Alicia Sacramone
Encyclopedia
Alicia Marie Sacramone is an American artistic gymnast.
Sacramone began gymnastics at the age of eight, began competing in the elite ranks in 2002 and joined the U.S. national team in 2003. At US National Championships from 2004 to 2008, she won twelve medals, including four golds on vault
and two golds on floor exercise. At World Championships
from 2005 to 2007, she won seven medals, including a floor exercise gold in 2005 and a team gold in 2007. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she won a team silver medal. In 2010, Sacramone made a comeback by winning the National Championship on Vault. Later in 2010 at the World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, she won the World Title on Vault as well. Her gold gave her a total of nine medals overall, joining Shannon Miller
and Nastia Liukin
as the U.S. athletes with the most medals at the gymnastics world championships until the US team won gold in the team finals at the 2011 World Championships. Though she was injured and could not compete, she still received a medal as an official member of the U.S. team, earning her tenth World medal, making her the most decorated U.S. gymnast in the history of the World Championships.
Sacramone has become noteworthy for supportive leadership of her teammates as well as outspoken remarks in interviews.
, Massachusetts
to parents Fred, an orthodontist, and Gail Sacramone. She is of Italian
descent. Sacramone has an older brother, Jonathan, who is 27 years old. She graduated from Winchester High School in 2006.
. The Brestyans continue to serve as Sacramone's coaches.
Sacramone entered the elite ranks in 2002, placing seventh in the all-around and sixth on the vault in the junior division at that year's U.S. Classic competition. At the 2002 U.S. National Championships, she placed 22nd, but achieved a seventh place finish on the balance beam. Her results improved immensely the next year, when she placed 14th in the all-around and won a bronze medal on the vault at the 2003 U.S. Nationals, earning a spot on the U.S. National gymnastics team. Sacramone also participated in her first international competition in 2003, the Massilia Cup in France, where she placed fourth on the floor exercise and ninth on vault.
However, at the 2004 U.S. Nationals, an error-filled performance dashed Sacramone's hopes of an Olympic berth. Although she tied with Mohini Bhardwaj
for the silver medal on the vault, she finished in 19th place overall and did not qualify to the Olympic Trials. She also suffered an injury to her back and required time off to recover.
Sacramone continued competing in late 2004 as a member of the U.S. national team, and was assigned to several international meets, including the Pan American Individual Event Championships, where she won the vault and floor exercise titles. At the World Cup Finals in Birmingham
, England
, Sacramone attracted media attention again when she upset reigning Olympic vault
champion Monica Roşu
to take first place on the event.
, Australia
, where she won a gold medal on floor and placed third on the vault. She also defended her World Cup vault title successfully in 2005, winning the event at both the World Cup qualifier in Ghent
and the finals in Paris
.
Sacramone continued to compete for the U.S. team in 2006, participating in the 2006 World Championships in Aarhus
, where she won a silver medal with the American squad and an individual silver on the vault. She defended her vault and floor titles at that year's U.S. Nationals.
In September 2006, Sacramone enrolled in Brown University
and joined the school's gymnastics team. During the 2006–2007 season, she juggled a full NCAA competition schedule with her elite training at Brestyan's. She was the first female American gymnast since Kelly Garrison in the late 1980s to combine full-time university studies and NCAA competition with elite gymnastics.
During Sacramone's first year with the Brown Bears, she broke the school's records for the highest scores in the all-around, vault and floor exercise. She was named ECAC Rookie of the Year and swept the Ivy League Classic, becoming the first gymnast to win all five events and posting the highest all-around total ever recorded at the competition. She qualified as an individual on the floor exercise for the NCAA National Championships, the second Brown gymnast ever to do so, but did not advance beyond the preliminary round.
, Germany
.
During the qualifying round at the World Championships, Sacramone performed well, qualifying for event finals in floor and vault and contributing to the top qualifying position of the American team. Sacramone also posted a score on beam that would have been high enough to qualify her to the beam event final. However, due to the FIG rule only allowing two athletes per country to participate in each event final, and due to the fact that team mates Nastia Liukin
and Shawn Johnson
qualified ahead of her with higher scores, Sacramone was unable to compete for a beam medal. For the team final, Sacramone competed on vault, beam, and floor, earning 15.750, 15.600 and 15.325 respectively. When the American team faltered after a difficult beam rotation, in which two gymnasts made major errors, Sacramone gathered the team for a pep talk to refocus them for floor. The American team earned 184.400 points overall which was good enough to secure the gold medal ahead of the Chinese and Romanians.
