High Stakes and High Bars
High Stakes and High Bars
Alumni Participates In Olympic Gymnastics Chloe Crawford
B
with one goal in mind: he wanted to go through trials without making a single mistake. “I just wanted to go there and have that [mistakeless] experience … so that no matter what happened whether I made it or not, I could retire ... knowing I went out with my best performance,” Brooks said. After Brooks and the rest of the competitors finished their routines, the Olympic selection committee went into a room to pick the finalists. Brooks’ competitors filled a different room, where they congratulated each other on routines well done. As soon as the selection committee walked in everything fell silent. “[The] tension immediately goes to 100,” Brooks said. One of the committee members broke the silence by congratulating all the competitors and then jumped right into listing names of the people who made it alphabetically. First, B for Brooks. “I basically fell out of my chair and to not only hear my name but my teammates, my friends … whenever my name was called everybody started cheering to hear their support and to feel that inside me was probably one of the most incredible feelings I’ve ever had,” Brooks said. Brooks practiced for 30 hours a week and captained the olympic gymnastics team He placed fourteenth in the
individual overall competition. “You can’t ever win or perfect gymnastics; it’s always changing ... it’s always evolving there’s always something to be learned … Which is why I love it. It drives you to continuously learn and push yourself … but it’s also the most frustrating part because you’re never good enough because the sport always continues to evolve.”
texas Medal Count
42 Photo courtesy of MCT Campus
Courtesy of John Cheng Courtesy of MCT Campus
want to be on that floor, and I want to have that experience.’” Brooks received a nomination for Pacific Alliance (now Pacific Rim Championship) his junior year of high school. Brooks started training immediately for a competition with junior and senior level competitors, but his training hit a roadblock in 2004 after winning gold in 2003 at the USA National Championships. While on the high bars, Brooks’ grips didn’t release properly, throwing off his grab on the other bars. His hands ripped around the other bars, getting caught and locking into a position called grip lock. His arms stuck still, while the rest of his body flew around the bars critically injured his forearms. The injury took five surgeries and a recovery time totaling a little bit over a year and a half. Brooks recounted that experience as “probably the lowest point” in his gymnastics experience. Brooks recovered from his injury by his freshmen year at University of Oklahoma where the team secured an undefeated record. That year, his team hosted and won the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) championship. In contrast to the year before, Brooks described that year as the best in his gymnastics experience. Following his NCAA victory, Brooks attended the Olympic trials in St. Louis, Missouri,
Courtesy of John Cheng
Sports Editor efore the Olympic fanfare, Chris Brooks scanned the room full of other children and gymnastic equipment at an open gym for the first time. He tumbled across one of the mats and someone took notice of his unique ability. “Somebody comes out, and [says] ‘you aren’t on the team, you can’t be doing skills like that’”, Chris said, “and I was horrified being a six-yearold kid doing something wrong.” Someone else took notice of Chris’ natural skill too. A coach. He motioned Brooks’ father, Larry Brooks, over and asked him if Brooks wanted to join the team, however he didn’t meet the minimum age requirement. Six months shy of seven years old, Brooks spent the rest of the year going to open gym after open gym, so he could compete on a team as soon as he turned seven. Larry began Chris’s training as he was a gymnast in his youth. Chris continued his training under coach Bill Foster at Houston North gymnastics clubs and before he knew it he wanted to join the Olympics. “I guess it was during the ‘96 games … and I remember seeing the men’s team finals … seeing how much joy I could see in the faces of the men, competing … and just loving that process,” Brooks said. “I kind of fell in love with that feeling, and that’s whenever I really thought ‘I
Alumni Participates In Olympic Gymnastics Chloe Crawford
B
with one goal in mind: he wanted to go through trials without making a single mistake. “I just wanted to go there and have that [mistakeless] experience … so that no matter what happened whether I made it or not, I could retire ... knowing I went out with my best performance,” Brooks said. After Brooks and the rest of the competitors finished their routines, the Olympic selection committee went into a room to pick the finalists. Brooks’ competitors filled a different room, where they congratulated each other on routines well done. As soon as the selection committee walked in everything fell silent. “[The] tension immediately goes to 100,” Brooks said. One of the committee members broke the silence by congratulating all the competitors and then jumped right into listing names of the people who made it alphabetically. First, B for Brooks. “I basically fell out of my chair and to not only hear my name but my teammates, my friends … whenever my name was called everybody started cheering to hear their support and to feel that inside me was probably one of the most incredible feelings I’ve ever had,” Brooks said. Brooks practiced for 30 hours a week and captained the olympic gymnastics team He placed fourteenth in the
individual overall competition. “You can’t ever win or perfect gymnastics; it’s always changing ... it’s always evolving there’s always something to be learned … Which is why I love it. It drives you to continuously learn and push yourself … but it’s also the most frustrating part because you’re never good enough because the sport always continues to evolve.”
texas Medal Count
42 Photo courtesy of MCT Campus
Courtesy of John Cheng Courtesy of MCT Campus
want to be on that floor, and I want to have that experience.’” Brooks received a nomination for Pacific Alliance (now Pacific Rim Championship) his junior year of high school. Brooks started training immediately for a competition with junior and senior level competitors, but his training hit a roadblock in 2004 after winning gold in 2003 at the USA National Championships. While on the high bars, Brooks’ grips didn’t release properly, throwing off his grab on the other bars. His hands ripped around the other bars, getting caught and locking into a position called grip lock. His arms stuck still, while the rest of his body flew around the bars critically injured his forearms. The injury took five surgeries and a recovery time totaling a little bit over a year and a half. Brooks recounted that experience as “probably the lowest point” in his gymnastics experience. Brooks recovered from his injury by his freshmen year at University of Oklahoma where the team secured an undefeated record. That year, his team hosted and won the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) championship. In contrast to the year before, Brooks described that year as the best in his gymnastics experience. Following his NCAA victory, Brooks attended the Olympic trials in St. Louis, Missouri,
Courtesy of John Cheng
Sports Editor efore the Olympic fanfare, Chris Brooks scanned the room full of other children and gymnastic equipment at an open gym for the first time. He tumbled across one of the mats and someone took notice of his unique ability. “Somebody comes out, and [says] ‘you aren’t on the team, you can’t be doing skills like that’”, Chris said, “and I was horrified being a six-yearold kid doing something wrong.” Someone else took notice of Chris’ natural skill too. A coach. He motioned Brooks’ father, Larry Brooks, over and asked him if Brooks wanted to join the team, however he didn’t meet the minimum age requirement. Six months shy of seven years old, Brooks spent the rest of the year going to open gym after open gym, so he could compete on a team as soon as he turned seven. Larry began Chris’s training as he was a gymnast in his youth. Chris continued his training under coach Bill Foster at Houston North gymnastics clubs and before he knew it he wanted to join the Olympics. “I guess it was during the ‘96 games … and I remember seeing the men’s team finals … seeing how much joy I could see in the faces of the men, competing … and just loving that process,” Brooks said. “I kind of fell in love with that feeling, and that’s whenever I really thought ‘I
