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Carly Patterson: What Makes A Champion?
Author : Murray Hughes
If you have been following gymnastics for any length of
time, odds are you have heard of a particular gymnast by
the name of Carly Patterson. You probably also know that
she is one of the youngest female Olympic gymnasts ever -
and that she has stunned the world of late with her
astounding abilities. In 2004, she became the first
all-around Olympic champion for the United States in more
than two decades, and was also the first to win for the US
in the past two games, an amazing feat indeed, considering
these past Olympic games were fully attended! The last
female all-around gymnastics champion for the United States
won in 1984, when the Soviet Union had boycotted the
Olympics entirely.
Carly was born on February the fourth, 1988, in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, to a pair of loving parents - her mother,
Natalie, and her father, Ricky. She is the first of a pair
of girls (her younger sister is Jordan). Currently, she
lives with her mother, her sister, and her pets in Allen,
Texas. A straight-A student, she is almost a normal
teenager when it comes to taste in music, boys, and
shopping. However, one thing sets her apart from the rest
of the crowd, even beyond her academics: she spends more
than thirty hours a week training in her Texas academy. Of
course, she could not have gotten to where she is currently
without help. This logically leads to the question -- what
makes a champion?
Carly started early on with her gymnastics career. In 1994,
she began taking classes after attending a friend’s
birthday party at Gymnastics Elite, a gym facility in Baton
Rouge, and meeting the head coach there. After five years
of training, what began as a sport became a true career:
she won her first state title in 1999 for Louisiana.
Then, she and her family moved to Texas, which gave her the
chance to train at some of the best gymnastics gyms in the
United States. She worked with Evgeny Marchenko and his
team at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in Plano,
Texas, and within a year completed the Top Gym Tournament
in Belgium in second place, taking the bronze medal in the
beam event, and won the all-around gold at the American
Team Cup. Thus began her rise to super-stardom in the
world of gymnastics. She took dozens of titles, national
and international, competing across the globe. Then, of
course, she competed in the 2004 Olympics…and the rest, as
they say, is history.
Certainly, her coaches had a lot to do with her success.
They gave her the practical experience needed for proper
training and for the creativity she displays in her favored
events. Good gymnastics schools, dedication to her work,
and certainly the allure of championships kept her
motivated, and as she won title after title, she improved
with the help of internationally renowned teams of
gymnasts. And, too, love of the sport itself inspired by
her coaches and her mentors aided her to the point where
she is today…but to attribute all of her success to the
work of these individuals would be erroneous without, of
course, mentioning her parents.
Her mother, Natalie, and her father, Ricky, played perhaps
the most important role in any young person’s life. They
gave her encouragement; they were there when she needed
them. This goes doubly for Miss Patterson, for they also
showed confidence and interest in her gymnastics
endeavors--in fact, by enrolling her in Gymnastics Elite,
they gave her a good running start for motivation. It was
with their help, too, that she got through some of the most
difficult times of her career thus far. An injury to her
elbow kept her out of several national and international
championships; it was with her parents’ support that she
was rehabilitated, and has now risen to become an Olympic
star.
You, as a parent of a gymnast, can certainly take this to
heart. You don’t have to be particularly well off to give
your gymnast the confidence they need to become the best.
In fact, all you have to do is encourage your child; if
they show interest in the sport, let them participate. If
they do well, encourage them further.
They’re already champions.
By Murray Hughes
Gymnastics Secrets Revealed
”The book EVERY gymnastics parent should read”
http://www.gymnasticssecretsrevealed.com/gymnastics-articles/carly-patterson.htm
About the Author
If your child is a gymnast and you enjoyed this article, you
will definitely enjoy reading the zero cost, 5-day course
Gymnastics Tips Course written especially for gymnastics
parents by a gymnastics parent.
http://www.GymnasticsSecretsRevealed.com
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and i'll admit, like carly patterson, the gold medalist that proceeded nastia 4 years ago in athens, i didn't know much. i tried doing some research on the us team, but didn't receive any until june when they where announced. ...what happened to carly patterson?
read carly patterson struggles in post-olympic career, from the la times. sidenote: didnt know carly had three tattoos.carly patterson's beam routine in athens is the only routine of late i can remember that makes me choke up. ... carly patterson
carly moreover has taken a silver on its favorite event, the bundle. but it was during the complete competition that has earned the title more prestigious it in the olympic champion of gymnastics. carly has been well to the first ... Ka CHING! Olympic Cash Money Flow
However, not every gold medalist lives the sponsorship fairy tale. A champion who might seem monumentally important during the Olympics sometimes fades out of public view. For example, take Mary Lou Retton and Carly Patterson. ... bound for olympic dreams
... we went early so we could see carly patterson. i was expecting worse, but i'm not about to run out and buy the cd, either. it was pretty standard pop music. i did get some good shots of the 2004 olympic all-around champion, though, ... the 2008 beijing summer olympics – michael phelps the beijing ...
in contrast, only 10% recognize carly patterson, who won the all-around gold in 2004 at athens. phelps has mary lou retton brand power and a great deal more. ganis – understands michael phelps is your average olympian. ... morgan hamm makes third olympic team (lexington herald-leader)
if you like carly patterson fluff 04 olympics then you might like: 2008 olympic medal count 2008 olympic medal count 2008 olympic medal count 2008 olympic medal count. you can also check out other articles i've posted below: day 7, 1400 cst
retton, now 40 and a mom, is in beijing as a corporate spokesman and makes big bucks as a motivational speaker. patterson retired after discovering a lower-back problem, travelled the reality tv circuit, and is having a stab at a pop ... nastia liukin and her father
liukin is only the third american woman to win the all-around; carly patterson (2004) and mary lou retton (1984) are the others. but perhaps this is not johnson's final chance at individual gold. after the meet, both gymnasts retracted ... michael phelps could earn $100 million over lifetime
carly patterson also struck gold in women's gymnastics four years ago, but she hasn't made the same impact. who knows how long-term america's memories of newly crowned gymnastics champion nastia liukin will be? ...
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