Olympic fever has officially hit the Peninsula. The competitive gymnasts at Accel Gymnastics are taking a short break from their demanding training schedule and heading down to San Jose for the Olympic Trials—and they’re bringing friends along.
Eight gymnasts from Gymnix is Montreal, Canada and two coaches are joining in on the fun, as well.
“[Gymnix] runs a big international competition…and our team has participated in the past, and we’ve just become friends,” said Accel team director Kelly Keane. “We invited them to come and do an exchange [and] with the Olympic Trials in town we just decide it was a great idea for them to be here.”
The girls from both gyms have been training together all week, enjoying one another’s company and shared hobbies, such as shopping (the girls from Gymnix purchased One Direction t-shirts on a recent shopping expedition).
Gymnasts from both gyms will train Friday morning before heading to the Olympic Trials, where they’ll stay through Sunday.
“The kids are so, so excited,” said Keane. “They’re all going to be able to see their heroes in person.”
The Canadian gymnasts even made and wore shirts on the plane to California emblazoned with the names of their favorite American gymnasts Gabby Douglas and Jordyn Wieber.
The entire competitive team at Accel of about 30 members is going to San Jose, along with the Gymnix athletes and a few male gymnasts out of United States Olympic Training Cent (USOTC) in Colorado Springs who have also been training at Accel for the week.
The youngest competitive gymnasts at Accel train 12 hours a week during the school year and 16 hours a week in the summer, with the most advanced training twice a day in the summer and leaving school early during the academic year to begin training at 12:30 p.m.
While all the gymnasts are excited to see the competition with their own eyes, Keane said more than that, she is looking forward to the outcome of the trials for a lucky few gymnasts.
“Their dreams will come true this weekend,” said Keane. “That’s just really exciting.”
