How did your gymnastics career start?
“I started gymnastics when I was 4 years old. I had a lot of energy as a kid, so my parents needed something for me to do. Since I naturally had balance and flexibility, my parents chose gymnastics. I have loved it ever since I can remember. I was always excited for practice. Once I joined the team, I was always ready to go to practice and work hard.”
What is the hardest part about gymnastics?
“The hardest part about gymnastics is the mentality. My coach always tells me that the skills are easy; it’s your mind that you have to train. Obviously, there is a lot of strength and flexibility that goes into gymnastics, but the mental aspect is a lot harder than some people may think. Being able to jump backward on a 4-inch wide beam, twisting in the air, or going all the way around a bar can be scary, but that’s why we have to train our minds to trust our bodies.
Another hard part about gymnastics is time management. Our practice is 5 days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday), and each practice is at least 4 hours. That all adds up to be at least 20 hours of practice a week. The gym is also 45 minutes from my house. This creates little time for me to do much outside of school.”
What about gymnastics do you love?
“I love gymnastics because I always have a goal to work toward. It can be competition season, so I work to improve and perfect all my skills. When it is off-season, I can work on upgrades and try to learn new skills. It is so exciting when I or a teammate gets a new skill because of the atmosphere. I just recently got my ray for the first time. A ray is a release move on bars where you have your hands and feet on the bar, go around, and flip over to catch the bar. This is one of those new skills where the whole gym stops to watch and see if you catch it. I remember when I caught my first one; adrenaline just pumped through my body. Everyone was cheering, and I was so happy. Even with some mental struggles, these moments make it worth it.”
What does the average competition day look like?
“First, I start by eating a healthy breakfast. Usually, I have eggs and toast because it’s not too filling. Then I do my hair and put on my leotard and warm-ups. I always head to the competitions early so I don’t feel rushed before I compete. During all of this, I am always listening to music so I don’t get too deep in thought and freak out or get nervous. Once I get there, I say goodbye to my parents as they wish me good luck, and I set up my bar settings. During the competition, we start with a warm-up, and then we go to each event. The order we go in is vault, bars, beam, and then floor (the Olympic order, also). Once we get to our event, we get a few touches to warm specific skills up, then compete in our routines. Finally, after all the events, we go to awards, hopefully winning a banner or trophy.”
