Olympic Gymnast McKayla Maroney Mourns Death of Father Mike Maroney, 59, With Emotional Tribute

McKayla Maroney mourned the death of her father Mike Maroney following his death at the age of 59.

The Olympic gymnast shared the sad news about her father’s death when she posted two heartwarming tributes to her biggest supporters on social media Tuesday.

McKayla began explaining her father’s impact on her life and how much she will miss him along one photo of her hugging him next to a pool, along with a group shot.

“Dad you taught me everything from how to walk to how to be a man and for that I thank you,” the athlete wrote on Instagram. “Thank you for getting up at 4:30am for work and not coming home till 7 pm every day for more than 20 years just to keep food on the table, and for us to have a great life. I’m the man of the house now and I promise to hold everything down. I promise.”

She added: “I love you and miss you i will live to make you proud till The day i get to see you again. I love you dad.”

McKayla also took to Twitter, writing, “Love u dad. I can’t believe it’s real. I don’t want to. I’ll miss you forever. Rest in peace. You were the most incredible dad.” She also added heart and rose emojis to the post.

According to PEOPLE, Maroney’s father’s cause of death was not immediately revealed.

McKayla’s loss comes almost a year after she made headlines for bravely coming forward about being sexually assaulted by disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who was convicted in January 2018 and has been dubbed “the most prolific child molester in history.”

The gymnast shared during her first-ever television interview on the subject in April with NBC News, giving graphic details about her abuse. She said during the interview that it started almost immediately after she first met him.

“He told me he was going to do a checkup on me, and that was the first day I was abused,” she said, noting that he molested her hundreds of times. “[It was] every time I saw him.”

Maroney initially revealed her alleged abuse in an October Twitter message, where she said that the abuse lasted until she left the sport.

“He said that nobody would understand this and the sacrifice that it takes to get to the Olympics, so you can’t tell people this,” Maroney, who competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics, told NBC. “He didn’t say it in a way that was mean or anything like that.

“I actually was like, ‘That makes sense. I don’t want to tell anybody about this.’ And I didn’t believe that they would understand.”