This is an old interview. Shayla just was so optimistic, I still feel so bad for her.

Shayla Worley met the press with a smile this morning at a post-meet media opportunity after declining to chat prior to, and during, the Trials competition, something Worley wasn’t aware was a big deal.

“After the meet, my main priority is getting back in the training room and doing my therapy, which takes a while,” she explained. “By the time that was done I’m always the last one on the bus anyway. So, it was just solely because I had to get my priorities straight.

Worley, 17, was also shocked to hear that several readers wrote in after watching the TV coverage to ask Inside about her appearance, saying she looked like she was in pain and/or tired.

“They think I look tired?” a laughing Worley asked. “Great! Talk about kicking me when I’m down. That makes me feel bad. I was made up on TV, too. I look tired? That’s like when someone asked me if it hurt when I fell off the bar and landed on my stomach.

“Really, I feel no pain,” she added. “When you’re competing on that level, and you’re in that zone, I don’t feel anything, really. … And I’m not tired, geez!”