| USA Gymnastics 2013 Class |
| By Sally Haase August 19, 2013 It’s hard to believe that someone who hasn’t graduated high school could be considered for any Hall of Fame. But when you’re a gymnast and your career is more often than not ended by the time most of your peers have graduated college you get entered into your sport’s Hall of Fame at a young age. For the 50th anniversary of USA Gymnastics the Hall of Fame inducted three championship teams; the 2007 World artistic women’s team and World tumbling women’s team and the 2012 women’s Olympic team. The 2007 teams include Yuliya Hall Brown, Susannah Johnson, Leanne Seitzinger, and Kaitlin Tortorich for the tumbling team; Ivana Hong, Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Sam Peszek, Alicia Sacramone, and Shayla Worley for the artistic team. All but Hong and Worley were on the favored 2008 Olympic team who hung on to win the silver medal in the team final. Johnson and Liukin dominated the individual medals for Team USA with Liukin winning four individual medals including gold in the all-around, silver on balance beam and uneven bars and bronze on the floor. Johnson won silver in the all-around, silver on floor and gold on balance beam. As good as Liukin and Johnson are, their attempt at a second Olympic team was not to be. Liukin’s ended during the trials and Johnson was forced to retire from the sport before trials due to a knee injury. In the summer of 2012 USA team coordinator Marta Karolyi assembled a team of five young women, four of whom helped the United States win Worlds in 2011 for the 2012 Olympic team. The result was the second gold medal and the first in 16 years for USA gymnastics. The 2012 team featuring 2012 all-around gold medalist Gabby Douglas, 2011 all- around world champion Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, Aly Rasiman, and Kyla Ross earned their now trademarked nickname the “Fierce Five” with a dominating performance over the rest of the world’s best. The competition started on a near perfect note with the vault of specialist Maroney and ended on the floor when the first tumbling pass of final performer Raisman sealed the victory. The team used the word normal a lot during the team final, it was their way of telling each other to just think of it as a practice, don’t try to be great, just do what you know you can do. For the Fierce Five, normal was golden. As for the Hall of Fame team’s thoughts about 2016, Douglas, Raisman, and Wieber all verbally committed on national TV that they will get back in the gyms for a run at the 2016 Olympic team. Maroney, has been quoted as saying 2016 is the only thing on her mind as she is one who is looking for redemption on the vault. Ross has not publically stated if she will go for another Olympic run but her strong second place showing at the P & G Championships shows she has a world title in her sights. |
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