Article September 20, 2004 Issue

An Olympic gold medalist talks about gymnastics.

Bounce, flip, and soar!

By Shannon Miller

WHY do gymnasts beam when they "stick" a landing? No, it's not a gymnastics riddle. The answer is that there's no better feeling than the one that comes from a landing without a fall or a wobble. It's like the exclamation mark at the end of your routine.

If you know what the word stick means, or if you've seen gymnastics on TV or done it yourself at a local gym, then you know more than I did when I first started. I'd never seen the Olympics. I didn't even know what the sport of gymnastics was. As a five-year-old, the only thing I cared about doing was whatever my big sister did. She was doing gymnastics, so I did, too.

It wasn't long before I realized I was crazy about gymnastics.

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