(L-R) 2016 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team member Madison Kocian poses for a picture with 2004 Olympic champion Carly Patterson.
Carly Patterson helped lead a resurgence of success for Team USA in gymnastics when she won gold in the all-around at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, the first U.S. woman to do so in 20 years. She will serve as TeamUSA.org’s written correspondent during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, providing her take on the women’s gymnastics competition.
Hey guys, Carly Patterson here!
I can't believe another Olympic Games is here – so crazy! I'm so excited to be able to blog and hopefully bring you a little insight about our amazing U.S. Olympic Women’s Gymnastics Team while they are going for the gold in Rio!
I want to start off by sharing a little bit about what to watch in women's gymnastics! Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian and Simone Biles are definitely going to bring us one heck of a show and I can hardly wait! I've said this over and over but they are truly a gold-medal team. Aly is the team captain and one of the veterans on the team along with reigning Olympic champion Gabby, who's back to try and defend her title.
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The Olympic Games are always such a special time and for me, especially after being a participant in the 2004 Games and winning all-around gold! I know exactly how hard these athletes have been working and exactly how they feel. It's such an exciting time to represent your country wearing USA on your back and showing off all of the hard work you have been putting in!
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| (L-R) Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Madison Kocian, Laurie Hernandez and Simone Biles in red, white and blue leotards. |
On a side note, I'm totally loving all of the red white and blue leotards that I'm seeing the girls wear in their trainings! I've heard the competition leotards are going to be even more amazing. :)
This team in particular is special because we have two veterans, Aly and Gabby, the three-time reigning world all-around champion in Simone, one youngster, Laurie, and the bar specialist Madison.
I think one of the advantages we have over the other countries is vault. Simone and Aly can both do a Yurchenko 2 ½, which is known as an "Amanar." That is a super hard vault that you don't see a lot of people do.
Madison Kocian is our bar specialist and she has a really high level of difficulty in her routine and can score very high.
Our biggest competition going into the team competition will be China and Russia. The U.S. women have shown nothing but domination leading up to these Olympic Games so I don't think the other countries will come close to beating us (if I'm being totally honest)! As the competitions get closer, I will be sharing more, but I want to fill you in on some of the schedule so you don't miss out!
Women’s qualification is on Aug. 7, the individual all-around competition is on the 11th, the team finals are on the 9th and the event finals are on the 14th, 15th and 16th! Let's get this Olympic Games started! Keep checking TeamUSA.org for more info.
GO TEAM USA!
- Carly Patterson
