Biography of Carly Patterson

Pre-Olympic career

In 2000, Patterson participated in the Top Gym Tournament in Belgium; she won the silver medal in all-around and the bronze medal for balance beam, which she has said is her favorite event. At the 2001 American Team Cup, she first performed her signature beam dismount, an Arabian double front.

At the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia, she was ranked second in the all-around before the final rotation. She was suffering from a stomach illness, however, and she missed three landings on the floor exercise and finished seventh overall.

Patterson was named the U.S. Junior National All-Around champion in 2002. She had previously received fourth place in 2000 and third place in 2001. At the 2003 World Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim, California, she earned the all-around silver medal—the first time an American woman had won an all-around medal at that contest since 1994. She also helped her team to earn the team gold medal.

In 2004, she tied with Courtney Kupets to become a co-champion in the all-around event at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.

2004 Summer Olympics

During the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Patterson won a gold medal in the Women's Individual All-Around, an achievement that had only been attained by one other American gymnast, Mary Lou Retton, during the Soviet Union-boycotted 1984 Summer Olympics. In addition, she won a silver medal in the Women's Team competition.

On August 23, she competed in the finals for the beam event where she received a score of 9.775 and won the silver medal.

To 2004 Olympic Games she was prepared by her two Russian coaches: the famous Soviet acrobat Evgeny Marchenko, who immigrated to the United States from Latvia after the Collapse of the Soviet Union, and Natalya Boyarskaya.

After Athens
Carly Patterson has made numerous guest appearances and has done the talk show circuit since winning gold. For the time being, she's returned to an almost-normal life in Allen, TX. It is not yet known whether she plans to participate in the 2008 Olympic Games; as her coach said in a recent TV interview, "It's hard to top an All-Around Gold." Carly has stayed busy showing up at certain events, Gymnastics related and otherwise. She has also been busy dealing with her sponsors: Wheaties, Tyson Chicken, Visa, and the American Dental Association. She also has finished her authorized biography which will be released on November 30, 2005.