Carly Patterson

Carly Patterson
By Ashlie Tucker
Carly Patterson was born February 3, 1988 in Baton Rouge Louisiana. Carly began gymnastics in 1994. She enrolled at Elite Gymnastics in Baton Rouge where she spent her first five years of her gymnastics career, earning the title of 1999 Louisiana Level 10 State Championship before moving to Houston Texas later that year. In Houston, Carly spent her first year as an Elite gymnast at Browns Gymnastics, earning the silver medal on beam and 4th all-around at her first US National Championship. At 12 she was the youngest member of the US Junior National team.
Carly helped the US to defeat Romanian and Chinese teams and captured the all-around gold medal at the 2001 America Team Cup. Carly continued her success in the junior ranks throughout 2000 and 2002. She won countless National and international medals competing all across the US, Canada, and South America, and even as far as China and Australia. In her third US championship, Carly won the first senior international title at the American Cup in 2002.
After battling a stress fracture in her elbow for much of the 2003 meet season, Carly was chosen to represent the US on the 2003 World Championship team. Unfortunaly, Carly’s elbow once again began causing her pain. By the time she competed in all-around Final Worlds, the arm was so swollen she could barely straighten it. In the fall of 2003 with the Olympic Games less than a year away Carly underwent surgery to correct the problem. It would be a tough comeback, but Carly was determined. She worked slowly to regain her strength and improve on her flexibility and technique. In February 2004 Carly came back to defend her American Cup title from the previous year. She easily won not only the all-around title but the four events as well. In June Carly also added the title of US National Champion to her name. It was her first senior US Nationals and she won floor and tied Courtney Kupets in the all-around.
All of Carly’s hard work, dedication, and love for the sport paid off as she turned in four near flawless performances to become the first American women to win an Olympic gold in the all-around in the fully attended Olympic Games. Following her Olympic success, Carly went on a whirlwind 40-city gymnastics tour and made several appearances at award shows, interviews, and autograph sessions. She appeared everywhere from the Wheeties box cover to a fashion show in New York City. Mostly, recently Carly has been working with the American Dental Association and recording her own music.
Carly always told magazine editors and T.V producers “The possibilities for the future are limitless in and out of the gym!”