In event finals, Sacramone received a bronze medal for her vault performance and a silver on floor behind teammate Shawn Johnson. She was visibly upset by her performances, and fought back tears after floor and during the flower and medal
ceremonies.
Both the Brestyans and the U.S. National Team Coordinator, Marta Karolyi
, suggested that Sacramone forgo NCAA competition during the 2007–2008 season to concentrate on her preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In September 2007, Sacramone announced that she was "turning pro" and signed with an agent, forfeiting her remaining NCAA eligibility.
In the 2007–2008 academic year, Sacramone continued to work with the Brown Bears gymnastics team as a volunteer assistant coach. She remained a student at Brown, concentrated in sociology
, but took the spring 2008 semester off to prepare for the Olympics.
Sacramone competed well at the 2008 U.S. National Championships in Boston and the Olympic Trials in Philadelphia. On July 19, she was named to the 2008 Olympic Team for Beijing.
In the day following the Olympic team finals, Sacramone was largely blamed for the American team's silver medal placement, and was the subject of negative commentary in media reports. Sacramone herself took responsibility for the results, noting, "It's kinda hard not to blame myself." However, analysts in the gymnastics community, including University of Georgia
head coach Suzanne Yoculan
, former Olympian John Roethlisberger
and International Gymnast editor Paul Ziert, noted that the American team started the competition at a difficult point deficit to the Chinese and that mathematically, Sacramone could not have been personally or exclusively responsible for the U.S. team's results. Sacramone also received support from the American team. In one interview, team mate Bridget Sloan
stated, "We've all made mistakes. It's just really hard to see her go and leave these Olympics knowing that she thinks it's her fault. It is definitely not and we've all been encouraging her very much."
Individually, Sacramone placed third overall on vault in the preliminary round of competition and qualified to the individual event final on that event. In the vault final, Sacramone placed fourth behind Hong Un Jong
, Oksana Chusovitina
and Cheng Fei
(somewhat controversially, since Cheng fell on her second vault). She also placed fourth overall on beam in preliminaries behind Li Shanshan
of China
and teammates Nastia Liukin
and Shawn Johnson
, but did not advance to the event finals due to the "two per country" rule.
ice hockey game.
On 24 July 2010, Sacramone competed in the CoverGirl Classic. She placed first in both beam and vault, not competing on floor or bars. Her return to competitive form was judged dramatically successful by meet commentators and she was named USA Today's "Athlete of the Week".
Sacramone competed in the U.S. National Championships in August
, performing only vault and balance beam. She placed first on vault (her fifth national title on that apparatus) and second on balance beam. She was also named Sportsperson of the Year.
At the World Championships
in October, Sacramone won a gold medal on the vault and a silver medal in the team competition. She now has nine world medals, tying her with Shannon Miller
and Nastia Liukin
for the most world medals by an American female gymnast.
2011, Sacramone added floor exercise to her competitive repertoire at the CoverGirl Classic in Chicago
, Illinois
. Competing on three events, Sacramone won gold on vault, tied for gold on beam with Jordyn Wieber
of Michigan
, and won the bronze on floor (13.9).
At August
's 2011 Nationals in St. Paul, Minnesota, Sacramone won the balance beam title with a two-night score of 30.1. She placed second to McKayla Maroney
on vault (30.6), and she tied with Hallie Mossett for eighth place on floor exercise (27.35).
After participating in two selection camps at the Karolyi Ranch in New Waverly, Texas, Sacramone was named to the 2011 U.S. women's world championships gymnastics team.
While training at the World Championships
in Tokyo
, Sacramone sustained a tear of her Achilles tendon
. She returned to the U.S. immediately for surgery on the tear. However, the U.S. team retained her name on the roster, so she was eligible to receive a gold medal in the team event in absentia. With her tenth World medal, Sacramone became the most decorated American gymnast at the World Championships.
and Nastia Liukin
became the first female athletes ever to be signed as CoverGirl spokesmodels. Sacramone is also a member of Team 24 Fitness and serves as a spokeswoman for the fitness company. In 2009, she also appeared in a Gatorade
commercial that spoofed Monty Python and the Holy Grail
as "Alicia, The Girl Who Made Horse Trotting Noises."
