24, 2024 in Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

Angela Fuller, 44, works out on the uneven parallel bars as she trains at 5280 Gymnastics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

Angela Fuller, 44, poses as she trains at 5280 Gymnastics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

Angela Fuller, 44, works out on the rings as she trains at 5280 Gymnastics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

Angela Fuller, 44, trains at 5280 Gymnastics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

ATLANTA (AP) — Sean Murphy’s infield ground ball with the bases loaded scored a sliding Eli White in the 11th inning, and the Atlanta Braves rallied for a gritty 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.

The Braves now have 12 extra-inning wins, which leads the big leagues. They took two of three games from the Blue Jays and are tied with the New York Mets for the final wild card in a tight National League playoff race.

Atlanta got another brilliant outing from left-hander Chris Sale, who pitched six shutout innings. White entered the game as a defensive replacement at second base, which was just his fourth game in the big leagues at the position.

The Braves’ decisive rally started when White led off the 11th inning with a bunt single that advanced automatic runner Michael Harris II to third base. Adam Duvall then reached on an error by Blue Jays third baseman Addison Barger, whose throw sailed wide to first and scored Harris to tie the game.

Murphy followed with the bouncing ball up the middle and White was able to score, sliding in ahead of the throw.

George Springer put the Blue Jays up 3-2 in the 11th with a bouncing single up the middle that scored Barger, who had advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Brian Serven.

GIANTS 7, PADRES 6

Matt Chapman, Jerar Encarnacion and Luis Matos homered off Joe Musgrove in the six-run fourth inning and San Francisco held on to beat San Diego to take two of three games.

Curt Casili also connected for the Giants, who had a winning record (4-3) in San Diego for the first time since 2021 and took a 6-4 lead in the season series with three games to go in San Francisco.

The Padres, who have lost three of four, lead the race for the top NL wild card.

The Giants led 6-0 and 7-1 before some shoddy Giants defense and a bullpen meltdown let the Padres close to 7-6. They scored three runs in the seventh, one on a wild pitch by Tyler Rogers and two on an error by shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald, who collided with second baseman Marco Luciano and dropped Jurickson Profar’s popup that would have been the third out.

Erik Miller (4-5) got the win and Ryan Walker got a five-out save, his seventh.

DODGERS 4, GUARDIANS 0

Shohei Ohtani hit his 46th home run of the season to tie his career high, Jack Flaherty pitched another gem and Los Angeles beat Cleveland in record-tying heat.

With the first-pitch temperature of 103 degrees matching the hottest in Dodger Stadium history, Ohtani hit a 450-foot solo shot down the right-field line off Tanner Bibee in the fifth inning that was reviewed to see if it was fair.

Ohtani also hit 46 home runs in 2021 for the Los Angeles Angels in his unanimous AL MVP season. The Japanese star has 46 stolen bases in a bid to become the first major league player with a 50-50 season.

Flaherty (12-6) went 7 1/3 innings, striking out six and allowing four hits. The Southern California native is 5-1 since coming over in a trade with Detroit.

Max Muncy homered for the Dodgers in the eighth, his 12th of an injury-shortened season.

TIGERS 9, ATHLETICS 1

Trey Sweeney had four hits, including a home run, Ty Madden struck out seven and Detroit beat Oakland.

The Tigers, looking to make a late rally in the AL Wild Card race, took two out of three in Oakland and are two games above .500.

The A’s, who will play their home games in Sacramento next season ahead of a planned move to Las Vegas in 2028, drew 11,250 fans.

Madden (1-0) and Beau Brieske combined to take a no-hit bid into the fifth, with Madden recording his first career win after Brieske served as an opener in the first. The 24-year-old struck out seven in five innings and held the A’s to one run in his third major league appearance.

Lawrence Butler’s fifth-inning single was the A’s first hit, and it also extended his career-best hit streak to 18 games. Zack Gelof drove in Oakland’s lone run with a sixth inning single.

