Maddy Elmore, a 9-year-old level-8 gymnast, has built her attitude towards gymnastics around this motto. She is a true competitor, challenging and often placing above older gymnasts. Ultimately, Maddy would love to bring home an Olympic Gold medal just like her favorite gymnast, Gabby Douglas. For now, she has her sights set on moving up to level 9 and earning the gold at her next meet. Maddy loves the vault and uneven bars the most, although she performs beautifully in all her events. She’s worked very hard on beam recently, mastering a connection of back handspring-back handspring. That has been her hardest skill to learn so far.
Maddy spends 5 days each week in the gym, driving (with her parents Howard and Crystal) from Brunswick in order to train at Starlight Gymnastics in Jacksonville. She has fallen in love with the gym and the coaches, Vessy Ivanov and Cheri Gillikin, who give her the support and guidance to help her reach her ultimate potential. That makes the nearly 15 hours each week in the car worth it. Maddy hasn’t always traveled so far for gymnastics, but her parents knew she needed a change in December 2013 just after she finished her level 5 season at her previous gym in Brunswick. Their advice for other parents of hard-working, talented athletes like Maddy is to keep an open dialogue and really listen to your child(ren). Everyone will have a bad day or bad practice now and then, but it’s the parents’ job to recognize when those bad days and bad practices become signs that a change is needed. Maddy has some advice, too! To other girls (and boys!) who are interested in gymnastic, she says, “Go for it!” It will take lots of hard work, dedication, time, and energy, but it will teach you to be responsible. Most things in life that are worth having are worth working hard to have. The bigger your goals, the bigger your work ethic has to be. There’s not a much bigger goal than Olympic Gold!
If she hopes to win big someday, she is on the right track! Her first meet with Starlight Gymnastics took place at the Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas. At that meet, where she competed at level 7, she placed 1st in vault (score of 9.350), 1st on uneven bars (score of 9.7), 5th on beam (score of 8.8), 1st on floor (score of 9.550), and 2nd all around (score of 37.4).
Immediately after that meet, she began training for level 8. Two weeks after the start of her level 8 training, she started competing at that level. She has gone to competitions 2-3 weekends each month of this year so far. She’s competed in Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Worth (Texas), Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, and Savannah.
Maddy spends a good bit of her time in the gym, but she also remembers to be a kid and enjoy her time off. When she’s not tackling multiple back handsprings on a 4-inch-wide beam and doing giants around the uneven bars, she enjoys going to the beach, playing volleyball, drawing, and playing with her dogs. Her family is also very much into football. Her big brother plays varsity football in Charlton County, her dad is a former college football player, and her uncle played for UGA and the Seattle Seahawks. Her family is familiar with the amount of dedication it takes to perform at a higher level. Maddy is not backing down from her family’s legacy of star athletes! Howard and Crystal Elmore have a lot to be proud of in their daughter Maddy, and this mature young lady has a lot to be proud of in herself!
Rising Star / NEFL / June 2015
Maddy Elmore
Jacksonville, Florida
by Amanda Callender