During the summer of 2009, Sacramone briefly stayed in Los Angeles
, California
and she designed for Tank Farm, a men's fashion company. She has discussed her intent to return to college in the media, but announced in August 2009 that she was not intending to return to Brown University
. In an interview with Inside Gymnastics Magazine, she stated, "“I plan to continue school [but] I’m looking into transferring somewhere in Boston,” she explains. “Brown is a great school and I loved it, but it was just not the best atmosphere for me; maybe a little too liberal. It was a great two years and I learned a lot about myself and from the professors and coaches there. I’m looking at Boston University, Boston College and Harvard. I want to weigh my options before I make an ultimate decision, but I would love to transfer to Harvard. I think that would be pretty much ideal."
She appeared nude in ESPN's 2011 "Body Issue" and also talked about how her body had evolved throughout her elite career and the changes in her self-perception.
2003–2004: "Explosive" by Bond (band)
2005: "Que Locura" by Christian Reyes
2006–2008: "Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)" by the Gotan Project
2011: 300 Violin Orchestra by Jorge Quintero and "Heart of Courage" by Two Steps from Hell
Sacramone began gymnastics at the age of eight, began competing in the elite ranks in 2002 and joined the U.S. national team in 2003. At US National Championships from 2004 to 2008, she won twelve medals, including four golds on vault
Vault (gymnastics)
The vault is an artistic gymnastics apparatus, as well as the skill performed using that apparatus. Vaulting is also the action of performing a vault. Both male and female gymnasts perform the vault...
and two golds on floor exercise. At World Championships
World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The World Artistic Gymnastics Championships are the World Championships for artistic gymnastics. They have been held since 1903.* * First time track and field event fully disappeared from the sport of gymnastics.- All-time medal count :...
from 2005 to 2007, she won seven medals, including a floor exercise gold in 2005 and a team gold in 2007. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she won a team silver medal. In 2010, Sacramone made a comeback by winning the National Championship on Vault. Later in 2010 at the World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, she won the World Title on Vault as well. Her gold gave her a total of nine medals overall, joining Shannon Miller
Shannon Miller
Shannon Lee Miller is a former artistic gymnast from Edmond, Oklahoma. She is the most decorated gymnast in U.S. History, and considered one of the greatest gymnasts the United States has ever produced...
and Nastia Liukin
Nastia Liukin
Anastasia Valeryevna "Nastia" Liukin is a Russian-American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic individual all-around Champion, the 2005 and 2007 World Champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World Champion on the uneven bars...
as the U.S. athletes with the most medals at the gymnastics world championships until the US team won gold in the team finals at the 2011 World Championships. Though she was injured and could not compete, she still received a medal as an official member of the U.S. team, earning her tenth World medal, making her the most decorated U.S. gymnast in the history of the World Championships.
Sacramone has become noteworthy for supportive leadership of her teammates as well as outspoken remarks in interviews.
Personal life
Sacramone was born on December 3, 1987 in BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
to parents Fred, an orthodontist, and Gail Sacramone. She is of Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
descent. Sacramone has an older brother, Jonathan, who is 27 years old. She graduated from Winchester High School in 2006.
Early career
Sacramone began studying dance at the age of three and started training gymnastics five years later, at age eight, in 1996. She began her gymnastics career with Romanian coaches Mihai and Silvia Brestyan at Gymnastics and More club and continued to train with them after they opened their own training facility in AshlandAshland, Massachusetts
Ashland is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the MetroWest region. The population was 16,593 at the 2010 census.-History:...
. The Brestyans continue to serve as Sacramone's coaches.
Sacramone entered the elite ranks in 2002, placing seventh in the all-around and sixth on the vault in the junior division at that year's U.S. Classic competition. At the 2002 U.S. National Championships, she placed 22nd, but achieved a seventh place finish on the balance beam. Her results improved immensely the next year, when she placed 14th in the all-around and won a bronze medal on the vault at the 2003 U.S. Nationals, earning a spot on the U.S. National gymnastics team. Sacramone also participated in her first international competition in 2003, the Massilia Cup in France, where she placed fourth on the floor exercise and ninth on vault.
