GAINESVILLE, Fla. — If you have already tripped over that New Year’s resolution, you might want to step away from this story. It could make you feel like you’re on a bike in the Daytona 500. Or on second thought, maybe you can use it for inspiration.

Ly Bui won’t care either way. She is too busy defeating another chemistry or math lab, refining her Onodi beam routine, or contemplating whether she wants to be a brain surgeon or orthopedic specialist.

Bui stays in the fast lane and rarely stops except to eat, sleep and play solitaire on her iPhone.

“When I got to kindergarten, I knew everything,” she said.

OK, that is what’s called a writer’s tool. But it caught your attention. Bui did say that, but this isn’t social media, so it’s only fair to offer context. Bui skipped first grade because, after years of being taught the basics by her mom at home, she was advanced for her age when she got to kindergarten.

Nothing has changed.

Bui enrolled at UF a year ago as a 16-year-old freshman and, as a member of the Gators gymnastics team, was the youngest competitor at the NCAA level.

Bui started in gymnastics when she was 18 months old. She got so good that as she neared middle school, she moved from her home in Swisher, Iowa, to Missouri for more elite training. She was taking high school math courses in eighth grade and dual-enrolled in college courses in high school, earning her an express pass to Florida.

“I can’t imagine what that’s like myself, and she handled it with a lot of grace,” Gators head coach Jenny Rowland said this week.

It goes without saying that in her first season on campus, Bui earned scholastic All-American honors from the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association. But she also showed up on the competition floor when called upon, posting a 9.925 vault score against Georgia and Utah, and a 9.900 on bars against Arkansas.

The Gators took it slow with Bui as she transitioned to college before she obtained a driver’s license.

What was the most eye-opening part for her?

“Doing everything myself, living alone, having to maneuver around campus alone,” Bui said.

Bui got an electric scooter to help her get around, and teammates with cars became a valuable resource, too. But living on campus and locked in on her day-to-day tasks, Bui was able to wrap her arms around her new world.

Now a 17-year-old sophomore with a driver’s permit – a car and license are targeted in the near future – Bui is beginning to show why Rowland and her staff offered her an opportunity to enroll in January 2024 early. Bui is a former U.S. Senior National Team gymnast and a promising talent.

“Every event is her specialty,” Rowland said. “And I would say you will not go without seeing her on any given event throughout this whole season.”

In last week’s season opener, Bui led off the meet for the Gators with a career-high-tying 9.925 on vault, her only performance of the evening.

She made it count.

“I was really calm from the start,” she said. “I was pretty confident that I was going to be able to do a pretty good vault. I think that set the trend for everyone else and continued the whole meet.”

Rowland agreed, knowing that it wasn’t a typical vault for Bui. The 5-foot-1 gymnast has recently undergone a growth spurt, adding a unique twist.

“That has been a challenge for her,” Rowland said. “Not too many gymnasts go through growth spurts in college. She’s just been experiencing some knee growing pains, some heel growing pains. We’ve just been really mindful of trying to maximize, maybe an event a day, and take off the landings for the other events, or something like that. We’re finding that balance.

“She’s getting stronger and figuring out her new self, so really excited to see a more mature Ly Bui, because the young Ly Bui was pretty fantastic.”

Added Bui: “It’s definitely been a little wild. Some days I’ll have events or skills that will feel off, and I’ll be like, ‘It didn’t feel like that two weeks ago.’ I just have to give myself some grace.”

Bui advanced to the Senior level in 2024 and qualified for the Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships, raising her profile in the sport. She offers a combination of stylish grace and raw power, traits similar to those of former UF standout and Olympian Leanne Wong.

Bui is just getting started at the collegiate level but is already making her presence felt as the No. 1-ranked Gators host No. 4 Alabama on Friday night at the O’Dome. She didn’t arrive until two weeks before the start of last season, so having a full offseason of training and college courses has her, as usual, ahead of the curve as a sophomore.

“I had the mindset of coming in and trying to compete in at least one event,” Bui said.

She accomplished that goal, staying on her fast-track brand. What’s next for the young and talented Bui?

No telling. She may be young, but Bui is proving that age is sometimes just a number.

“Tells me her confidence level has risen,” Rowland said. “She’s prepared, not just physically, but mentally. It really says a lot about her talent, her dedication, and how much she’s been working on herself and just growing as a person. She wants to do anything she can to help the Gators.”