MyKayla Brooke Skinner Harmer ( mi-KAY-lə; born December 9, 1996) is an American former artistic gymnast. She was the 2020 Olympic vault silver medalist, competing as an individual, and was an alternate for the 2016 Olympic team. Skinner competed at the 2014 World Championships, where she contributed to the U.S. team's gold medal, also winning an individual bronze medal on vault. She won 11 total medals at the USA National Championships during her senior career. She also competed for the University of Utah's gymnastics team and was a two-time NCAA champion while also setting Pac-12 records for conference honors. She also won team gold medals at the 2015 and 2019 World Championships, and retired in August 2021.
Skinner was the junior individual all-around champion of the 2011 American Classic. She was named to the junior U.S. national team after finishing 10th in the all-around and second on vault at the National Championships.
Skinner became age-eligible for senior-level competition in 2012 and was added to the U.S. senior national team. She was a member of the winning U.S. squad at the City of Jesolo Trophy in March. In June, she finished 15th all-around at the U.S. Nationals and third on vault.
Skinner competed at the Fiesta Bowl in 2013, winning every individual event except for the floor exercise, where she tied for eighth place. At the 2013 P&G Championships, she placed third on vault and floor, and finished sixth in the all-around.
In 2014, Skinner competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy, helping the U.S. win gold as a team. She won the gold medal for individual vault and floor exercises and placed fourth in the all-around. Skinner competed at the Pan American Championships in Mississauga, Canada. She helped the U.S. team place first in the team competition. She placed first in the individual all-around competition with a score of 56.850, including first on vault, scoring 15.037, seventh on balance beam, scoring 13.475, and first on floor exercise, scoring 14.750.
Skinner won a gold medal with the U.S. in the team competition at the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, China, contributing a score of 15.775 on the vault and 14.666 on the floor. In the event finals, Skinner won a bronze medal in the vault, with a score of 15.366, and placed fourth in the floor exercise final, scoring a 14.700, losing a second bronze medal to Aliya Mustafina, who had a score of 14.733.
Skinner placed second to Simone Biles at the 2015 AT&T American Cup in Arlington, Texas in 2015 with a score of 57.832.
At the U.S. Classic on July 25, 2015, Skinner finished 7th in the all-around, scoring 55.500. She finished 12th on the balance beam, scoring 12.800. ninth on the balance beam, scoring 13.500, second with a 15.100 on vault, and placed 10th on bars with a score of 14.100.
As a senior national team member, Skinner was invited to the 2015 Worlds Selection Camp in September and October. On October 8, she was named an alternate to the USA team for the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
Skinner finished 10th in the all-around and won a silver medal on vault and a bronze medal on floor exercise at the 2016 U.S. National Championships, earning her an invitation to the U.S. Olympic Trials.
At the Olympic Trials, Skinner finished fourth in the all-around and was named an alternate to the 2016 Olympic team.
On April 25, 2019, Skinner returned to elite gymnastics to attempt to compete at the 2020 Olympics. She was invited to attend the June national team training camp.
Skinner returned to elite competition at the 2019 U.S. Classic. With a score of 14.900, she tied for second with Carey on vault behind Biles. She placed 11th on balance beam and 14th on floor exercise.
At the 2019 U.S. National Championships, Skinner competed in all events and tied for ninth with Grace McCallum and was added to the national team.
In September, Skinner competed at the U.S. World Championships trials, where she placed fourth all-around behind Biles, Sunisa Lee, and Kara Eaker. She placed fourth on the balance beam behind Biles, Eaker, and Morgan Hurd. She was named as an alternate for the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
2020–2021: Postponed Olympic Games
Skinner competed at the International Gymnix meet in Montreal in March 2020 with Emily Lee, Lilly Lippeatt, and Faith Torrez. She placed second in the all-around behind Lee and won gold medals in the vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise titles to help the U.S.A team win gold.
In January 2021, Skinner revealed that she was hospitalized with pneumonia that resulted from COVID-19. In March, Skinner attended at a national team camp and was named to the national team.