EVERETT — Before the gymnastics world focuses attention on the 2012 Olympic Games in London, all eyes will be on Everett.
For three days in mid-March, more than 300 world-class athletes from at least a dozen countries are expected to compete in the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships.
The event is widely hailed as the springboard to the Olympic Games, a precursor to the grueling, cutthroat and breathtaking competition across the Atlantic next summer.
Athletes will compete in all the major gymnastics disciplines including tumbling, trampoline, rhythmic gymnastics, the rings, balance beam, pommel horse and high bar.
Local fans now don’t need to plan trips to England; instead they can witness gymnastics history in the making right here, officials said Tuesday.
“It’s a very exciting time,” Gov. Chris Gregoire said.
The Everett event, the first major gymnastics meet to be held in Washington since the 1990 Goodwill Games took place in and around Seattle, is expected to draw about 25,000 fans.
It also will highlight the very best of the athletes. Who will be crowned the gymnastics king and queen at the London games?
“We’re going to figure that out right here” in Everett, Bela Karolyi said Tuesday during a press conference at Comcast Arena Everett, the event’s venue.
Karolyi is the legendary gymnastics coach with the big moustache and thick accent who, since 1976, has helped Olympians win gold medals.
His career began as a coach in his native Romania where he introduced the darling Nadia Comaneci at the 1976 games in Montreal.
After that, Karolyi, who has dual citizenship, changed allegiances to the United States and has been a part of bringing home gold medals ever since. He helped Mary Lou Retton achieve the best in Los Angeles in 1984, and in 1996 in Atlanta held Kerri Strug in his arms after she competed with a broken ankle.
Today, he and his wife, Marta, help the U.S. gymnastics program.
The Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships are open to athletes from any country that borders the Pacific Ocean, said Steve Penny, USA Gymnastics’ chief executive officer. The big players likely will be Russia, China and the United States.
Held every two years, the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships last were held in Melbourne, Australia.
During the past two summer Olympic Games, the teams that participated in the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships have taken home nearly two-thirds of the gold medals, Penny said.
“This is about as good as it gets for the sport of gymnastics,” he said.
A combination of veteran athletes and juniors will share the stage. Some competitors will be aiming for London; others will have dreams of the Olympics planned for Rio de Janiero, Brazil, in 2016.
Comcast Arena Everett was selected after successfully hosting Skate America in 2008, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon said.
The gymnastics event is expected to generate $2.5 million in tourism during what otherwise is a slow time of year, said Wendy Becker, the county’s economic and cultural development director. The event’s international media attention also will raise awareness of the region as a travel destination.
Tuesday’s official announcement brought some of the excitement fans can expect. The morning featured a special presentation by children ages 7 to 17 from Everett’s Leading Edge Gymnastics Academy. The students demonstrated their skills performing flips, twists and tumbles.
As the small audience watched these young athletes run their routines, a rich, deep voice could be heard throughout the room.
Karolyi, always the coach, shared encouraging words for each tumbler:
“Nice.”
“All right.”
“Oooh, yes.”
“Wow.”
“That’s very nice.”
Practice these phrases and repeat. They’ll be necessary in March when athletes of the finest caliber show Snohomish County their very best.
It’s clear that by landing the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships, Everett scored a perfect 10.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3447; jholtz@heraldnet.com.
Buy tickets
Tickets are on sale now for three-day, all-session passes to the 2012 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships scheduled for March 12-14, Comcast Arena Everett, 2000 Hewitt Ave., Everett.
All-session passes cost $110 to $250. Individual day tickets will go on sale at a later date.
Buy tickets at www.comcastarenaevertt.com or at 877-332-8499.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
