They haven't done it since the ‘Magnificent Seven’ back in 1996, and now, after Tuesday’s team finals - the USA Women's Gymnastics team is bringing home the Olympic gold.The ‘Fab Five' is not only encouraging local athletes, but also boosting enrollment at local gyms.
“It inspires me to work harder and know that I can, if I try hard, be in the Olympics someday,” said Level 8 gymnast Haley Condo of Saratoga.
The Olympic buzz making the gymnasts at World Class Gymnastics in Latham run harder, jump higher, flip faster, and get right back up when they fall.
“It just makes us want to work harder and be like them, and it makes us want to work that extra mile,” said Level 8 gymnast Katie Cox of Rexford.
The gold medal hype was so exciting for the athletes at World Class Gymnastics they took a couple minutes out of their Wednesday evening practice to pose for pictures in the formation of those Olympic rings.
For the gym’s owner, Erik Quaal, that same excitement started a long time ago.
“We actually opened up a second facility just in preparation for how many people would be interested in gymnastics,” Quaal told us.
He says during the 2008 Summer Olympics, he had a waiting list for enrollment.
So, in July he and his team opened another gym in Clifton Park.
“There’s no better time to be a gymnast, all of a sudden it’s big news, gymnastics, once every four years, but we're here all the time,” Quaal said laughing.
Enrollment at his gyms has nearly doubled since last summer.
Quaal says the Olympics have brought a newfound energy into the gym - the kids are inspired and eager to try new things.
“It makes us want to represent them and do even what they did and maybe even a little better,” Cox said.
All of the gymnasts say they have their sights set on being in the Olympics.
Quaal says three of his athletes received full collegiate scholarships last spring.
Now, the rest of the gymnasts need to focus on the upcoming competition season that starts in November.
To learn more about World Class Gymnastics, CLICK HERE.