2004
In 2004, Sacramone earned a spot on the US team for the Pacific Alliance Championships in Hawaii. She contributed several scores to help the team to a gold medal finish and won the individual vault title. Sacramone's strong performances caught the attention of the media, who began to consider her a legitimate contender for the American team at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.However, at the 2004 U.S. Nationals, an error-filled performance dashed Sacramone's hopes of an Olympic berth. Although she tied with Mohini Bhardwaj
Mohini Bhardwaj
Mohini Bhardwaj is a retired American gymnast who competed at the 1997 and 2001 World Championships and earned a team silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens...
for the silver medal on the vault, she finished in 19th place overall and did not qualify to the Olympic Trials. She also suffered an injury to her back and required time off to recover.
Sacramone continued competing in late 2004 as a member of the U.S. national team, and was assigned to several international meets, including the Pan American Individual Event Championships, where she won the vault and floor exercise titles. At the World Cup Finals in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Sacramone attracted media attention again when she upset reigning Olympic vault
Vault (gymnastics)
The vault is an artistic gymnastics apparatus, as well as the skill performed using that apparatus. Vaulting is also the action of performing a vault. Both male and female gymnasts perform the vault...
champion Monica Roşu
Monica Rosu
Monica Roşu is an artistic gymnast from Romania. During her career she won two Olympic gold medals , a silver medal with the team at world championships and two gold continental medals ....
to take first place on the event.
2005–2006
At the 2005 U.S. National Championships, Sacramone won the individual titles on floor and vault, scoring a 9.9 on the latter event, and placed third on the balance beam and fourth in the all-around. She was named to the American team for the 2005 World Championships in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where she won a gold medal on floor and placed third on the vault. She also defended her World Cup vault title successfully in 2005, winning the event at both the World Cup qualifier in Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
and the finals in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Sacramone continued to compete for the U.S. team in 2006, participating in the 2006 World Championships in Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
, where she won a silver medal with the American squad and an individual silver on the vault. She defended her vault and floor titles at that year's U.S. Nationals.
In September 2006, Sacramone enrolled in Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
and joined the school's gymnastics team. During the 2006–2007 season, she juggled a full NCAA competition schedule with her elite training at Brestyan's. She was the first female American gymnast since Kelly Garrison in the late 1980s to combine full-time university studies and NCAA competition with elite gymnastics.
During Sacramone's first year with the Brown Bears, she broke the school's records for the highest scores in the all-around, vault and floor exercise. She was named ECAC Rookie of the Year and swept the Ivy League Classic, becoming the first gymnast to win all five events and posting the highest all-around total ever recorded at the competition. She qualified as an individual on the floor exercise for the NCAA National Championships, the second Brown gymnast ever to do so, but did not advance beyond the preliminary round.
2007
At the 2007 U.S. National Championships, Sacramone competed on three events, choosing to skip the uneven bars. She defended her title on the vault, placed second on the floor exercise and third on the balance beam. Following Nationals, Sacramone was named to the American team for the World Championships in StuttgartStuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
During the qualifying round at the World Championships, Sacramone performed well, qualifying for event finals in floor and vault and contributing to the top qualifying position of the American team. Sacramone also posted a score on beam that would have been high enough to qualify her to the beam event final. However, due to the FIG rule only allowing two athletes per country to participate in each event final, and due to the fact that team mates Nastia Liukin
Nastia Liukin
Anastasia Valeryevna "Nastia" Liukin is a Russian-American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic individual all-around Champion, the 2005 and 2007 World Champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World Champion on the uneven bars...
and Shawn Johnson
Shawn Johnson
Shawn Machel Johnson is an American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic balance beam gold medalist and all-around, and floor exercise silver medalist, the 2007 all-around World Champion, and the 2007 and 2008 U.S. all-around champion...
qualified ahead of her with higher scores, Sacramone was unable to compete for a beam medal. For the team final, Sacramone competed on vault, beam, and floor, earning 15.750, 15.600 and 15.325 respectively. When the American team faltered after a difficult beam rotation, in which two gymnasts made major errors, Sacramone gathered the team for a pep talk to refocus them for floor. The American team earned 184.400 points overall which was good enough to secure the gold medal ahead of the Chinese and Romanians.
In event finals, Sacramone received a bronze medal for her vault performance and a silver on floor behind teammate Shawn Johnson. She was visibly upset by her performances, and fought back tears after floor and during the flower and medal
ceremonies.
