My Tribute To Rebecca Bross

Wohooo. Side rant: If you don't know Rebecca Bross's story, you need to hear it. Becca was an extremely talented junior gymnast. She had immense talent as a youngster but was plagued by inconsistency that haunted her into her senior career as well. That and injuries were ultimately her undoing. Becca was unlucky enough to get stuck with an extremely unlucky birthday. To be eligble to compete in the Olympics, a gymnast must turn sixteen by December 31st of that year. Becca turned 16 in 2009, which meant she would have to survive 31/2 years as a senior gymnast. She would be more susceptible to injury and burn out. What hurts even more is that, if she was age eligble, she had an excellent chance of making the 2008 Olympic team. This age curse seems to haunt WOGA gymnasts. Vanessa Atler, Nastia Liukin, Rebecca Bross, and Katelyn Ohashi all suffered or will suffer from this curse. Becca had a rough 2008. She was out with an ankle injury for most of the year. Her first competition was the qualifier for the 2009 national championships. She only competed bars and didn't compete a dismount as she didn't want to further injure her ankle. At the national championships, she was a bit of a mess. She finished with a bronze in the all around behind Bridgette Sloan and teamate Ivana Hong. At the world championships in the all around, Becca had a great competition up until floor exercise. The all around title was hers to win or lose. She was perfect up until her final tumbling pass and.....she didn't make it. She lost the world title by less than 1/10th of a point. She went on to win a bronze on uneven bars. Becca started 2010 off with a bang winning the 2010 Tyson American Cup over fellow American Aly Raisman. She went on to become the national champion. After her win, she was hailed as the next Olympic All Around Champion. Whispers started about the third Olympic AA Champ from WOGA after Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin. Right before they left for the 2010 World Championships, Becca was diagnosed with several stress fractures in her ankle. She led Team USA to a team silver contributing the highest score to the team total. In the All Around she once again had a good competition up until beam, where she came off on her standing arabian. Never seen her fall on that before. She came back to hit a fantastic floor routine and came away with the bronze. Her score on floor (a 15.233) is the highest score on floor in this quad in an international competition. She went on to win a bronze on the uneven bars and a silver on the balance beam. After worlds she had surgery to repair the fractures in her ankle. She was out for most of 2011 and made her comeback at the 2011 National Championships. Becca was a hot mess Day 1. She came off uneven bars (one of her best events) and fell twice on beam (one was unexpected; the other less so.) Becca was competing one of the most difficult dismounts in the world. She had landed it decently well until her injury. After that she couldn't seem to put it to her feet. That Patterson continued to haunt her. She had a great floor routine and struggled on vault. WOGA also has a tendency to produce weak vaulters. Hollie Vise, Nastia Liukin, Ohashi, and Bross all struggle on vault. Consequently they are all excellent beam and bar workers which really says where Valeri Liukin's expertise lies. Unsurprisingly, Valeri was a weaker vaulter and a strong bars worker. That explains a lot. Becca's vault was servicable but scary. In hindsight, she shouldn't have been competing it. On Night 2, Becca hit bars and floor but sat down her Patterson. She went up on vault as her last event. She was underrotated and still twisting as she hit the mat. Her reaction broke my heart. Becca is one of strongest gymnasts I know. Seeing her cry broke my heart. You could HEAR her kneecap dislocate. It was incredibly sad. She was out for 2 months after having surgery to stabilize her right kneecap. She made a comeback at the 2012 WOGA Classic. She fell on her Khorkina II transition on bars and her Patterson off beam. Becca had decided to ditch the All Around and try and make the Olympic team as a bars/beam specialist. Some part of me knew it wasn't going to work even back then but I wanted her to make the Olympic team soooooo badly. She earned it. She was named to the Jesolo team. She came off bars but nailed the shit out of her Patterson She cowboyed it, landed with her face at her knees, and her feet a mile apart but she STUCK IT! YAY! Becca hit bars at Classics but sat down her Patterson. At the National Championships Becca hit bars both days but sat down her Patterson both days. She petitioned into Olympic Trials but sat down her Patterson. She hit bars. On Day 2, she fell apart on bars. She came back and hit a solid beam routine. She is now 18 almost 19 years old. I believe that Becca will retire now. That breaks my heart. I wanted Becca to make an Olympic team. That was her goal in life. I just don't think that her body will hold up any more. I want to cry because I don't want Becca to go out the way she did. I want to see her continue and fulfill her lifelong dream. She became one of my favorite gymnasts. Her 2010 World Championships AA Floor Exercise is my highlight of that Worlds. I don't want her to leave the sport with that 10.50 on bars. However I think it is inevitable. I loved Becca's gymnastics. She was tough as nails and she was a fighter while supporting and loving everyone else. After Olympic Trials Becca left a good luck note for her roomate Mckayla Maroney. I can't imagine how much strength that took. Her roomate had made the Olympics but she hadn't. But somehow she stayed strong and wished her teamate the best of luck. I can respect that. I love you Becca and hope that your life is all you've ever wanted. I hope you can earn back all the smiles, tears, and frustration you gave your fans. Go wherever your life will take you and know that your fans will always love you. Side rant ended. We drove. And drove. And drove. I think you get the point. Now to cap this off with something positive. If you want to watch something beautiful go watch Anna Pavlova's 2008 Olympic AA Floor Exercise. No words can describe how beautiful that is. My highlight of the quad.