University of Georgia Athletics
GymDogs’ Bácskay Feeling Like Herself Again
March 12, 2026 | Gymnastics, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
The five rings tattooed on Csenge Bácskay's right forearm tell the story of her greatest moment so far in gymnastics. But only so far. While competing for her native Hungary in the Paris Olympics in 2024 will be tough to top, the senior from Budapest has much more she'd like to achieve.
"I definitely want to train for the Olympics again," said Bácskay, who plans to compete in the European Championships and World Championships later this year. "I got injured a week before the Olympics in Paris, so it was not how I wanted it to go, but I did my best."
Despite the injury, Bácskay placed 12th in the vault in Paris. For the sixth-ranked GymDogs this season, she has competed on vault, the uneven bars and the floor exercise. She has a season-high of 9.950 on bars, 9.9250 on vault and 9.850 on floor.
Last year, in the lead-up to the NCAA Regionals, Bácskay suffered a major elbow injury, which ended her first season at Georgia early. She had been a solid contributor all season — she competed in all three events at the SEC Championships — and then had a long recovery to get back this season.
"It was definitely one of my hardest years, and I think this is probably my worst injury that I've had in my career," she said. "It was actually really hard to get back, especially mentally, because it takes such a long time to get back to where you were. It's really hard not to give up when things don't go the way you want them to go, but I'm glad I was able to push through.
"I had a lot of help from our coaches and teammates, and my family. I'm really glad I am finally back, and I finally feel like myself when doing gymnastics again."
From the time of the injury, last April, to when she resumed doing gymnastics in October, Bácskay had the longest break from the sport since she first started as a 3-year-old. That time away was challenging in many ways, but it also made her realize how much she loved doing gymnastics.
"I keep telling people that this made me realize that whenever you just wake up tired, and you complain that you don't want to practice, life can take it away like this. It just made me realize how much I value being able to go to practice every day," she said. "I kept watching people practice and do new skills, or compete, and I was like, this is the worst feeling, not even knowing if I can come back from this injury.
"It was such a relief when I started getting back my skills and started feeling like myself again."
Bácskay started her collegiate career at Nebraska, where she competed in the all-around 10 times as a sophomore. In her first six meets this season, Bácskay did only the uneven bars. She did vault and bars in the meets against Florida, Kentucky and Missouri, and did the bars and floor in last week's Elevate the Stage quad-meet last Sunday at Auburn.
Gymnastics has taken Bácskay all over the world, to Asia, Africa, all over Europe, and to college in the United States. It's not lost on her how lucky she is to have seen and done the things she has at such a young age.
"I'm really grateful for all of it," she said. "I've been to a lot of beautiful places, some of the most beautiful places on the planet, and that's one thing that gymnastics gives you. I'm really grateful, and I definitely want to go back to some places just to see them again and do more sightseeing."
The next place she and the GymDogs will visit is Tuscaloosa, where Georgia wraps up its regular season Thursday night against No. 4 Alabama.
Staff Writer
The five rings tattooed on Csenge Bácskay's right forearm tell the story of her greatest moment so far in gymnastics. But only so far. While competing for her native Hungary in the Paris Olympics in 2024 will be tough to top, the senior from Budapest has much more she'd like to achieve.
"I definitely want to train for the Olympics again," said Bácskay, who plans to compete in the European Championships and World Championships later this year. "I got injured a week before the Olympics in Paris, so it was not how I wanted it to go, but I did my best."
Despite the injury, Bácskay placed 12th in the vault in Paris. For the sixth-ranked GymDogs this season, she has competed on vault, the uneven bars and the floor exercise. She has a season-high of 9.950 on bars, 9.9250 on vault and 9.850 on floor.
Last year, in the lead-up to the NCAA Regionals, Bácskay suffered a major elbow injury, which ended her first season at Georgia early. She had been a solid contributor all season — she competed in all three events at the SEC Championships — and then had a long recovery to get back this season.
"It was definitely one of my hardest years, and I think this is probably my worst injury that I've had in my career," she said. "It was actually really hard to get back, especially mentally, because it takes such a long time to get back to where you were. It's really hard not to give up when things don't go the way you want them to go, but I'm glad I was able to push through.
"I had a lot of help from our coaches and teammates, and my family. I'm really glad I am finally back, and I finally feel like myself when doing gymnastics again."
From the time of the injury, last April, to when she resumed doing gymnastics in October, Bácskay had the longest break from the sport since she first started as a 3-year-old. That time away was challenging in many ways, but it also made her realize how much she loved doing gymnastics.
"I keep telling people that this made me realize that whenever you just wake up tired, and you complain that you don't want to practice, life can take it away like this. It just made me realize how much I value being able to go to practice every day," she said. "I kept watching people practice and do new skills, or compete, and I was like, this is the worst feeling, not even knowing if I can come back from this injury.
"It was such a relief when I started getting back my skills and started feeling like myself again."
Bácskay started her collegiate career at Nebraska, where she competed in the all-around 10 times as a sophomore. In her first six meets this season, Bácskay did only the uneven bars. She did vault and bars in the meets against Florida, Kentucky and Missouri, and did the bars and floor in last week's Elevate the Stage quad-meet last Sunday at Auburn.
Gymnastics has taken Bácskay all over the world, to Asia, Africa, all over Europe, and to college in the United States. It's not lost on her how lucky she is to have seen and done the things she has at such a young age.
"I'm really grateful for all of it," she said. "I've been to a lot of beautiful places, some of the most beautiful places on the planet, and that's one thing that gymnastics gives you. I'm really grateful, and I definitely want to go back to some places just to see them again and do more sightseeing."
The next place she and the GymDogs will visit is Tuscaloosa, where Georgia wraps up its regular season Thursday night against No. 4 Alabama.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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Monday, March 09
GymDogs vs. Mizzou - Kelise Woolford Beam
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GymDogs vs. Kentucky - Kelise Woolford Move of the Meet
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GymDogs vs. Kentucky - Kelise Woolford Beam
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