 |
< Back to Index of Gymnasts
NATASHA KELLEY
Official website: www.natashakelley.com
Natasha Kelley (born January 1, 1990 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American gymnast. Currently
residing in Texas, she trains at Stars Gymnastics. She was a member of the silver medal winning U.S. team at the 2006
World Championships, along with
Chellsie Memmel,
Alicia Sacramone,
Jana Bieger,
Nastia Liukin and
Ashley Priess.
Kelley, in the start of her gymnstics career, went to Elite gymnastics in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She not only did
gymanstics here, but she was also homeschooled there until she left. Natasha competed there for many years before moving to
Brown's Gymnastics in Texas. After moving to Brown's, she moved again to Star's gymnastics, also in Texas. As a junior,
Natasha's major accomplishment was winning the American national title in 2005. The previous year she had been in 7th,
so this was some improvement. Internationally, she also competed at the Junior Pan American Games in 2004.
 |
|
Natasha Kelley, 2006 World Championships Aarhus
Photograph copyright © Stefan Wurzer, www.gymnasticsunited.com. All rights reserved. |
Natasha switched to senior competition in 2006, the year she turned 16. In her first major domestic competition as a senior,
the US Classic, she placed first. After this, she was the runner-up behind Nastia Liukin
at the national championships, in the overall event and on bars and beam. These strong performances at home won Natasha a
spot on the US team for the world championships, but she did not fare quite so well internationally. Mistakes in the
qualification rounds meant that she was not selected to compete for the U.S. in the team final where the medals are decided,
and neither had she qualified to any individual finals. The U.S. had entered the competition as favorites to retain the title
they won in 2003, but injuries to several team members hampered their performance. There were several mistakes from the four
athletes who had been chosen to provide all the routines in the team final, while Natasha and her teammate
Ashley Priess could only watch. The team's woes were further compounded when reigning world champion
Chellsie Memmel withdrew from the competition entirely after the team event.
This did however give Natasha a chance to replace her in the floor final, where she performed without error and placed
a respectable seventh.
For more information, visit her
profile page on the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique website.
|
|
