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COURTNEY KUPETS
Official website: www.got-chalk.com
Courtney Anne Kupets (born July 27, 1986 in Bedford, Texas) is an American gymnast. She is best known for her
2003 and 2004 all-around national championships (with Carly Patterson as co-champion in 2004);
her membership on the 2002 and 2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and 2004 Olympic teams; and her individual bronze medal on
the uneven bars at the 2004 Olympics.
During her elite career, Kupets resided in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and trained at Hill's Angels, former gym of Olympians
Dominique Dawes and Elise Ray, for 35 hours each week.
Both she and her older sister, Ashley Kupets, are gymnasts at the University of Georgia, and her father was a college football player.
While the uneven bars is considered to be Kupets' best apparatus, she excels on the other events as well. During her elite career,
her balance beam routine was valued at a 10.0 start value, the same as her bars routine. Her lowest-valued skill was her Podkopayeva vault,
which had a 9.7. start value under the 2001–2005 Code of Points. Kupets' floor exercise routine was valued at a 9.9 usually —
until 2004, where she had a 9.8 Start Value routine. She also had a reputation as one of the USA's most versatile tumblers, performing,
at various points in her career, the double layout, triple twist, double Arabian, double front, double pike and various combination tumbling passes.
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Courtney Kupets, 2004 US Olympic Trials
Photograph copyright © Heather Maynez, www.gymnpics.com. All rights reserved. |
Kupets began competing in gymnastics in 1989, earned a place on the TOPS developmental team in 1994, and tested elite in 1999.
At her first US National Championships, in 1999, she placed eighth in the junior division and became a member of the national team.
In her first year as a senior competitor, 2002, Kupets placed a close second in the American Cup competition, behind Olympian
Tasha Schwikert, and placed eighth at Nationals. Nonetheless, her selection to the US
team for the 2002 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, was seen as a surprise by many. At Worlds, Kupets
passed all other competitors, including five-time defending champion Svetlana Khorkina,
to win the uneven bars event, making her only the third American woman ever to achieve the feat.
In 2003, Kupets won the US Classic and became the U.S. national champion for the first time. She was named to the U.S. team for the 2003
World Championships in Anaheim, California. At Worlds, Kupets competed well in the team qualifying round, contributing to the USA's high
placement and qualifying to the all-around and uneven bars final. However, during a practice session before the team finals, Kupets tore
her Achilles tendon on a double Arabian somersault and was forced to withdraw from the event, returning home to Maryland immediately for
emergency surgery. The US team went on to win the World Championships; Kupets was still considered a member of the squad and received
credit and a medal for her contributions in the preliminaries.
In 2004, Kupets was named the co-national champion with Patterson in Nashville, Tennessee. A few weeks later, Kupets placed highest
overall at the U.S. Olympic trials, earning a spot on the Olympic team.
At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, Kupets won a silver medal with her fellow U.S. team members in the team all-around competition.
It had originally been decided that she would compete on each of the events aside from vault. However, after a leg injury (later discovered
to be a stress fracture in her hip) caused her to be suddenly withdrawn from beam, her position was given to veteran teammate
Mohini Bhardwaj. Kupets therefore competed only on bars and floor. She received the team's
highest score on uneven bars with a 9.662 out of a 10.0 start value — putting the U.S. team temporarily ahead of eventual winner
Romania in the standings — but also received the lowest on floor exercise with a 9.187 after faltering on a dance combination while
trying to turn on the opposite leg she normally performs the skill with.
Kupets competed in the individual all-around at the Olympics after placing 4th overall (37.937) in the qualifying round on the first
day of competition, when the team qualifications also took place. In the all-around itself, Kupets under-performed somewhat, perhaps
because of her injury. She finished 9th overall in the all-around with a score of 37.112, a little over one point behind the winner,
Patterson, who scored a 38.387. A highlight was her close save on beam, where a wobble after a jump saw her very nearly fall, but she
regained her composure. Nevertheless, she incurred a hefty deduction, scoring less than 9 for the routine. This, as well as a step out
of bounds on the floor exercise where she scored only 9.237, prevented her from challenging for medals. As usual, her highest scoring
event was the bars, where she received a 9.625. Kupets also scored a 9.275 on the vault (out of a 9.7) after taking a step with her landing.
Although she had not been expected to medal after her injury, Kupets said after the event that she was happy she had competed regardless.
Kupets won the bronze medal in the individual uneven bars competition with a score of 9.637, behind
Émilie Lepennec of France (9.687) and fellow American gymnast
Terin Humphrey (9.662). Kupets also finished 5th in the individual balance beam competition
with a score of 9.375 out of a 10.0. She did not qualify to compete in the individual floor exercise and vault competitions.
After returning from Athens, Kupets quit elite level gymnastics and travelled across the United States with other gymnasts on an
exhibition tour sponsored by retailer T.J. Maxx.
In 2005, she joined the gymnastics team at the University of Georgia on full athletic scholarship. Kupets had a very successful
first season with UGA, contributing to the team's first-place finish at the 2006 NCAA National Championships and winning the all-around,
bars and beam titles at the same meet. She has debuted some new skills in NCAA, including a new double layout dismount off of bars.
She also joined the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority.
During the 2007 season, she received a 10.0 on the uneven bars while competing against the University of Alabama. It was the first
10.0 on the bars for Georgia since 2002 and the first 10.0 of Kupets' career. Her bar routine now features a new toe on tkatchev (Ray)
to immediate bail and is considered one of the most difficult bar routines ever attempted in NCAA competition. Kupets tied teammate
Katie Heenan for the all around title at the 2007 SEC Championships with a total of 39.600.
Kupets earned the vault and bars titles with scores of 9.975 and 9.925 respectively. Despite numerous individual successes, the Gym
Dogs were unable to capture their fourth-consecutive conference crown, losing to Florida. After this disappointment, Kupets led her
team to the North Central Regional Title and was able to capture the All Around title despite having to deal with the distraction of
her older sister tearing her Achilles tendon during the warm up for floor exercise, ending her career. As the winners of the regional,
the Georgia team qualified again to Nationals.
Two weeks later, the Gym Dogs competed in the afternoon preliminary session against Florida. They defeated Florida in a surprising
upset due to recent Gym Dog injuries and the overwhelming notion that Florida would easily walk away with the NCAA Championship after
a consistent season. Kupets scored a 39.75 on day 1, scoring a 9.9 on beam and 9.95s on bars, floor and vault. This score held as the
top all around total in the meet and earned Kupets her second consecutive NCAA All Around Title. Ashley Postell of Utah was once again
the runner up. The Gym Dogs dominated the Super 6 finals, scoring a 197.85 and earning the team their third-consecutive NCAA Team Championship
and 8th National Championship over all. Kupets ended her weekend by earning the NCAA Individual Vault title. She accomplished this
by successfully competing a Yurchenko Full as her second vault, which she was unable to practice all year due to a foot injury.
This marks Kupets' fifth individual NCAA title and seventh overall. Kupets rounded out her weekend by nabbing three more medals —
silver on bars and floor, and a bronze on beam. Kupets was the only gymnast to medal on each of the four individual events.
For more information, visit her
profile page on the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique website.
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