Carol Johnston, was born in 1956, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She started out as an ice skater then, she began doing gymnastics to strengthen her legs for figure skating, and fell in love with it. Starting at the age of 12 she put her heart and soul into gymnastics. 1n 1979 Carol competed in the Canada winter games, then in 1976 she competed in the Junior Olympics in Montreal, and also at the Hawaii Invitations.
Shortly thereafter, she enrolled at Cal-State Fullerton for college. "I thought I could improve as a gymnast at Fullerton," Carol said. "I also thought it would be
good for me to be out on my own." In her freshman season she became the conference beam champion. In her sophomore year she won beam and placed third in floor exercise at
her school's conference championships. She and her teammates traveled
to Seattle, Washington for the NCAA Championships. Placing second on
beam and floor, she earned All-American honors. Determined to win gold at the 1979 NCAAs, Carol trained her
hardest that season. Fate took a sad turn however, and she tore her
right ACL while warming up for a UCLA vs California State meet. The injury was
devastating, but provided Carol with insight, "Now
I really know what handicapped is" With her leg in a cast, she plowed ahead with conditioning. she was determined to be back as soon as possible. "I have a chance at a title, and I just have
to do it," she explained. "That's my goal." Carol did come back, but soon after she landed low on a tumbling pass, reinjuring her knee. Doctors repaired it, cautioning her that if she landed on it wrong again she may never walk again. Carol headed the advice and quit competitive gymnastics. "Having one arm was never a limitation, but my knee
was," Carol explaned. The move was hard for Carol, but by continuing to coach gymnastics to young children she was able to remain in the sport.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Carol Johnston: The One Armed Gymnast
Carol Johnston, was born in 1956, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She started out as an ice skater then, she began doing gymnastics to strengthen her legs for figure skating, and fell in love with it. Starting at the age of 12 she put her heart and soul into gymnastics. 1n 1979 Carol competed in the Canada winter games, then in 1976 she competed in the Junior Olympics in Montreal, and also at the Hawaii Invitations.
Shortly thereafter, she enrolled at Cal-State Fullerton for college. "I thought I could improve as a gymnast at Fullerton," Carol said. "I also thought it would be
good for me to be out on my own." In her freshman season she became the conference beam champion. In her sophomore year she won beam and placed third in floor exercise at
her school's conference championships. She and her teammates traveled
to Seattle, Washington for the NCAA Championships. Placing second on
beam and floor, she earned All-American honors. Determined to win gold at the 1979 NCAAs, Carol trained her
hardest that season. Fate took a sad turn however, and she tore her
right ACL while warming up for a UCLA vs California State meet. The injury was
devastating, but provided Carol with insight, "Now
I really know what handicapped is" With her leg in a cast, she plowed ahead with conditioning. she was determined to be back as soon as possible. "I have a chance at a title, and I just have
to do it," she explained. "That's my goal." Carol did come back, but soon after she landed low on a tumbling pass, reinjuring her knee. Doctors repaired it, cautioning her that if she landed on it wrong again she may never walk again. Carol headed the advice and quit competitive gymnastics. "Having one arm was never a limitation, but my knee
was," Carol explaned. The move was hard for Carol, but by continuing to coach gymnastics to young children she was able to remain in the sport.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Olympic History
Olympic History
Gymnastics
is one of the only sports to have appeared at every modern Olympic
games since the first competition in 1896. Men's artistic gymnastics was
the first to appear, followed by the women's artistic events in 1928.
According to the British Olympic Association, the first games involved
athletes from five countries competing on six apparatus, including the
horizontal bar, parallel bars, pommel horse, rings, vault, and rope
climbing. Despite the fact that it was not until the late 1950s that the competition
structure in place today was evident. Rhythmic gymnastics, an elegant
discipline using hand-held apparatus, was first included in the 1984 LA Games, and the most recent Olympic gymnastics discipline is trampolining, which appeared at the Sydney Games in 2000.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
You Might be a Gymnast if...
*You might be a gymnast if...*You sit in the splits no matter where you are.
*You own more leotards than regular clothes.
*You always do handstands in the pool.
*You are on your hands more than your feet.
*The first thing you do in the morning is stretch.
*You hear a good song and instantly start choreographing a routine.
*Aerial is not a mermaid.
*Practice makes perfect isn't just a saying, but a way of life.
*You can stick it without using glue.
*You do pirouettes while waiting in line.
*You promise to never stop gymnastics.... like an energizer bunny that just keeps going.
~Katie
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