Courtney McCool
Encyclopedia
Courtney Lynn McCool (born April 1, 1988 in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

) is an American gymnast, who was a team member in the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

 women's artistic gymnastic team. Although she didn't compete in the team finals, she helped the team place second, earning the silver medal behind Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. Featured among Inside Gymnastics Magazine's "50 Most Photogenic Gymnasts of 2005," Courtney is known for combining beautiful technique with explosive power.

McCool was coached by Al and Armine Fong of Great American Gymnastic Express in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

. She was the runner-up at 2003's Junior US Championships, and vaulted her way to a silver medal at the 2003 Pan American Games. At sixteen years old and in her first year as a senior gymnast, McCool was the runner-up at March's American Cup
American Cup (gymnastics)
The American Cup, is an elite senior level international gymnastics competition held in the United States, and is generally considered to be one of the first major competitions of the Gymnastics season, as it is held in March or February of each year. In 1978-79 the event was sponsored by Dial and...

 and the all-around champion at the Olympic Test Event in Athens where she was the only gymnast to qualify for all four event finals, winning the silver on vault and bronze on bars. In 2004 McCool placed fourth in the all-around at the US National Championships and second all-around at the US Olympic Trials, all but guaranteeing her a spot on the Olympic Team.

Skills

Courtney's front handspring beam mount is known as the "McCool." It is defined by USAG as a, "Flyspring forward with flight before and after hand support on Beam, landing on both feet - approach at end of beam."It has been given a D value.
  • VAULT: 1½ twisting Yurchenko
    • Start Value: 9.7
    • High Score: 2004 American Cup

  • FLOOR: Popa + tuck jump 2/1 , roundoff + ff + 2½ + front 1/1 , double turn with leg above horizontal + wolf jump 1 , switch ring leap + Gogean , triple full , front double twist + front layout.
    • Start Value: 10.0
    • High Score: 2004 American Cup

  • BALANCE BEAM: The "McCool", front aerial + ff stepout + layout stepout + layout stepout, switch leap + Onodi, sheep jump, wolf jump 1/1, switch side leap, full turn with leg above horizontal + Popa, roundoff + triple twist dismount.
    • Start Value: 10.0
    • High Score: 2004 US Women's Gymnastics Olympic Trials

  • UNEVEN BARS: Kip, cast handstand, stalder shoot, kip, cast handstand, underswing to blind turn, Khorkina, kip, cast handstand, Gienger
    Gienger
    The Gienger is a gymnastics skill performed on the uneven bars for women and the high bar for men. It is named after German gymnast Eberhard Gienger. The release move looks like a half-turn layout "flyaway" above the bar....

     kip, cast handstand 1/2, giant 3/2 (Dawes), Tkatchev, kip, cast handstand, giant 1/1, shootover to handstand, underswing shoot to high bar, kip, cast handstand, giant, giant, and double layout dismount.
    • Start Value: 9.9
    • High Score: 2004 US Nationals, Finals

Post Olympics Controversy

After the Olympics Courtney joined the TJ Maxx Tour of Olympic Champions. However, after finding out that the tour would not be stopping in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, McCool requested permission to join The Rock 'N Roll Gymnastics Challenge, a rival tour, to perform in Kansas City. TJ Maxx tour officials later claimed that they had never given McCool permission to join the other tour and asked her to leave the TJ Maxx tour. She then joined the rival tour, Rock 'N Roll Gymnastics Tour. She was not the only member of the Olympic team to do so, as Paul Hamm
Paul Hamm
Paul Elbert Hamm is an American artistic gymnast. He is a World Champion gymnast and three-time Olympic medalist. He won the all-around competition at the 2004 Olympic Games.-Career:...

 and Morgan Hamm
Morgan Hamm
Morgan Carl Hamm is an American artistic gymnast. He represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics and at the 2004 Summer Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he won the silver medal in the team competition. He was a member of the silver-medal winning team at the 2003 World Artistic...

 both participated. World champions 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 Hollie Vise
Hollie Vise
Hollie Diane Vise is an American female gymnast. A two-time World Champion, Vise is currently attending the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma.-Early career:...

 were also involved. After McCool left, the TJ Maxx tour decided to add a Kansas City, Missouri show to their tour dates. Bob Colarossi (CEO USA Gymnastics) issued a statement criticizing McCool for her actions. Weeks later, in January 2005, Colorassi resigned as CEO and was subsequently replaced by the current USAG President Steve Penny.

After Athens, it emerged that McCool had been suffering from Kienbock's disease
Kienbock's disease
Kienbock's disease is a disorder of the wrist. It is named for Dr. Robert Kienböck, a radiologist in Vienna, Austria who described osteomalacia of the lunate in 1910....

, a wrist condition, that would prevent her from performing in any post-Olympic gymnastics exhibitions and required surgery. This had not been public knowledge prior to the Olympics, but it is still unclear how much the US team selectors knew about the problem when then injured Courtney beat out Carly Patterson
Carly Patterson
Carly Rae Patterson is an American singer and former gymnast. She is the 2004 Olympic All-Around Champion and a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame...

 for second place in the all-around score behind Courtney Kupets
Courtney Kupets
Courtney Anne Kupets is an American gymnast. She is best known for her 2003 and 2004 all-around national championships ; her membership on the 2002 and 2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and 2004 Olympic teams; and her individual bronze medal on the uneven bars at the 2004...

 at the 2004 U.S. Olympic trials. McCool's surgery for the painful condition prevented her from training properly for two years thereafter. Despite this, she earned a full scholarship to the 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...

, then the reigning NCAA champions. She began her freshman year in 2006, and has competed for the team on beam and floor throughout the 2006-7 season.

NCAA Success

In her UGA freshman season, McCool demonstrated steady progress with her wrist rehab and rapidly increasing maturity as a team athlete. In the midst of a devastating last-minute season ending injury to Ashley Kupets in warm ups and a dismal team showing on beam at the 2007 NCAA Gymnastics Championships in Salt Lake City, UT, McCool scored an event high score of 9.95 on beam, solidifying the UGA Gym Dogs' lead on the way to their record setting third straight national title. In the 2008 NCAA Gymanstics Championships in Athens, GA, McCool won the NCAA title on the floor event, and contributed to the Gym Dog's overall title.

Video Interviews


External links

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