… “I’m not thinking about being in the Olympics,” the gymnast, Simone Biles, said. “Well, at least I’m trying not to think about it.”
Biles is the best American gymnast since, well, probably ever. She is 4 feet 9 inches, with size 5 feet, but there’s an unfathomable amount of power packed into her petite package. …
Biles wrote her goals for 2016 in a leather-bound journal that Nike, her sponsor, gave her after she turned professional last summer. When we met in January, she let me leaf through the pages. There was not one mention of a gold medal anywhere. …
Interesting and detailed. Vasiliki is very well spoken.
Vasiliki: If I could go back in time, I think that I would make the same choices. I have no regrets, even though I’ve been through lots of hard times.
The road is not easy at all but I think I would do the same things, I think that I would even make the same mistakes because we learn from our mistakes and each mistakes has made me wiser. I’m not wise, but I learn from every mistake, and especially my mistakes during competitions. I just would advise myself to be a bit tougher. …
Interviewers: … So what are your biggest accomplishments?
Vasiliki: I have lots of medals from national championships and world cups. I think I have about 13 medals from world cups, including a gold from the London Test Event, I have been a 5 times European finalist, a world finalist and a two times Olympian. I have 3 Mediterranean medals, a gold a silver and a bronze and I have been first at FIG’s ranking twice. And I’m hoping to finish with an Olympic gold… you know (laughs) This would be way too hard …
Interviewers: You’ve said that you’re retiring after Rio?
Vasiliki: Yes, I think yes, that’s what I’ve said. I’m a bit reluctant because I have said that I’m stopping after Rio but I said the same before London. …
Interviewers: I have a question about something that surprised me quite a bit. There was a time when you stopped gymnastics quite early. If I’m not mistaken, you left after the world championships of Debrecen in 2002
Vasiliki: No, I also competed at the European championships of 2003 and I left the sport in 2003. Actually, I didn’t leave. It was kind of obligatory!
Interviewers: Did the federation pressure you?
Vasiliki: Yes. It was the federation’s decision. They sent me a piece of paper, saying “Thank you very much for what you have offered but you are now old and the young athletes coming up are stronger and there’s nothing more you can offer. Best of luck in your future career” …
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coming up today Jan 30th – Metroplex Challenge vs LSU, Missouri, Stanford, Washington
I never went to prom, I never went on spring break, I never went to Friday night football games, and I never had the summer off for family vacations. Gymnastics is a year-round sport, and the offseason was exponentially worse than season. But man did I love it. …
Why in the world did we do it?
Insanity? Love? The things we do for the ones we love, that’s what gymnasts do for the sport. It gave me some of the best moments of my life. I traveled to really cool places, I met my best friends, I learned what love is, I learned how to persevere through unbearable adversity and when people thought I would quit, I kept going. My coaches throughout the years became my gym parents, and were there every step of the way. I made it through to the very end. …
I still give back.
I coached for years, and now I find myself donating money to EMU Gymnastics. …
Katherine competes for Gymnastic Academy of Rockford.
… Katherine was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia back in 2011. The gymnast and avid CrossFitter needed her leg amputated after doctors discovered an infection in her knee joint. Since then she’s been through remission, relapse and is now once again in remission. …
Gymnastics Coaching.com 