Natasha Kelley
Encyclopedia
Natasha Kelley is an American
gymnast
. Currently residing in Texas, she trains at Stars Gymnastics but has announced she will no longer compete as an elite athlete, but rather will plan to compete in collegiate competition soon. Kelley was a member of the silver medal winning U.S. team at the 2006 World Championships, along with Chellsie Memmel
, Alicia Sacramone
, Jana Bieger
, Nastia Liukin
and Ashley Priess
.
at the national championships, in the All Around and on bars and beam. These strong performances at home won Kelley a spot on the U.S. team for the World Championships, but she did not fare quite so well there. Kelley sustained an injury in practice to her mouth and lips after crashing into the bar on a hindorff release and continued to have problems with hitting her routines. Mistakes in the qualification rounds meant that she was not selected to compete for the U.S. in the team final, and neither had she qualified to any individual finals. The U.S. had entered the competition as favorites to retain the title they won in 2003, but injuries to several team members hampered their performance. There were several mistakes from the four athletes who had been chosen to provide all the routines in the team final, while Kelley and her teammate Ashley Priess could only watch. Nevertheless, won a silver medal as a part of the U.S. team. The team's woes were further compounded when reigning World Champion Chellsie Memmel
withdrew from the competition entirely after the team event. This did however give Kelley a chance to replace her in the floor final, where she performed well and placed a respectable seventh.
After the 2006 U.S. National championships, Kelley's level of difficulty on the uneven bars had decreased. That and her problems on beam at the 2006 World Championships made her less valuable to the U.S. team. (Bars and beam were the two events where Kelley had a remarkably high difficulty level or Start Value (the A Score as it became known in 2006. Kelley's beam routine contained, for example, some of the hardest acrobatic manuveurs, a standing tucked full and a standing Arabian). Kelley nevertheless was selected to compete at the 2007 American Cup where she missed bars but hit beam. The 2007 U.S. Nationals effectively marked the end of Kelley's elite career. At those nationals, she was recovering from several injuries, including a twisted ankle and a tweaked elbow. There, she was penalized harshly for her form errors and placed too low to be seriously considered for the World Championship team.
Within months of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Kelley announced that she had retired from elite gymnastics and would focus on an upcoming collegiate gymnastics career.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
gymnast
Gymnast
Gymnasts are people who participate in the sports of either artistic gymnastics, trampolining, or rhythmic gymnastics.See gymnasium for the origin of the word gymnast from gymnastikos.-Female artistic:Australia...
. Currently residing in Texas, she trains at Stars Gymnastics but has announced she will no longer compete as an elite athlete, but rather will plan to compete in collegiate competition soon. Kelley was a member of the silver medal winning U.S. team at the 2006 World Championships, along with Chellsie Memmel
Chellsie Memmel
Chellsie Marie Memmel is an American gymnast. She is the 2005 World All-Around Champion, making her the third American woman, after Kim Zmeskal and Shannon Miller, to become World Champion in the All-Around. She is also a World Champion on the uneven bars and as part of the U.S. team...
, Alicia Sacramone
Alicia Sacramone
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...
, Jana Bieger
Jana Bieger
Jana Lyn Bieger is an American gymnast of German descent. Raised in the U.S. and a citizen, Bieger has competed only for the U.S. At the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, she won three silver medals...
, 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 Ashley Priess
Ashley Priess
Ashley Priess is an American artistic gymnast. She competed at the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships for Team USA and earned a team silver medal. She currently attends the University of Alabama and competes for their gymnastics team....
.
Early gymnastics and junior career
At the start of her gymnastics career, Kelley went to Elite gymnastics in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She not only did gymnastics there, but she was also homeschooled there until she left. Kelley competed there for many years before moving to Brown's Gymnastics in Houston, Texas. After moving to Brown's, she moved again to Star's gymnastics, also in Texas. As a junior, Kelley's major accomplishment was winning the U.S. National title in 2005 - the previous year she had been in 7th, so this was a considerable improvement. Internationally, she also competed at the Junior Pan American Games in 2004.Senior career
Kelley became a senior in 2006, as she turned 16 that year. In her first major domestic competition as a senior, the U.S. Classic, she placed first (tie with Ashley Priess). After this, she was the runner-up behind Nastia LiukinNastia 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...
at the national championships, in the All Around and on bars and beam. These strong performances at home won Kelley a spot on the U.S. team for the World Championships, but she did not fare quite so well there. Kelley sustained an injury in practice to her mouth and lips after crashing into the bar on a hindorff release and continued to have problems with hitting her routines. Mistakes in the qualification rounds meant that she was not selected to compete for the U.S. in the team final, and neither had she qualified to any individual finals. The U.S. had entered the competition as favorites to retain the title they won in 2003, but injuries to several team members hampered their performance. There were several mistakes from the four athletes who had been chosen to provide all the routines in the team final, while Kelley and her teammate Ashley Priess could only watch. Nevertheless, won a silver medal as a part of the U.S. team. The team's woes were further compounded when reigning World Champion Chellsie Memmel
Chellsie Memmel
Chellsie Marie Memmel is an American gymnast. She is the 2005 World All-Around Champion, making her the third American woman, after Kim Zmeskal and Shannon Miller, to become World Champion in the All-Around. She is also a World Champion on the uneven bars and as part of the U.S. team...
withdrew from the competition entirely after the team event. This did however give Kelley a chance to replace her in the floor final, where she performed well and placed a respectable seventh.
After the 2006 U.S. National championships, Kelley's level of difficulty on the uneven bars had decreased. That and her problems on beam at the 2006 World Championships made her less valuable to the U.S. team. (Bars and beam were the two events where Kelley had a remarkably high difficulty level or Start Value (the A Score as it became known in 2006. Kelley's beam routine contained, for example, some of the hardest acrobatic manuveurs, a standing tucked full and a standing Arabian). Kelley nevertheless was selected to compete at the 2007 American Cup where she missed bars but hit beam. The 2007 U.S. Nationals effectively marked the end of Kelley's elite career. At those nationals, she was recovering from several injuries, including a twisted ankle and a tweaked elbow. There, she was penalized harshly for her form errors and placed too low to be seriously considered for the World Championship team.
Within months of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Kelley announced that she had retired from elite gymnastics and would focus on an upcoming collegiate gymnastics career.