Carly Patterson excited about U. S. Olympic trials for artistic gymnastics, visits San Jose to promote the event
Olympic gold medallist, Carly Patterson, recently made appearances to help create hype about the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials for gymnastics. As part of the promotional campaign, she paid San Jose, California, a visit on December 2 and 3.
The promotional program included visits to four gymnastics facilities, starting with the Gymnastics Zone in Napa Valley.
The Texas resident, embarked on her road to gymnastics in 1994. In 2000, she earned herself the silver medal in the all-around and a bronze for her balance beam routine at the Top Gym meet (Belgium).
Two years later she became the U.S. Junior National All-Around Champion and in 2003 she made the transition to senior elite gymnastics.
Her career as a senior gymnast kick started with her phenomenal win in the American Cup – at 15 years of age, Patterson was the youngest competitor in the tournament. It was easy to see that the young gymnast was set to achieve greatness.
In 2004, she made the entire nation proud as she became the first American female gymnast to claim the all-around championship at the Olympic Games since 1984, when Mary Lou Retton had attained the title.
Athens 2004 is still fresh in the minds of hometown Allen residents, who still recognize Patterson as their hero.
The 23-year-old drew the curtain close on her elite gymnastics career in 2006, but evidently her interest and passion for the sport are still as anew as the glory of her achievements.
Patterson met young aspiring gymnasts, and fans at the gymnastics clubs that she visited. Everyone got a chance to get Patterson’s autograph and have their picture taken with the celebrated athlete.
“It is going to be really interesting to see who ends up making those five spots, because I feel like with our talent, we could have a few different Olympic teams,” the excited gymnast said.
“When you have that many people to choose from, it gets so tough. It will be a very exciting competition to go to. I can’t wait. It is definitely a big competition to go to”.
The U. S. Olympic trials for gymnastics are scheduled to be held on June 28 and carry on until July 1, in the coming year. The chosen venue for the trials is HP Pavilion, San Jose.
Five female gymnasts and five male gymnasts will be proceeding to represent the United States in the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The 2012 Visa Championships will decide who competes in the Olympic trials, and will be held in the second week of June (dates 7-10) in St. Louis.
After conducting the promotional activity, Patterson returned to Allen. She is currently a student at the Dallas community college and hopes to pursue a degree in Communications.
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