Graduation or a lack of opportunity force most gymnasts to retire. GIGA is hoping to change that WSB-TV Channel 2 [Video]

Luisa Blanco knows her gymnastics career has an expiration date.

The funny thing is, the older the recent Alabama graduate gets, the more it seems to keep getting pushed back.

For a long time, the 22-year-old Blanco figured her final season with the Crimson Tide this spring would be it. Then she qualified to compete for Colombia in the Paris Olympics at last year’s Pan Am Games, a dream she had long ago abandoned.

And while Blanco — a Texas native whose family is from Colombia — is focusing her attention on getting prepared for the Games, she is not sure she wants to see this chapter of her life end with the closing ceremony.

“Part of me wants to do gymnastics forever,” Blanco said. “It’s something that is not easy to walk away from.”

She’s hardly alone. Every year dozens of collegiate or elite athletes reach a crossroads where …