U.S. women’s gymnastics team an inspiration for young gymnasts

PARIS — Tuesday was a very successful day for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team. They won gold in the final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, completing their “redemption tour” after taking second place in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Rebecca Cressman is the announcer for the Utah Red Rocks gymnastics team and a host at KSFI FM 100.3. The win made her think of all the young aspiring gymnasts she has seen at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

“When I announced for the Red Rocks, the Huntsman Center was already full of thousands of little girls from gymnastics clubs that are from across the Wasatch Front. They’re watching and getting inspired by the best of collegiate athletes,” she said.

Cressman says we can learn a lot from Team USA’s big win. The path to earning that gold medal wasn’t always smooth. There were challenges along the way that they had to overcome.

“What Team USA did yesterday was show millions of little girls that they can become champions, too… It takes perseverance and grit and getting back onto that balance beam when you fall off again.

“I just love that it shows them that true champions overcome and work hard to make their dreams come true,” she said.

Several Red Rock gymnasts did see Olympic dreams come true, by contributing to the U.S. women’s gymnastics team. Grace McCallum and MyKayla Skinner competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and helped the team win the silver medal. 

Related:

• Three Utah runners set to run Olympic marathon course post Olympics
• What is it like to be in the Olympics while also having siblings in the games?
• LISTEN: Red Rocks gymnastics team heads into season