Carly R. Patterson

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “what lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.” Carly Patterson has true power in herself. She never takes what happens the wrong way. She takes it as a test of her endurance. If she ever messed up, she would put it behind her. When she heard about an upcoming competition, she worked as hard as she could. But if she did well in a competition, she never let it get to her head. When she excelled, her victories were not taken for granted. However, the times that she messed up were because she knew she could do better next time, and she could learn from her mistakes.

February 4th, 1988, was the day that a sports legend was born. Ricky and Natalie Patterson gave birth to a beautiful baby girl which they named Carly Rae Patterson. She was born in Louisiana, where she first discovered her love for gymnastics. Her best friend invited her to a birthday party that was being held at a gymnasium. The older gymnasts were practicing their routines in the same gym. That was the first inspiration to Carly. She loved the way that they did their back walkovers, so she went home, and practiced until she got it. Her mother was astonished at her natural talent, so she signed her up for gymnastics classes.

Carly waiting for her coach

Carly’s official career started when she moved to Allen, Texas. Disappointed at first, because she had to leave her old gymnastics class, she found out soon that Evgeny Marchenko was coaching close to her home; she was ecstatic. Evgeny Marchenko could see that Carly had potential, but she needed to work on the basics, form and presentation. Carly learned quickly, and by the age of seven, she was good enough to compete in the United States junior Olympics. Her best and favorite event was the balance beam. She had a couple of bad injuries, but she was always inspired by her hero, Mary Lou Retton, the 1984 Olympic champion. Mary competed with a seriously injured ankle, and won the gold medal.

Carly strived to do her best in every competition she competed in. She also worked very hard in her classes. So hard, that by the age of twelve years old, she was one of the top gymnasts in the country. In her mind, however, she knew she could do better, so she practiced 6 hours a day. At the age of fifteen, all of that hard work paid off big time. It earned her a ranking as one of the top gymnasts in the world, and earned her a spot in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. She trained harder than ever before, and earned the gold medal in the all-around competition, the title of the top gymnast in the world.

Mary Lou Retton

Carly Patterson not only showed inspiration to all of her fans, but she also showed determination. She loved the sport so much, that she was willing to do anything to achieve her goal. Dedication and spirit were shown in her entire life. She stuck with what she did, and she would not let anything get in her way. Rain or shine, she was always on time for practice, and she always did her best. She also showed respect to her coaches and fellow gymnasts. Mary Lou Retton inspired her to be the best that she could be, and she was. She not only tried as hard as she could, but she also inspired everyone to follow their dreams no matter who they were, how likely they were to achieve such a dream, or how many people were behind them. Carly was lucky to have the money and the talent to reach her goal, but she says that no matter what your situation is, you can do anything you want.