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America's Newest Golden Girl, Carly Patterson (By Gemini, aged 13) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Friday, August 20, 2004
Not rated by the Author.
Gemini, (hopefully) future Olympic gymnast, writes of the gold medal winning performance of U.S.'s Carly Patterson.
I was there to witness history in the making. I saw it unfold before my very eyes last night, in front of the TV set, and this morning, I still can't believe what has taken place yesterday in Athens, Greece!
Our Olympic gymastics team scored yet another win last night; and it was because of the (near) flawless routine during the women's all-around that gave Carly Patterson of Allen, Texas, the gold medal. She was near-perfect (in my eyes), and she made her routines on vault, balance beam, uneven parallels, and floor look so easy and effortless! She was the first American women since Mary Lou Retton to win the gold medal for the United States women's all around program; the last time it happened was 20 years ago, when Mary Lou Retton won in Los Angeles (but I wasn't around then! LOL).
I was watching the tv set, me, my mom, dad, and my sister, Ronee' (we were all together in the same hotel room), and when Carly stuck her floor routine, I knew she had the medal; but it took the score to make me realize that she had just done something historical. She just narrowly edged out Russia's Svetlana Khorkina for the gold medal, and it was both her floor and balance beam routine that did it. She performed a near-flawless routine on the balance beam, and she just sparkled on the floor, hitting all her required elements, and it looked like she was really enjoying herself (which she probably was!). When I saw the score, I went nuts, and I wanted to start doing flips myself (but my mom and dad would have gotten mad; and so would the people nearest our room at the hotel! LOL)! But I am sure they heard us hollerin' and hoopin' for Carly, and when she got her gold medal, I just sat there and bawled my eyes out!
I want to be in the Olympics myself; and I have been involved with gymnastics since I was six, which was how old Carly Patterson was when she started, and I have Olympic dreams of my own. I think it would be too cool to win an Olympic gold medal (ANY medal, really!) for the United States! I have won medals myself in past meets, but the Olympic medal (especially the gold) is THE top medal to strive for, and I want to become as good as these gymnasts! I can do some of these flips and tricks on the balance beam, uneven parallels, vault, and floor, and I just LOVE it! If I could just get as good as these Olympic gymasts (and HOPEFULLY) win a medal, it would really be a huge dream come true for me! I have always wanted to be in the Olympics ever since I was a little girl who was adopted from Japan, and when I was six and started taking gymnastics, well, that dream has only gotten bigger and brighter as I grow older. Now I am 13, and with several medals under my gymnastics belt, I want to be in the Olympics now more than ever!
~Written by Gemini Sandusky, aged 13 (future Olympic gymnast??). :)
Karen you did a fantastic write on Carly's win! Wasn't it stunning? I cried;-) As I did even more so with Hamm's win! Exciting stuff and you covered it beautifully! Kudo's!
This is awesome. I must admit every time I watch the olypimpian in me comes forth and I start thinking about how I would love to win a gold medal again. Great write, very well captured.
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I was there to witness history in the making. I saw it unfold before my very eyes last night, in front of the TV set, and this morning, I still can't believe what has taken place yesterday in Athens, Greece!
