By Sam Kilgore
Photo by John Cheng

In Melbourne, Australia, Jordyn Wieber took the competition floor for the United States like it was just another day at the office. Her energetic, consistent routines yielded the junior all-around title with the highest all-around score at the 2010 Pacific Rim Championships.

But it wasn't the just another day for the 14-year-old from Dewitt, Mich., it was her first competition in 14 months.

"I felt really great out there," said Wieber. "It was my first competition since the injury, and I've been training really hard so it felt good to go out and hit my new routines with consistency."

Her coach couldn't agree more.

"Anytime you're off that amount of time, you have to wonder whether you're going to lose the competitive edge and that's been Jordyn's strong point," said John Geddert of Twiststars USA. "But she's just a competitor. When that green light goes up, it's game on for Jordyn."

Wieber's gymnastics career started in a Moms and Tots class at Twistars USA when she was four years old. She began competing at Level 5 in 2003, and only three years later, she made her first junior national team in 2006. Since then, she hasn't looked back.

Following the 2008 Olympic Games, a 13-year-old Wieber became the new face to watch. She started this Olympic quad with stellar performances, winning junior all-around titles at the Visa Championships and Top Gym. Then, despite being the youngest competitor at the competition, she won the prestigious Tyson American Cup crown in 2009.

In late April 2009, a hamstring injury slowed the Dewitt High School freshman down and forced her to miss the summer's competitions.

Rest was determined as the best course of action for Wieber, but resting did not mean taking a break. She was placed onto the 2009-2010 Junior National Team based on her ability and prior performances, and spent eight months working on conditioning, building her core strength, and enhancing her bar work.

"Jordyn was never out of the gym," said Geddert. "We stopped anything that involved the use of the hamstring, but tried to use that gym time to make other areas better."

And better is just how she appeared in Australia, where Wieber won individual gold medals on uneven bars and floor exercise, debuting cleaner bar lines and a new, mature floor routine.

"I continued to go to training camps and stayed focused, and I'm just so excited to be back," said Wieber.

She'll compete next on July 24 at the CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, an event she hopes to use as a tune up for the 2010 Visa Championships, Aug. 10-14 in Hartford, Conn.

"The Visa Championships is a huge meet for USA Gymnastics," she said. "I want to be a consistent gymnast, make the national team again, and then maybe get a chance to compete at the Junior Pan Am Championships."