Whatever happened to Wendy Bruce?

The 1992 Olympian is working toward a new goal: earning a college degree.

The Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that Bruce, who earned a team bronze medal with the U.S. women in Barcelona, attempted to go to college after the Olympic Games but dropped out because she felt “scared and intimidated.”

Bruce, who dropped out of school in 10th grade and earned a GED, is now married and a mom to two. She was diagnosed with Adult Attention-Defecit Disorder last year. Treatment seems to have made a difference — she recently won the Houghton-Mifflin College Success National Essay Contest and is receiving excellent marks in her classes.

“I am attending school to finish what I started fifteen years ago,” she wrote in the essay. “When I was training in gymnastics. When I was training in gymnastics my attention was so focused that everything other than gymnastics was not important…After school was out of the way, I never gave schooling another thought. But after the Olympics I was stuck. I had spent so much energy training for one goal that I did not have a plan for what I was going to do after I had reached that goal.”

Bruce hopes to have a career in sports psychology.

“I’m going to be the first in my family to graduate from college,” she said. “When I was younger, all I focused on was training. Now, I love school and I want to finish. I want a fulfilling career.”

Further reading: “Ex-Olympic gymnast Wendy Bruce-Martin pursues new dream in Orlando area”

What Success Means to Me: An Essay by Wendy Bruce-Martin

Wendy Bruce, 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials, Floor Exercise:

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