Olympics Await Teft
"She has to have the meet of her life. But she is healthy and is going well in practice"
~John Geddert, Katie's Coach
She wants to be one of the magnificent seven. If not, that's OK. At age 14, she's already one of the fabulous 14. Katie Teft of Grand Rapids is one of the 14 gymnasts who qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in Boston this weekend. The compulsory exercises are Friday and the optionals are on Sunday.The top seven finishers make the Olympic team and represent the United States in Atlanta from July 22-30 at the Georgia Dome. "If everyone's healthy-that's never a given-she's realistically shooting at spots six or seven," said her coach, John Geddert. "There are probably four or five athletes shooting for those same spots. They are all relatively competitive. She has as good a shot at it as anyone." "She has to have the meet of her life. But she is healthy and is going great in practice". "Piece of cake. No pressure at all. Four years of training. No problem." Geddert jokes about the pressure Teft faces because he knows it's considerable. And he is part of the pressure, because without him driving her to be her best, she wouldn't be in this position. But he also wants her to maintain perspective. "It's a lifelong dream for me," Geddert said. "I have been coaching for 25 years to get in this position. But for her, I won't allow this to be a lifetime priority. She's only 14. She has a lifetime of gymnastics ahead of her. She is way ahead of her time. She's not supposed to be in the hunt yet. Her Olympics are the 2000 Games. I'm not letting her make this an all-or-nothing opportunity. It will he a great thing if it happens. But she's battling some kids-three or four of them have been on Olympic teams. She's been too young to be in that situation before." Despite her youth, Teft is handling the pressure well. "I'm not nervous, not yet anyway," Teft said. "I think my chances are pretty good. My previous trip, I was 10th (at nationals) because I had kind of like a fall on bars. If I hit what I can do, I should have no problem." Teft scored a 76.1 at the U.S. championships in the all-around competition, which combines the four scores of the balance beam, vault, floor exercise and uneven parallel bars. "She needs to go mid-77s to make the team," Geddert said. "I think she's made that type of improbement in practice, but's whether she does it out there on the floor." Teft's strength is the parallel bars. She was the silver medalist at the U.S. Nationals with a 9.85 score. She's next strongest on beam, then floor and then vault. "We've really stressed vaulting in training," Geddert said. "We have increased the difficulty. Vaulting will be out pivotal event."
Article Courtesy of: "The Lansing State Journal"
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