Carly Patterson: What Makes A Champion?


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

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. Girls Gymnastics for Parents







Related News



The Princeton Bamboo Workshop - Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription)

The Princeton Bamboo Workshop
Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription) -Jul 18, 2008
It was a diverse and quite remarkable group of humanities scholars, librarians, IT specialists, and others concerned with arts and humanities research (and, ...

Humanities Cyberinfrastructure: Project Bamboo - Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription)

Humanities Cyberinfrastructure: Project Bamboo
Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription) -Jul 17, 2008
The term was put into play by the Atkins report on cyberinfrastructure for science and engineering, and extended to the humanities a couple of years ago by ...

Overuse of metrics to judge research criticised - guardian.co.uk

Overuse of metrics to judge research criticised
guardian.co.uk, UK -Jul 18, 2008
She said there was "widespread concern" among academics over the proposals, especially in humanities and social science disciplines. ...
Surrey Professor named Fellow of the British AcademyBallard Communications Management (press release)
all 3 news articles

Birnbaum named to Foundation for Humanities board - Brookline TAB

Birnbaum named to Foundation for Humanities board
Brookline TAB, MA -Jul 19, 2008
Ben Birnbaum of Brookline was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities by Gov. Deval Patrick. ...


Nevada Humanities accepting nominations and applications for board ... - UNR NevadaNews

UNR NevadaNews

Nevada Humanities accepting nominations and applications for board ...
UNR NevadaNews, NV -Jul 17, 2008
Nevada Humanities is a statewide organization, and board members are selected for geographic and occupational diversity, their skills and talents, ...

Moahi is dean of faculty of humanities - Mmegi Online

Moahi is dean of faculty of humanities
Mmegi Online, Botswana -Jul 15, 2008
The University of Botswana has appointed Dr Kgomotso Moahi as the new Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. Dr Moahi who has been Head of the Department of ...

MHS humanities students cross the pond - Star Community Newspapers

Star Community Newspapers

MHS humanities students cross the pond
Star Community Newspapers, TX -13 hours ago
By Lynne Weinberger, Special to the Courier-Gazette Several of Kacie Krug’s humanities students took the plunge and began their long-awaited adventure ...

Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture renames its Summer ... - Dallas Morning News

Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture renames its Summer ...
Dallas Morning News, TX -Jul 18, 2008
The Teachers Academy of The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture has renamed its Summer Institute for Teachers, now 25 years old, the Sue Rose Summer ...

Hi-tech deluge - Hindu

Hindu

Hi-tech deluge
Hindu, India -18 hours ago
Another academic year has started in the senior secondary schools and junior colleges in Andhra Pradesh without the humanities stream being offered to ...

Logan's humanities chairman dead at 62 - The Southern

Logan's humanities chairman dead at 62
The Southern, IL -Jul 17, 2008
Montaño, John A. Logan College professor and chairman of the Humanities Department, died in his home Tuesday. Montaño, 62, was born in Tumaco, Colombia. ...