MARINERS 10, CARDINALS 4

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Randy Arozarena and Jorge Polanco hit two-run home runs and Seattle scored five times in the first inning on their way to a victory over St. Louis.

After getting shut out for the ninth time this season, Seattle started the game with five straight hits and all five batters came around to score.

Julio Rodríguez led off with a double to left field and scored on Cal Raleigh’s single. Luke Raley followed Arozarena’s single with a two-run double. He and Justin Turner would eventually score on Mitch Garner’s two-out single that made it 5-0.

Arozarena’s 390-foot drive to left field off Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas (8-11) in the second inning pushed the lead to seven. It was the first career home run at Busch Stadium — and first against the Cardinals —for the outfielder who started his career with St. Louis before emerging as a postseason sensation and MVP of the 2020 AL championship series with Tampa Bay.

Polanco added a 419-foot shot into the center-field bleachers in the fifth against Steven Matz for a 9-2 lead.

WHITE SOX 7, RED SOX 2

BOSTON (AP) — Dominic Fletcher’s RBI double sparked a five-run ninth inning and Chicago avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over Boston.

Chicago starter Chris Flexen’s winless streak extended to 21 straight starts — the longest in team history — after he was pulled with the game tied in the seventh inning. The 30-year-old right-hander gave up two runs on six hits, striking out six and walking one.

Chicago (33-11) had lost 14 of its last 15 games before rallying against against Boston reliever Zack Kelly (6-3). Zach DeLoach added a two-run double in the ninth inning.

The MLB-worst White Sox are nine losses away from tying the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses since 1900, and are on pace to finish 37-125. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders hold the MLB loss record at 20-134.

CUBS 2, YANKEES 1

CHICAGO (AP) — Jameson Taillon allowed only one run in six innings and Chicago beat New York to avoid a series sweep.

Taillon (10-8) struck out six against his former team. He gave up Anthony Volpe’s second-inning, RBI sacrifice fly and allowed six hits.

New York remained a half-game ahead of second-place Baltimore in the AL East.

Chicago won 10 of 13 games in late August, but had dropped four of five to the Pirates and Yankees during its homestand entering Sunday.

RANGERS 7, ANGELS 4

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) —Andrew Heaney snapped an eight-start winless streak as Texas took an early five-run lead and beat Los Angeles.

Heaney (5-13), one short of the major league lead in losses, allowed four runs, three earned, on three hits in six-plus innings to win for the first time since July 21. He was backed by home runs from Marcus Semien, Nathaniel Lowe and Ezequiel Duran.

It was rare run support for Heaney. The 33-year-old left-hander received two runs or fewer of support in his previous seven starts and 18 of his 27 this season before Sunday. His 3.55 average run support as a starter was fourth lowest in the American League.

Kirby Yates earned his 29th save in 30 chances after David Robertson left runners on the corners in the eighth with a one-run lead.

RAYS 2, ORIOLES 0

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Zack Littell and four relievers combined on a five-hit shutout, Jonny DeLuca hit a two-run homer and Tampa Bay beat Baltimore.

Littell and Corbin Burnes were locked in a scoreless duel until the sixth inning, when DeLuca followed a leadoff walk with his sixth home run in 289 at-bats this season, a drive to left on a 1-1 pitch.

That was enough to outdo a struggling Baltimore offense that scored only three runs in the three-game series.

Tampa Bay took two of three from the Orioles, who are chasing the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East. It’s the Rays’ first series win on the road since early August and the first time they won a series in Baltimore since Aug. 27-29, 2021.

PIRATES 7, NATIONALS 3

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jared Jones cruised through seven innings, striking out nine, as Pittsburgh beat Washington for a split of the four-game series.

Jones (6-7) allowed two runs and four hits, all coming in the first two innings. The 23-year-old rookie right-hander retired 16 straight to end his outing, striking out five of the final six.

CJ Abrams led off the game with a homer to right-center, his 19th, for a lead that was erased when the Pirates scored four runs in the bottom half.

