The last developmental camp for 2014 took place last week at the USA Gymnastics National Team Training Center at the Karolyi Ranch, an official U.S. Olympic Training Site in Huntsville, Texas.
Forty-three athletes from across the country were invited to this training camp, targeted for gymnasts 10-13 years old working through the elite developmental pipeline with USA Gymnastics.
The camp is under the direction of Valeri Liukin, two-time Olympic champion and coach and father of Nastia Liukin, who won the all-around Olympic gold medal in 2008. Two-a-day training sessions are conducted every day followed by coaches’ lectures from the National coaching staff.
Physical abilities testing took place the first night of training. Gymnasts are scored on different physical testing and ranked. Morgan Hurd, First State Gymnastics, earned first place in physical abilities, followed by Maile O’Keefe, Academy of Salcianu Gymnastics, and Caitlin Smith of Paramount Elite Gymnastics, placed third.
At every camp, a gymnast is selected by Valeri and his staff as the most improved camper. November’s athlete was Trinity Thomas from Prestige Gymnastics.
Next developmental camp will take place in January 2015.
