Ever since Amy Chow stood on the medal podium–twice–at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, I became interested in women’s artistic gymnastics, more or less depending on what year it was, who the stars were, and how much coverage it got on NBC.
The one, the only: Amy Chow
Amy became my favorite gymnast–how could she not; she was basically singled out by the Asian-American community as a role model for Asian-American girls, myself included–and I cheered loudly for her despite her stumbles and falls at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. However, to my regret, I stopped following USA Gymnastics’ post-Sydney, losing interest once Amy retired from the sport (she was ineligible for NCAA competition). As a result, I missed out on the USA’s re-building phase, which produced the American stars of the last quadrennium, including Carly Patterson, Courtney Kupets, and Terin Humphrey.
Since then, I have been following gymnastics more closely, and I intend to continue to do so, up till the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. I am looking, just as the rest of the gymnastics world is, at who will be the next USA heroine, in the path that Mary Lou Retton, Shannon Miller, Kerri Strug, and Carly have gone before. But I am also secretly looking for the successor to Amy Chow. In everything except ethnicity, Terin was Amy’s successor, both in character and the silver medal in the uneven bars…but, I ask, who will be the next Asian-American Olympic female gymnast?
We will see. Until then, here shall be my thoughts.