Joey Bart sent a liner to left off a cutter from Patrick Corbin (5-13), a two-run home run for his 13th of the season. Billy Cook, who was 2 for 4 in his major league debut after being selected from Triple-A Indianapolis, then dropped a two-run double just inside the left-field line.

MARLINS 10, PHILLIES 1

MIAMI (AP) — Edward Cabrera pitched seven scoreless innings, Connor Norby homered twice and Miami beat Philadelphia.

The 26-year-old Cabrera, who struck out six and walked one, didn’t allow a hit until Brandon Marsh singled with no outs in the sixth. He finished with three hits allowed.

Cabrera (4-6) originally was scheduled to start against Philadelphia on Friday, but was a late scratch after experiencing migraine-like symptoms.

Rookie Griffin Conine had three hits while Javier Sanoja doubled and singled for the Marlins, who split the four-game set against the NL-East leading Phillies. Philadelphia won the season series 7-6.

ROYALS 2, TWINS 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Michael Wacha pitched seven innings of four-hit ball, Garrett Hampson and Salvador Perez drove in runs and Kansas City beat Minnesota to complete a series sweep of their closest pursuers in the AL wild-card race.

Wacha (12-7) struck out seven while allowing just one walk is 100th career win. He got plenty of help from his defense, which turned two double plays and threw out a runner trying to score from first base in the first inning.

Kris Bubic handled the eighth for Kansas City before Lucas Erceg worked around a leadoff single in the ninth for his 11th save.

Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4) allowed two runs on three hits and two walks before he was pulled with one out in the fifth inning. The Twins bullpen did not allow a run the rest of the way, though it didn’t matter with their offense getting shut out.

The Royals moved 2 1/2 games ahead of AL Central-rival Minnesota for the second wild-card spot.

REDS 3, METS 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Santiago Espinal hit a tie-breaking two-run double in the ninth inning to lift Cincinnati to a victory and snap New York's nine-game winning streak.

Phil Maton (2-3) opened the ninth by plunking Spencer Steer before Ty France legged out an infield single. Both runners advanced a base on Jake Fraley’s groundout before Espinal’s hit down the left-field line.

The two-run rally ended an 80-inning streak in which the Mets hadn’t trailed, the longest streak in the majors this season.

Buck Farmer (3-0) threw a perfect eighth and Alexis Díaz earned his 26th save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Noelvi Marte had a game-tying RBI single in the seventh.

ROCKIES 4, BREWERS 1

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kyle Freeland pitched one-run ball for six innings and Sam Hillard hit a three-run homer as Colorado beat NL Central-leading Milwaukee.

Freeland (5-7) allowed an unearned run on three hits and struck out four for his ninth quality start of the season. The 31-year-old left-hander improved to 5-3 in his last 13 starts since returning from a left elbow strain that landed him on the injured list on June 23rd.

Freeland allowed a base bit to Issac Collins in the second inning and then retired the next 14 batters. Relievers Seth Halvorsen, Angel Chivilli and Angel Chivilli teamed up for three hitless innings of relief.

Halverson pitched a 1-2-3 seventh. Chivilli handled the eighth, and Kinley retired the side in order in the ninth, extending his career-high save total to 11 out of 12 chances.

DIAMONDBACKS 12, ASTROS 6

HOUSTON (AP) — Pavin Smith homered in first three at-bats for his first multi-home run game and drove in a career-high eight runs, helping Arizona rout Houston to end a three-game losing streak.

Smith fell an RBI shy of the Arizona record set by Erubiel Durazo in 2002. Chris Iannetta also had eight RBIs for the Diamondbacks in a 2017 game. Smith’s previous high was six.

Arizona pulled within a half-game of San Diego for the National League’s first wild card and increased its lead over New York and Atlanta to 1 1/2 games. Houston leads Seattle by 4 1/2 games in the AL West.

Atlanta Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia reacts during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik Rank)