FISHERS, Ind. — A place on the podium is within reach of Indiana Olympian Alec Yoder.
The gymnast from Fishers finished fourth in the preliminaries on pommel horse, good enough to qualify for Sunday's finals in Tokyo.
When he shares behind-the-scenes photos of his Olympic experience on social media, his parents are back home looking for every detail.
"The hardest thing is for us to not be in the stands watching him do this," said his father, Michael.
The pommel horse finals this weekend are, obviously, the biggest meet of Alec's life and the culmination of a lifelong dream.
"I'd say at 12 years old we knew pommel was going to be his thing," Michael said.
Now 24, Alec began competing in gymnastics when he was six, with his parents there for his whole career.
"Since then, I think I've missed four meets," Michael said.
They've traveled to China for the Youth Olympics, as well as to Canada and across the United States.
"Every year we would sit down and say, 'Is this what you want to do?'" Michael said. "We have to say no to family vacations and different things like that. And he'd say, 'This is who I am.'"
"I really see God really planted that dream in him from when he was little and it's been fun for us just to walk alongside of him and cheer him on and be there for every step," Alec's mother, Rebecca, said.
During his senior year of high school, Alec joined the elite, 15-member U.S. Senior National Team. He competed for Ohio State, had two shoulder surgeries and, along the way, lost his national team spot.
"He was not put on the senior national team for two rotations," Michael said. "It was emotionally hard on him that maybe they didn't feel about him like they did before, but it's the best thing that ever happened to him."
He focused on getting better.
"'I'm going to work harder than everybody else. I'm going to do what I'm supposed to and we'll see how it plays out,'" Michael recalled.
His agent stood by him, landing a high-profile modeling gig with Hugo Boss.
But then the coronavirus pandemic interrupted practice and, in April 2020, his childhood club coach, mentor and cheerleader Gene Watson died.
"We got a call that Gene was ill, that they were going to do a surgery and hope that that would remove the disease and didn't and I think within 48 hours after the surgery, he passed. Yeah, probably one of the hardest times of Alec's life," Michael said.
Alec dug in and nearly a year later accomplished what Watson always believed was possible - he made the Olympic team.
"Every morning, I wake up just incredibly grateful and thankful for what a journey it's been," Alec said. "It's been incredibly rocky, especially the last year has been insane."
After all the hard work and the travel to Tokyo, Alec is now one performance away from an Olympic medal.
"He's not content. He wants that, we want that for him. We believe he can do that. It's a life-changing thing," Michael said. "To become an Olympian is beyond success. To medal is gravy."