Leaping off the sofa
Enrollment in gymnastics classes up since Olympics

KATHRYN EAKENS
Leader Staff
9/10/2008

For Nastia Liukin, her all-around gold in women's gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympic games could very well be the pinnacle of her success. But for countless leotard-clad little girls across the United States, Liukin's moment in Beijing was the beginning of a dream - one that may or may not be realized.

Chris Conner, owner and program director of Platinum Gymnastics in Round Rock, said calls from parents wanting to enroll their children in classes began as soon as Team USA qualified into the team competition and only increased after Liukin's gold.

"I received an e-mail from someone whose little daughter saw Shawn Johnson [who captured the silver in all-around competition and gold for her balance beam performance] and started flipping off the sofa," Conner said. "Ever since then she'd been wanting to get into gymnastics and now they're here in our program."

But it takes a long way to get from flipping off a sofa in your parents' living room to flipping your way to Olympic gold.

The best gymnasts train 35 to 40 hours a week, live on a restricted diet and experience stunted physical development.

Many even move away from home to attend specialized gymnastics boarding schools or to areas that already have gymnasts on the national team.

"Some kids are probably picking up right now and moving to WOGA [World Olympics Gymnastics Academy in Plano, which trained Liukin and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Carly Patterson] just because they have an Olympic champion," Conner said.

And with the past two women's all-around Olympic gold medalists from Texas, Conner said the state is the most competitive in the country.

For some, like Johnson - who was inspired after seeing Patterson capture the gold in the women's all-around and balance beam at the 2004 summer games in Athens - the dream can become a reality.

"Ninety-nine percent of gymnastics is mental," Conner said. "To pursue that level of gymnastics or any level of the USA Gymnastics program you have to have a passion for it.

"You have to have the drive of yourself - not of your parents and not of the coaches - it has to be something that you want to achieve. Discipline comes in a great part of it."

For others, there comes a point when it's time to put things into perspective.

"For some that [the Olympic dream] can happen. That can be in any sport or anything," Conner said. "And then for some you do have to look at the realistic picture eventually and say 'This is where we are and it's OK.'"

But the rewards of participating in gymnastics cannot always be measured in gold medals and million-dollar endorsements.

"They have to be very self-disciplined and have a lot of structure and a great deal of focus," said Scott McDonald, coach of the gymnastics program at Round Rock High School. "We as coaches try to build that in them to help them with their classwork and help them with life in general terms - just to be able to be a stronger person.

"It's not all about the flipping stuff."

And for many, the opportunity to continue to compete at the collegiate level in the sport they love can be had.

"Typically they realize they're not going to the Olympics and so they want to choose a different avenue - being able to get a college scholarship, being able to have a life," said McDonald, who's had multiple gymnasts go on to earn college scholarships.

"Our goal is to have our kids eventually qualify for the USA National Team - going to the Olympics is like the icing on the cake - but everybody doesn't make that goal," Conner said. "But our first and foremost goal is to make sure our athletes are having fun and are healthy kids and that we can get them a college scholarship."