Both the Brestyans and the U.S. National Team Coordinator, Marta Karolyi
Marta Károlyi
Márta Károlyi , is an American gymnastics coach and the National Team Coordinator for USA Gymnastics. Károlyi is originally from Romania, she and her husband, Béla, are ethnic Hungarians, and trained athletes there as well, but defected to the United States in 1981...
, suggested that Sacramone forgo NCAA competition during the 2007–2008 season to concentrate on her preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In September 2007, Sacramone announced that she was "turning pro" and signed with an agent, forfeiting her remaining NCAA eligibility.
2008 pre-Olympics
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, but took the spring 2008 semester off to prepare for the Olympics.
Sacramone competed well at the 2008 U.S. National Championships in Boston and the Olympic Trials in Philadelphia. On July 19, she was named to the 2008 Olympic Team for Beijing.
2008 Summer Olympics
At the Olympics, Sacramone performed on three events in both the qualifying and team final rounds of competition. In the team final, Sacramone posted a 15.675 score on vault but fell on both floor and beam, incurring 1.70 points in deductions.In the day following the Olympic team finals, Sacramone was largely blamed for the American team's silver medal placement, and was the subject of negative commentary in media reports. Sacramone herself took responsibility for the results, noting, "It's kinda hard not to blame myself." However, analysts in the gymnastics community, including University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
head coach Suzanne Yoculan
Suzanne Yoculan
Suzanne Paige Yoculan was the head coach of the women's gymnastics program at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia from 1983 to 2009. During her tenure, she built the Georgia gymnastics program into a national powerhouse and is one of the most decorated coaches in the history of collegiate...
, former Olympian John Roethlisberger
John Roethlisberger
John Roethlisberger is a retired American gymnast. He is a three-time Olympian representing the U.S. at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and 2000 Olympics in Sydney. He is also a four-time U.S. Nationals all-around champion and four-time U.S...
and International Gymnast editor Paul Ziert, noted that the American team started the competition at a difficult point deficit to the Chinese and that mathematically, Sacramone could not have been personally or exclusively responsible for the U.S. team's results. Sacramone also received support from the American team. In one interview, team mate Bridget Sloan
Bridget Sloan
Bridget Elizabeth Sloan is an American gymnast. She is the 2009 All-Around World Champion and the 2009 All-Around U.S. National Champion. Sloan was a member of the silver medal U.S. women's gymnastics team at the 2008 Olympics....
stated, "We've all made mistakes. It's just really hard to see her go and leave these Olympics knowing that she thinks it's her fault. It is definitely not and we've all been encouraging her very much."
Individually, Sacramone placed third overall on vault in the preliminary round of competition and qualified to the individual event final on that event. In the vault final, Sacramone placed fourth behind Hong Un Jong
Hong Un Jong
Hong Un Jong is a North Korean artistic gymnast. She was an individual event finalist on the vault at the 2007 World Championships and the bronze medalist on the event at the 2006 Asian Games. Hong represented North Korea at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she won the gold medal in the...
, Oksana Chusovitina
Oksana Chusovitina
Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina is an Olympic medalist and World Champion gymnast who has competed for Germany since 2006. She was formerly a citizen of, and a competitor for, the Soviet Union and Uzbekistan ....
and Cheng Fei
Cheng Fei
Cheng Fei is a Chinese gymnast. She is a three-time World Champion on the vault and 2006 World Champion on floor exercise. She was a member of the gold medal-winning Chinese teams for the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Aarhus, Denmark and 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China...
(somewhat controversially, since Cheng fell on her second vault). She also placed fourth overall on beam in preliminaries behind Li Shanshan
Li Shanshan
Li Shanshan is a Chinese gymnast who is especially strong on balance beam. She was a member of the Chinese silver medal-winning team at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, where she also medalled on the balance beam...
of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and teammates Nastia Liukin
Nastia Liukin
Anastasia Valeryevna "Nastia" Liukin is a Russian-American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic individual all-around Champion, the 2005 and 2007 World Champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World Champion on the uneven bars...
and Shawn Johnson
Shawn Johnson
Shawn Machel Johnson is an American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic balance beam gold medalist and all-around, and floor exercise silver medalist, the 2007 all-around World Champion, and the 2007 and 2008 U.S. all-around champion...
, but did not advance to the event finals due to the "two per country" rule.
