Memmel still pulls for U.S.

Even though she didn't get a chance to qualify for the team, Chellsie Memmel still will root for the U.S. gymnasts.

July 27, 2012 at 5:26AM
U.S. gymnast Alicia Sacramone was embraced by Chellsie Memmel (right) during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
U.S. gymnast Alicia Sacramone was embraced by Chellsie Memmel (right) during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. (Brian Wicker — ASSOCIATED PRESS/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Chellsie Memmel, among the most accomplished gymnasts in U.S. history, sat in a Twin Cities restaurant earlier this week answering questions about the sport she loves. But while the Olympics officially start Friday night with the Opening Ceremony, Memmel was talking not about London. Instead, she talked about moving on.

The Wisconsin native was here as part of a promotional blitz in advance of the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions coming to Target Center on Oct. 11.

That tour will make 40 stops, with Memmel performing in the vast majority of them. They are enjoyable events for performers and fans alike, but there is a distinct difference between what she is gearing up to do now and what she was recently attempting to do.

After a batch of injuries, she was training for a spot in the London Games, but USA Gymnastics did not select her to compete in the Visa Championships last month, which serve as a prelude to the Olympic trials.

"The harder transition is deciding that, OK, you are done with competitive gymnastics and what's next?" Memmel said. "It was [hard] to watch the US championships and Olympic trials and not be a part of it."

But Memmel, 24, sounds as though she has made peace with the transition and will be pulling hard for the U.S. women's team to bring home an Olympic gold medal -- something it has done as a team only once, in 1996. Memmel was part of the silver medal-winning team in Beijing in 2008. She was also a world all-around champion in 2005.

"The Olympics are every four years, and I'm really excited and really happy for the team we have. I really hope they do well," Memmel said. "They have a really good shot [at gold]. But it only comes down to that one day. Practice doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how they do in prelims. It's all finals. One day."

That said, this year's games certainly mark the passing of time. Memmel took up knitting around the time of the Beijing Olympics. She added crocheting to her repertoire and now finds that many of her projects as the London Games approach involve the newborn babies of friends. It's all part of the transition, and all part of the plan.

"I'm done with competitive gymnastics," Memmel said. "I'm committed to doing the tour, and then I'd like to go to school once the tour is over."

MICHAEL RAND

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