The Real Reason SZA Gave Up Her Gymnastics Career

R&B singer SZA might be known for hit songs such as "Love Galore" and "Kiss Me More" (for which she won a Grammy in 2022 for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance alongside Doja Cat), but she actually had other plans for the future. Believe it or not, SZA's originally wanted to become a scientist or a gymnast. 

While in college, she majored in marine biology and even considered going to grad school. "I didn't," SZA admitted to Billboard in 2013. "After I graduated, I just started doing random jobs. I figured I was going to be a scientist and travel the world or something like that." But even before discovering her love for science, a younger SZA excelled as an athlete.

"I was a gymnast for 13 years so I was heavy into sports," she told Complex that same year. "I directed all my attention to it. I did really well ... and was captain of my team. I was hardcore USA Gymnastics." She even revealed that, as a high school sophomore, she ranked 5th in the nation. So, why did SZA quit her career in gymnastics?

Despite being a top gymnast, SZA decided to give up her 13-year sports career to focus on other things...and it involved the opposite sex. "I just started caring about boys and other things," she hilariously admitted in a 2017 NYLON interview. "I was like, 'Yeah, let's do dumb s**t, let's find boys," SZA continued.

Although boys became somewhat of a distraction, the "Good Days" singer explained that the sport was still pretty important to her. "Gymnastics was more than leisure to me," she said in the same interview. "It was like the way I feel about music. I was very connected to it, to the growth. Learning new skills, being in the theater that I have in my body."

Speaking with Rolling Stone in 2020, SZA also described gymnastics as the perfect sport to release pent-up nervous energy, admitting that she would get "increasingly nervous" before competitions. "You can get all of your energy out in one spurt and then really commit to it. And then it's done, it's released," the singer shared. Judging by her statements, SZA's love for the sport still runs pretty deep. So the next natural question is: will she ever go back to her gymnastics roots?

Although SZA's music career has been nothing but successful (with her latest album, "SOS," breaking Billboard records), the R&B singer hasn't completely given up gymnastics. In fact, when asked if she would even make a comeback in the sport, she revealed to NYLON that she could see herself flipping in the gym again. 

SZA admitted that she often goes to Sky Zone (an indoor trampoline park) just to "tumble for a little and bounce around." In the same NYLON interview, she even revealed that she would do handstands whenever she's in a large and empty room. "It feels good to my body, I can't explain it," she shared. Apart from gymnastics, SZA's favorite sports include hiking, swimming, and rock climbing. "Anything that involves an adventure."

Considering that "SOS" could be the singer's final album, she might have more time to focus on sports once she's done touring. "I'm making the best album of my life for this next album and I know that ... because it's going to be my last album," SZA told Flaunt in 2018.