2008 temporary retirement
In interviews, Sacramone alluded to retiring after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She confirmed her retirement in February 2009 during an interview at a Boston BruinsBoston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
ice hockey game.
2009-2010 return to training and competition
On August 6, 2009, Sacramone announced her return to training for elite competition. Her return was slowed, however, after having shoulder surgery earlier that year.On 24 July 2010, Sacramone competed in the CoverGirl Classic. She placed first in both beam and vault, not competing on floor or bars. Her return to competitive form was judged dramatically successful by meet commentators and she was named USA Today's "Athlete of the Week".
Sacramone competed in the U.S. National Championships in August
August
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with a length of 31 days.This month was originally named Sextilis in Latin, because it was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, when March was the first...
, performing only vault and balance beam. She placed first on vault (her fifth national title on that apparatus) and second on balance beam. She was also named Sportsperson of the Year.
At the World Championships
2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at the Ahoy Rotterdam indoor sporting arena in the Netherlands from 16 to 24 October 2010. In this year's championships, there was a total of 73 participating federations with 615 gymnasts...
in October, Sacramone won a gold medal on the vault and a silver medal in the team competition. She now has nine world medals, tying her with Shannon Miller
Shannon Miller
Shannon Lee Miller is a former artistic gymnast from Edmond, Oklahoma. She is the most decorated gymnast in U.S. History, and considered one of the greatest gymnasts the United States has ever produced...
and Nastia Liukin
Nastia Liukin
Anastasia Valeryevna "Nastia" Liukin is a Russian-American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic individual all-around Champion, the 2005 and 2007 World Champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World Champion on the uneven bars...
for the most world medals by an American female gymnast.
2011
In JulyJuly
July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days. It is, on average, the warmest month in most of the Northern hemisphere and the coldest month in much of the Southern hemisphere...
2011, Sacramone added floor exercise to her competitive repertoire at the CoverGirl Classic in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Competing on three events, Sacramone won gold on vault, tied for gold on beam with Jordyn Wieber
Jordyn Wieber
Jordyn Marie Wieber is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2011 All-Around World Champion, the 2011 U.S. Senior National Champion and the 2011 American Cup Champion. She was also the 2008 U.S. Junior National Champion and the 2009 American Cup Champion.-Personal life:Wieber was born in...
of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, and won the bronze on floor (13.9).
At August
August
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with a length of 31 days.This month was originally named Sextilis in Latin, because it was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, when March was the first...
's 2011 Nationals in St. Paul, Minnesota, Sacramone won the balance beam title with a two-night score of 30.1. She placed second to McKayla Maroney
McKayla Maroney
McKayla Maroney is an elite artistic gymnast from the U.S.A. who is best known for her execution of the Amanar vault – a Yurchenko-entry vault followed by two and a half twists in the air during a laid-out back salto. She is the 2011 U.S. champion on the vault, having bested 2010 World...
on vault (30.6), and she tied with Hallie Mossett for eighth place on floor exercise (27.35).
After participating in two selection camps at the Karolyi Ranch in New Waverly, Texas, Sacramone was named to the 2011 U.S. women's world championships gymnastics team.
While training at the World Championships
2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 7–16, 2011 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.Due to uncertainty over the nuclear situation following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the International Federation of Gymnastics revealed it was...
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Sacramone sustained a tear of her Achilles tendon
Achilles tendon
The Achilles tendon , also known as the calcaneal tendon or the tendo calcaneus, is a tendon of the posterior leg. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus bone.- Anatomy :The Achilles is the tendonous extension of 3 muscles in the lower leg:...
. She returned to the U.S. immediately for surgery on the tear. However, the U.S. team retained her name on the roster, so she was eligible to receive a gold medal in the team event in absentia. With her tenth World medal, Sacramone became the most decorated American gymnast at the World Championships.
Other activities
In June 2008, Sacramone and her team mates Shawn JohnsonShawn Johnson
Shawn Machel Johnson is an American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic balance beam gold medalist and all-around, and floor exercise silver medalist, the 2007 all-around World Champion, and the 2007 and 2008 U.S. all-around champion...
and Nastia Liukin
Nastia Liukin
Anastasia Valeryevna "Nastia" Liukin is a Russian-American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic individual all-around Champion, the 2005 and 2007 World Champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World Champion on the uneven bars...
became the first female athletes ever to be signed as CoverGirl spokesmodels. Sacramone is also a member of Team 24 Fitness and serves as a spokeswoman for the fitness company. In 2009, she also appeared in a Gatorade
Gatorade
Gatorade is a brand of sports-themed food and beverage products, built around its signature product: a line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo, distributed in over 80 countries...
commercial that spoofed Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1974 British comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...
as "Alicia, The Girl Who Made Horse Trotting Noises."
