Danell Leyva
Encyclopedia
Danell Leyva is a Cuban-American gymnast
. He is the 2011 U.S national all-around gold medalist and the 2011 world champion on the parallel bars.
In 2010, he was the U.S. gold medalist on the parallel bars and the all-around silver medalist. In 2009, he became the youngest member of the U.S. national Senior team at age 17, and won the gold medal on the horizontal bar
and the silver medal on the parallel bars. Not only a good all-arounder, he's a high bar specialist with a signature move (jam-dislocate-hop to undergrips) and is also famous for the theatrics of his coach/stepfather during his routines.
In 2008, at the Junior National Championships, Leyva won the all-around, high bar, parallel bars, and pommel horse titles. Leyva was also the High Bar champion at the 2008 Pan American Championships in Argentina
.
His stepfather and coach, Yin Alvarez and mother, Maria Gonzalez, were both members of Cuba's national gymnastics team. Gonzalez and Leyva defected
to Miami when Leyva was a year old.
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...
. He is the 2011 U.S national all-around gold medalist and the 2011 world champion on the parallel bars.
In 2010, he was the U.S. gold medalist on the parallel bars and the all-around silver medalist. In 2009, he became the youngest member of the U.S. national Senior team at age 17, and won the gold medal on the horizontal bar
Horizontal bar
The high bar, also known as the horizontal bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in Artistic Gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a system of cables and stiff vertical supports. Gymnasts typically wear leather...
and the silver medal on the parallel bars. Not only a good all-arounder, he's a high bar specialist with a signature move (jam-dislocate-hop to undergrips) and is also famous for the theatrics of his coach/stepfather during his routines.
In 2008, at the Junior National Championships, Leyva won the all-around, high bar, parallel bars, and pommel horse titles. Leyva was also the High Bar champion at the 2008 Pan American Championships in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
His stepfather and coach, Yin Alvarez and mother, Maria Gonzalez, were both members of Cuba's national gymnastics team. Gonzalez and Leyva defected
Defection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
to Miami when Leyva was a year old.
External links
- Associated Press Archive, U.S. Gymnastic Championship Results, August 16, 2007
- The Miami Herald, LOCAL GYMNASTS WIN 11 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS; July 12, 1998.
- Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA), GYMNASTICS, August 15, 2009
- The Miami Herald, INTERNATIONAL GYMNASTS KEEP EYES ON THE PRIZE, November 8, 2007.
- The Boston Globe; Chicago never had a Chance by John Powers; October 13, 2009
- http://www.peru.com/deportes/noticias/AutoNoticias/DetalleNoticia19520.asp Estadounidense brilla en Panamericana de Gimnasia; November 26, 2004.
- El Periódico (Guatemala); Estadounidense Dominan by Juan Meono, November 24, 2007.