Chellsie Memmel Training for 2013 World Championships

Chellsie Memmel Training for 2013 World Championships

Aug 1, 2013 by Jennifer Teitell
Chellsie Memmel Training for 2013 World Championships


2008 Olympic silver medalist and 2006 World All Around Champion, Chellsie Memmel is coming out of retirement to make the 2013 World Championship Team. This time around, Memmel will compete in power tumbling. This is exciting news for Memmel fans who were disappointed when her career ended last year at the 2012 U.S. Classic. We last saw Memmel at the 2013 Pro Gymnastics Challenge where her tumbling skills helped Team USA defeat Team World. 

Get ready for another Memmel comeback! 

Memmel left the following facebook message for her fans:

I'm so excited to finally announce that I'm officially back in the gym training with the goal of being able to join the Senior Elite U.S. T&T Team to compete for Team USA & USA Gymnastics in power tumbling!!

My ultimate goal is to qualify to be named to the USA Gymnastics Senior Elite Trampoline and Tumbling Team and be able to compete at the World Cup and World Championships this fall. Shocked? Yea, so am I! I never imagined that at 25 years old I'd be working towards making another World team, much less on the Tumbling side of gymnastics, but I am and it feels great to be doing it!

I've been a gymnast my entire life. I literally bounced into my parents' gym as a toddler, fell in love with the sport & never looked back. I did my first back handspring down a Tumbl Trak when I was 3 and a half, first back tuck on the floor at 5, & my first full about 6, and have loved it every day since I could walk. (watch the video!) Quite simply, I love to tumble..and I still can!

This opportunity to try my skills as an elite power tumbling gymnast was presented to me out of left field. Competing in tumbling for USAG T&T truly never occurred to me before. Honestly, I didn't even know very much about it, at all. But here I am, and I'm giving it my best shot!

On May 22nd I received a random text message from tumbling gymnastics coach Justen Millerbernd that asked me if I had a rod floor in my gym (M&M Gymnastics). I said we didn't. He then asked if it was a rod floor that we tumbled on at Pro Gym Challenge. I said it was. "OK...Was hoping you had one. And hoping you wanted to compete tumbling!! Wishful thinking!!" he said.

My answer to Justin right away was, “that might be fun and tumbling is one of my favorite things to do.” But, I wasn't sure. I retired from artistic gymnastics in November and thought that was the end of my competitive career. And I am completely at peace and confident with that decision; I have absolutely no regrets. It was amazing and I am very proud of everything I've accomplished...but this got me thinking.

So I casually mentioned something to my dad about tumbling (who has been my coach since I was 15), and he immediately said, "You should!"

Justen had planted a seed in my head. I thought about it a lot over the next couple of days. I thought about how much fun I have tumbling and wondered if I really could do it and compete at the top levels of the sport again. It's not a little decision. I'm 25, I have an Olympic medal, 6 World medals, All-Around World Champion title, and I have had incredible experiences and opportunities beyond what most can dream of for which I am so thankful. But this would be completely different.

The first people I told about the idea were my parents, who both said, "Great!" My parents (and sisters) have supported me and been there for me every minute of every day of my life, no matter what decisions I make, they are always on my team. One problem- we didn't have a rod floor in our gym.

Then I told my fiancé, Kory. Training as an elite athlete (and everything that comes with the territory) is a big commitment. Not only the time, discipline and sacrifices of training (and everything that comes with the territory), but if I do make this team, it would mean traveling around the world competing again and being away from home. Kory was a little more hesitant when I first told him about tumbling. He was (and is) most worried about me possibly getting injured, though I really feel great and strong, but Kory is amazing and will always support anything I really want to do. We talked it over and he is totally supportive; he wants me to do what makes me happy. It was definitely a big consideration. I'm not the only one I have to think about anymore.

Justen and Kalon Ludvigson (8x U.S. Tumbling Champ & World medalist) happened to be coming to Milwaukee that weekend and stopped by to talk in person and see if we would even have space in the gym. My mom and dad were totally on board, but the biggest issue would be getting a rod floor. It was going to require some work and a little renovation at the gym, but my parents were willing to do it if I was really serious about giving this a try.

May 28th was my first day trying simple passes on a rod floor. My dad and I went to a gym about an hour away and I kind of didn't know what to expect. It went pretty well! I mainly stuck to doing passes of whips, did a few double layouts (my favorite) and tried some full whips. One of the biggest differences between artistic and formal power tumbling is the number of skills in a pass. The most I've done is five, and a pass in tumbling is eight. After my full set of whips I was dizzy and walked a little crooked. I texted Justen and he said it would go away quickly haha. I walked out and knew this could be a real possibility. I also knew if I wanted to do this, I was going to have to get moving, fast!

That night I called my agent and I'm pretty sure her jaw hit the floor. But after about 30 seconds of silence, followed by an emphatic "Oy!!" a little laughter and a deep breath, they couldn't be more supportive. She asked simply, "Why?" And I said, "Why not?" So we both laughed and I said, “because it's a new challenge for me and I really think I can." Another "Oy" and laugh later she said, "Good answer. Well ok then, go for it!!"

We all decided it was best to keep this very quiet for the time being, and we began to lay out a game plan of how this would unfold from all the different sides. Under Justen's guidance, I went for it and have been trying bits and pieces and sending him training videos. My parents began to figure out how we could get a rod floor and do a little renovation to M&M Gymnastics to fit it in as soon as possible.