During the summer of 2009, Sacramone briefly stayed in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and she designed for Tank Farm, a men's fashion company. She has discussed her intent to return to college in the media, but announced in August 2009 that she was not intending to return to Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
. In an interview with Inside Gymnastics Magazine, she stated, "“I plan to continue school [but] I’m looking into transferring somewhere in Boston,” she explains. “Brown is a great school and I loved it, but it was just not the best atmosphere for me; maybe a little too liberal. It was a great two years and I learned a lot about myself and from the professors and coaches there. I’m looking at Boston University, Boston College and Harvard. I want to weigh my options before I make an ultimate decision, but I would love to transfer to Harvard. I think that would be pretty much ideal."
She appeared nude in ESPN's 2011 "Body Issue" and also talked about how her body had evolved throughout her elite career and the changes in her self-perception.
Competitive history
| Year | Event | AA | Team | VT | BB | UB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | U.S. National Championships (junior) | 22 | |7 | ||||
| 2003 | U.S. National Championships | 14 | 4 | 3rd | |||
| 2004 | U.S. National Championships | 19 | 2nd | ||||
| Pacific Alliance Championships | 1st | 1st | |||||
| World Cup Ghent | 1st | |4 | |||||
| World Cup Birmingham | 1st | | | |||||
| 2005 | U.S. National Championships | |4 | 1st | 3rd | 1st | ||
| World Championships 2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 38th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia from the 21st to the 27th November 2005. Only the all-around and event finals were contested at this meet... |
3rd | 1st | |||||
| World Cup Ghent | 1st | 1st | |||||
| World Cup Paris | 1st | |6 | |||||
| American Cup | 1st | 2nd | |||||
| 2006 | U.S. National Championships | |5 | 1st | |6 | |8 | 1st | |
| World Championships 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 39th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Aarhus, Denmark from October 13 to October 21, 2006 in NRGi Arena.It was the first time the World Gymnastics Championships was organized by a Danish city... |
2nd | 2nd | | | ||||
| World Cup Ghent | 2nd | | | |||||
| 2007 | U.S. National Championships | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | |||
| World Championships 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 40th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, from 1 to 9 September 2007.Oldest and youngest competitors- Men :- Women :- Finals :- Qualifications :- Floor :... |
1st | 3rd | 2nd | ||||
| 2008 | U.S. National Championships | 1st | 3rd | 2nd | |||
| U.S. Olympic Trials | 1st | |5 | 5 | ||||
| Olympic Games 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events... |
2nd | |4 | | | ||||
| 2010 | U.S. National Championships | 1st | 2nd | | | |||
| World Championships 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at the Ahoy Rotterdam indoor sporting arena in the Netherlands from 16 to 24 October 2010. In this year's championships, there was a total of 73 participating federations with 615 gymnasts... |
2nd | 1st | |5 | | | |||
| 2011 | U.S. National Championships | 2nd | 1st | |8T | |||
| World Championships 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 7–16, 2011 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.Due to uncertainty over the nuclear situation following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the International Federation of Gymnastics revealed it was... |
1st | | |
Floor music
2002: "Jazz Machine" - Black Machine2003–2004: "Explosive" by Bond (band)
Bond (band)
Bond is an Australian/British string quartet that specialises in classical crossover music...
2005: "Que Locura" by Christian Reyes
2006–2008: "Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)" by the Gotan Project
Gotan Project
Gotan Project is a musical group based in Paris, consisting of musicians Philippe Cohen Solal , Eduardo Makaroff , and Christoph H. Müller .-History:...
2011: 300 Violin Orchestra by Jorge Quintero and "Heart of Courage" by Two Steps from Hell
Two Steps From Hell
Two Steps From Hell is a production music company based in Los Angeles, California. Founded by Nick Phoenix and Thomas J. Bergersen, the company produces music for movie trailers and top ten classical albums on iTunes, Amazon and CD Baby....
External links
- "Alicia Sacramone", n°25 on TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"