The Gymnast

Part 5

"Okay girls, we have 45 minutes on beam today. I expect 7 routines with no falls," Jill says.

I look up at the clock. It's 10:45, so I have until 11:30 to complete my routines.

"I'll give you 10 minutes to warm up and then we will start routines," Jill explains, and we all run to a beam to start warming up.

My routine is different from most other girls' routines. In level 8, we are required to do a series that has a flight element in it, and a flight element is a back handspring, front handspring, or a roundoff. While most girls do a back walkover into a back handspring as their series, I do a front walkover into a front handspring.

Right before the level 5 state meet last year, I got my back handspring on high beam. My coaches were trying to get Sophie to do it on low beam, but she was too scared. I was kind of angry that they didn't think I could do it, so I just randomly did it on low beam. At that point, Sophie also did it on low beam, so they didn't really care and didn't notice I did it. Then, they tried to get Sophie to do it on a medium beam, which was slightly shorter than a high beam. Once again, they didn't even consider that I could do it, and I was angry again, so I just did it. However, they still didn't care and continued to try to get Sophie to do it. Finally, I just decided to do it on high beam. That day was the first day I did it on any beam ever, so the coaches didn't expect me to do it at all, but I did it. That kind of got their attention. Hazel took a video of me doing it and congratulated me, and I was really happy. Although Sophie is my best friend, I was kind of happy that the attention was on me for once. 

Unfortunately, two days later I was doing a back handspring on high beam, but I didn't go up enough at my hand slipped off the beam, causing me to crash. I was terrified and couldn't stop crying, and since then I haven't done a back handspring on high beam.

That's why I do a front handspring instead. It's easier for me and it makes my routine more unique, so it works out in the end. I still wish I could do a back handspring though.

The other skills in my routine are a tuck three quarter jump, a switch leap, a split jump, a full turn, and a roundoff back layout dismount. I warm up each skill one or two times, and then I start on my routines. 

I miss my series on the first routine, but then I make four good routines in a row. Then, I take a break and work some roundoff full dismounts into the pit. Next, I do the rest of my routines. On the second routine, I fall on my tuck three quarter jump and have a huge wobble on my switch leap, but then I do two near-perfect routines. There are still 10 minutes left, so I work on connecting different jumps until we have to go to lunch.

Hi! I just wanted to thank everyone for actually reading my story, and I wanted to say that all of the information in this story is accurate (the requirements and skill names), at least I'm pretty sure they are, but I might have made a mistake on some parts, so sorry about that. I'm a level 7 gymnast and I'm trying to become a level 8, so I know what the routines are like and what skills you need to be that level. I also include some of my own experiences in the story, like the back handspring story (which happened to me two years ago and I still don't do them). Anyway, hope you enjoy the story!