Speech (Gymnastics Olympic Medal)

Aliya Brooks

5/24/16

Dear ladies and gentleman, I want to start off by thanking all of you for gathering here, to listen to me speak about winning this amazing Olympic Award. Millions of young girls start gymnastics, dreaming that they will be where I am, accepting the Gold medal in the Olympics for gymnastics, as they stand on the podium, able to say they won an all around award. But few people really know what it takes. It took me over fourteen years to be able to truly say, I have mastered the sport of gymnastics.

I remember beginning gymnastics just at the age of five and taking classes. I started off not great but from the start there was one coach who saw something in me. The competitive team coach, Irina Kudina, quickly spotted me and asked me to join the more serious, competitive team. On this team I had five teammates. However, I felt out of place because they won tons of awards whereas I won none. Seeing this was tough for me, and I lost confidence in myself.

Once I reached age eight, I was practicing four hours a day, six days a week with the girls I joined the team with. My passion for the sport grew everyday. I knew that I not only wanted to go to the Olympics one day, but promised myself, I’d be in the Olympics one day.

By the time I made level 6 in gymnastics, I was becoming one of the better ones on my team which built up my confidence. Starting off as one of the worst of my team really pushed me to become better, along with my encouraging coach whom I had a close bond with. She saw my increasing love for the sport and noticed the amount of extra hours I put into it. I remember one weekend very vividly. I came into the gym on a Sunday ready to train alone to put in some extra time. But to my surprise, the big girls were there. Sometimes I felt intimidated by them because they were so good and I wanted nothing but to be like them. My coach then called me down to train with them just for this day, but because I did so well, I got to practice with these girls from then on. Her putting me with the better girls, gave me more belief in myself and drew my coach and I closer. After finishing level 6, I prepared for level 7 although the older girls were preparing for level 8. I noticed my skill level became harder than those of the girls who were my age, considering I practiced with the older girls. Months later, I became the first person my coach ever had skip an entire level of gymnastics, and this was a big deal for myself and other girls on the team. Everyone was intimidated by me. When high school came along, Irina suggested I begin online school, with my dream in mind of one day going to the Olympics. I agreed but my parents were iffy about making this huge step, until I convinced them how much this all meant to me. Sophomore year came and I finished level 10, which is the highest level of them all. By this point the older girls were off the college and my teammates were slowly dropping out of the sport. This same year, I packed up all my things and was on my way to Iowa, to train with a well known coach from China, in order to get training in for the Olympics.

Things like moving away abruptly, and deciding not to continue on with everyday school, were hard choices. Things I had to give up in order to make it here. I struggled to find myself within those periods of time, but without those rough patches, my coaches, parents, and close supportive friends, I wouldn’t have made it this far. The idea of giving up my social life did not please me at first, but I worked with it. It sucked feeling so alone and like I was in my own world on my own path. It was not only this that bothered me but the idea of leaving my family behind. These things made me realize the types of important things in life one needs to sacrifice for success like this.

Traveling and being away from them all was the hardest part but lead me down a path of excellence, made me stronger, and taught me things I know I would not have learned without this experience. I also know I would not have been able to achieve anything without the endless support of my family and amazing coach.

I am so honored to accept this award even though I had to put in a tremendous amount of work, I know it was worth chasing a dream that I never thought would really come true.