TYLER, Texas — The USA men's and women's gymnastics teams had a flippin' good time in Paris during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games!
The teams took home a combined 10 medals, including the first men's team all-around medal in nearly 20 years.
The success the teams saw in the City of Lights fueled the excitement for the sport across the nation, including here in East Texas.
"What's more exciting as a child and watching people flip right and then the girls running around the living room, even guys running around the living room, trying to do their flip," said Texas East Gymnastics coach Alyssa Davis. "And so the parents are like, 'OK, let's put them in gymnastics.'"
The athletes at Texas East Gymnastics were inspired by Team USA's hard work and the hardware they are bringing home. The gymnasts say the sport requires intense physical and mental toughness. That's why watching Simone Biles come back after suffering the "twisties" in Tokyo and tweaking her calf in Paris serves as an example for these aspiring Olympians.
"It was definitely incredible," Chylar Wilson said. "It really shows that, like she might be the GOAT, she's the greatest gymnast, but she still goes through mental struggles. And it reminds me that I'm like, 'I go through mental struggles, but it's okay, because I can get through them.'"
Gymnasts are dedicated — putting in 25+ hours of work each week on top of going to school. They say it's rewarding and they're thrilled their sport received so much exposure during the Olympics.
While Biles left no doubt she's the greatest female gymnast of all-time, a new and unexpected star was born — "the pommel horse guy," Stephen Nedoroscik.
"I just think America's never really had a great pommel horse worker," said Brylie Chamness. "And he is the first one, and he is just killing it. He kind of popped out of nowhere."
The glasses-wearing, Clark Kent-channeling gymnast took the internet by storm and has become one of the biggest stories out of Paris. In addition to helping the men's team secure a bronze medal in the all-around, he also brought home the bronze in the individual pommel horse, which is widely regarded as the most difficult apparatus in men's gymnastics. His home gym says they've been getting calls left and right from parents wanting to sign their sons up for gymnastics after watching Nedoroscik compete.
Brylie Chamness, 17, said it's been inspiring to watch Team USA rise to the occasion.
She's been taking gymnastics since she was 2 and says the sport demands quite the commitment. But, the rewards far outweigh the sacrifices.
Her dream is to get a collegiate gymnastics scholarship like Jordan Chiles, who won the bronze medal in the floor routine.
"It brought me to tears just to see her reaction and her coach's reaction and Simone's reaction, just the pure joy," Chamness said. "She just performs it so well. A lot of gymnasts sometimes, like, stay a little more conservative on their floor teams. But she really like shows, also the college side of gymnastics, where you're performing a little more on floor.
Chamness' coach says she hopes her athletes and other gymnasts are encouraged by Team USA's example and understand failure is part of the journey toward success.
It doesn't matter how many times you fall, as long as you get back up and try again.