I traveled a lot in June- went to a few summer camps, judged at “The Ranch” and spoke at GymCon. I didn't get a lot of practice time on a rod floor. I did however tumble on our air floor into the pit whenever I was home. My double layouts have been getting easier and the easier the more I do. I can pop out eight solid ones in a row, where the max I would do before is three or four. I started doing full-ins again; it had been about 7 years since I had competed those! I started twisting my double layouts as well, working on getting over my fear with that, and kept going from there.

July 7-12 I was at Official Flip Fest Summer Camp Page and was able to get on their floor to tumble some. I worked on my double layouts and landing on the floor. Eventually I need to be able to whip out of it. I tried the roundoff immediate double layouts into the pit. Worked on my whips getting them consistent. Twisted some double layouts into the pit. Did roundoff three whips into a double tuck (six skills, almost there!). I kind of let the cat out of the bag a bit but I knew no one would discuss it out loud before I was ready to. I have a picture of my goal up on the Goal Wall at Flip Fest: “Compete at a World Championships for power tumbling!!”

Making that call to USAG on July 18th to tell them that I was ready to come back as an athlete and wanted to compete on the T&T tumbling side was totally nerve racking! Maybe a little shocked but very supportive of my endeavor.

We had our new rod floor in the gym and started to put it together piece by piece but it just needed to be installed. I went down to International Gymnastics Camp for a few days, then to judge at the Secret US Classic- the girls were awesome, there’s a lot of talented gymnasts coming up!!
While I was there my dad, Kory, and some coaches moved our spring floor about 15 inches this past weekend (7/28) so we can accommodate the new rod floor. It was so close to being able to install it and I helped paint the new side of the gym when I got back. I pressed the "send" button on my formal letter of request to the USAG T&T Board while sitting in my hotel room at U.S. Secret Classic with total butterflies in my stomach. Now it's really official and it's really real. I'm back in action.


(c) Scott & Emer Hults
Tuesday night (7/30) my dad sent me a picture and that's when I got really excited, it's finally ready. I ran over to the gym a few hours later and couldn't wait to test it out...and it is awesome!! I posted the video of me doing my first few moves on the floor. 

So here I am, back in the gym as an athlete. My goal is to qualify to be named to the USA Gymnastics Senior Elite Trampoline and Tumbling Team and be able to compete at the World Cup and World Championships which are in October and November…which means that I really only have 3 months to make this happen.

There are NO guarantees or promises that I will make this team when the decision is made in September. I understand that. As there should be, there is a qualification and evaluation process by the USAG T&T Board who will determine my eligibility to be able to be named to the US Sr. Elite Team. The camp and competition season begins this fall (yes, within a few weeks from my wedding). I will be evaluated fair and square, and there are no guarantees. 

The only absolutely guarantee is that I am giving this my all, and that I will train with the same fierce determination, dedication, effort, passion and enthusiasm that I always have in order to try to make this happen. It's who I am- once I set my mind to something, there's no stopping me.  I've competed for my country since I was about 14 years old as an artistic gymnast. There is no greater honor or feeling than competing for my country on the world's stage. 

Throughout my entire career, the support of my family, friends, community, teammates, fans and country has meant more to me than I could ever put into words and I am so thankful for that. I couldn't have done it without you. It's so important to have a solid team behind me and I'm lucky to have that!! 

I'm lucky enough to have had an amazing career as an athlete and being able to compete at World Championships in tumbling would be the icing on the cake. It's my new goal and I am absolutely determined to get there. It is definitely a very, very different experience but I'm really looking forward to it.

I love a challenge and this is certainly a new challenge for me to conquer! Trampoline and Tumbling is an amazing discipline with some very talented athletes that doesn't always get as much exposure and credit as it should. Hopefully I can help bring a little more attention to it in the process as well. 

Most importantly, I would like to share this exciting new journey and challenge I have embarked on with the wonderful world of gymnastics- the sport that I have dedicated my life to- and the community that has supported me throughout. If I am able to successfully do this, it will be a largely unprecedented feat that I hope will be able to inspire others to do the same- not only within the gymnastics realm but beyond that reach. Go for your goals, whatever they may be, and reach for the stars. Many traditional 25 year old female gymnasts can still tumble and be elite athletes. They may be able to extend their careers beyond the artistic arena and continue to utilize that talent to further represent their country and continue to strengthen the USA Gymnastics program. If I can still do this, then why not go for it with everything I have in me? My entire life that’s what I’ve done as an athlete and an individual, and that hasn’t changed.

This is a whole new adventure and new journey which I am excited to take! I feel great about this, physically and mentally, and am ready to take on the challenge. This time around I'm doing things a little differently. I'm a little bit older, a little bit wiser (maybe  ) and have the opportunity to share this journey with everyone in so many different ways. Through this whole process of coming back to competitive gymnastics, I'm going to keep everything up to date with the latest updates, pictures, videos and insight.

I've always believed that things happen for a reason, whatever that may be, and this is an amazing opportunity to continue to do what I love and a chance to potentially compete for Team USA again. So somewhere between judging, summer camps, looking at colleges, wedding planning, getting married in a few weeks, I'll also be training to work my way up to elite status and trying to make the U.S. Sr. Elite Tumbling Team. This is a totally new adventure for me. I know it's not going to be easy, but like everything else, I am completely dedicated to working as hard as ever. Gymnastics is my biggest passion in life and as long as I can do it, hey, why not!?

So, I’m officially saying that I am back in the gym and training to compete in power tumbling. No bars, no beam, no vault, no choreography. Just straight up solid intense tumbling against some of the best and most skilled athletes in the world. I have my work cut out for me, but I'm determined to make it happen.
--

Related: 
Watch Chellsie Memmel Videos
View Chellsie Memmel Photos

Related Content