The ‘grandma’ of Team USA’s gymnastics squad came out of a short-lived retirement and shined to win silver in Tokyo

• American gymnast MyKayla Skinner won silver in the women's vault final at the Tokyo Olympics.
• The 24-year-old "grandma" of Team USA's squad had retired days earlier after failing to qualify.
• Simone Biles' withdrawal due to mental-health concerns gave Skinner one last opportunity to compete.
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MyKayla Skinner's gymnastics career was over, until it wasn't anymore.

The 24-year-old "grandma" of Team USA's women's gymnastics squad had resolved to retire from the sport after she failed to qualify for any of the Olympic finals in Tokyo. Following the women's qualification event on July 25 – where a controversial rule that limits each country to two athletes per final left Skinner on the outs – she even crafted an Instagram post about the "hole in my heart" left by "closing the book on my gymnastics career."

One week later, she earned herself a silver medal.

When international gymnastics superstar Simone Biles' withdrew from the women's vault final in Tokyo due to mental health concerns, Skinner – who had recorded the fourth-best score on the apparatus during the qualifying round – was granted one last surprise opportunity to compete.

"Looks like I get to put a competition Leo on just one more time," Skinner wrote on Instagram. "Can't wait to compete in vault finals. Doing this for us @simonebiles ❤️ It's go time baby!"

A post shared by MyKayla Skinner (Harmer) (@mykaylaskinner2016)

And she made the most of it.

As the first gymnast to hit the runway, Skinner pulled out two stunning skills to set the tone for the event and earn an impressive 14.916 average score. She debuted with a Cheng - consisting of a round-off twist onto the table followed by 1.5 rotating flips - and earned an impressive 15.033 to kick things off.

The Gilbert, Arizona, native followed up that effort with an Amanar: a round-off back handspring onto the vault with 2.5 twists during a back layout on the back end. Despite a tiny hop and one foot on the out-of-bounds line, the performance was near-flawless and earned a solid 14.800.

Only Rebeca Andrade - the 22-year-old Brazilian who won silver in the individual all-around final - could best Skinner's efforts, and she did so by razor-thin margins. After both had performed, just .167 separated the two stars' final scores.

When all was said and done, Skinner's gymnastics career had come to a close for the second time in just a few days. But this time around, she really means it - and she'll walk away with a silver medal draped around her neck.