Bridget Sloan
Encyclopedia
Bridget Elizabeth Sloan is an American
gymnast
. She is the 2009 All-Around World Champion
and the 2009 All-Around U.S. National Champion. Sloan was a member of the silver medal U.S. women's gymnastics team at the 2008 Olympics.
. She began gymnastics in 1996 when she was 4. She currently lives in Pittsboro, Indiana
, and graduated from Tri-West Hendricks High School.
. Sloan also represented the United States at the Good Luck Beijing Olympic test event in December 2007, where she won the bronze medal in the all-around and a silver on floor exercise.
meniscus while warming up at a meet in Italy. She was forced to sit out the competition and returned home for surgery and rehabilitation, but recovered in time to compete at the 2008 U.S. National Championships, where she competed only on beam, bars and floor; and the U.S. Olympic Trials. Sloan was named to the U.S. team after the final selection camp in Houston in July 2008.
At the 2008 Olympics, Sloan competed in both the qualifying and team final rounds of competition. Her contributions to the team became critical in the qualifying round, where the Americans were forced to put up only four athletes on three events, and count all four scores, due to injuries to Chellsie Memmel
and Samantha Peszek
. Sloan made small errors on floor and uneven bars but performed well under pressure.
Her all-around scores placed her 11th overall among all competitors. In the team finals, Sloan competed on vault, contributing a 15.200 score to the American team's silver medal win.
. In August, Sloan competed in the US Nationals and had a shaky preliminary competition. However, her consistency in the finals won her the gold medal in the All-Around, Floor and Uneven Bars.
In October at the 2009 London World Championships
, after a shaky preliminary round, Sloan qualified 5th for the all-around and 7th for the uneven bars final. She competed like a champion in the all-around final and won the gold medal over teammate Rebecca Bross
by only 0.050. Sloan earned her place in gymnastics history as the fifth American woman to win the World all-around title. In the bars final, she performed a solid routine and placed 6th.
with her improvement at the selection camp, and was brought to the World Championships to perform on bars and floor, placing fourth in the bars final.
Although Sloan did not compete in the 2011 National Championships, she later headed to the Karolyi Ranch in New Waverly, Texas
, to participate in both selection camps for the 2011 World Championships team. She was subsequently named to the team for the 2011 Pan American Championships. She had a pretty weak showing at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, only competing floor and uneven bars and scoring in the thirteens on both apparatuses. She failed to qualify for either of the even finals, even though on uneven bars it was due to the "two (athletes) per country" rule (Bridgette Caquatto
and Shawn Johnson
both scored higher than her)
, signing her national letter-of-intent with the Gator Gymnastics team. Sloan will defer enrollment at UF until the 2012 fall semester to allow her to seek her second consecutive spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2012 Summer Olympics
. Sloan will rejoin 2010 World Championship teammate Mackenzie Caquatto on the Florida team.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
gymnast
Gymnast
Gymnasts are people who participate in the sports of either artistic gymnastics, trampolining, or rhythmic gymnastics.See gymnasium for the origin of the word gymnast from gymnastikos.-Female artistic:Australia...
. She is the 2009 All-Around World Champion
2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 41st World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at The O2 arena in London, United Kingdom, on 12 October to 18 October 2009. Similar to the World Championships in 2005, there were no team competitions...
and the 2009 All-Around U.S. National Champion. Sloan was a member of the silver medal U.S. women's gymnastics team at the 2008 Olympics.
Early life and career
Bridget Sloan was born on June 23, 1992, in Cincinnati, OhioOhio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. She began gymnastics in 1996 when she was 4. She currently lives in Pittsboro, Indiana
Pittsboro, Indiana
Pittsboro is a town in Middle Township, Hendricks County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,928 at the 2010 Census.-History:The town of Pittsboro was founded on December 9, 1834, by Simon T. Hadley and Wiliam L. Matlock. The town was named "Pittsborough" in honor of Hadley's home in...
, and graduated from Tri-West Hendricks High School.
2007
In her first year as a senior, 2007, Sloan placed 5th all-around and 3rd on Bars at the U.S. National Championships. She served as the alternate on the American team for the 2007 World Championships2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 40th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, from 1 to 9 September 2007.Oldest and youngest competitors- Men :- Women :- Finals :- Qualifications :- Floor :...
. Sloan also represented the United States at the Good Luck Beijing Olympic test event in December 2007, where she won the bronze medal in the all-around and a silver on floor exercise.
2008
In March 2008, Sloan suffered a tornTear of meniscus
In sports and orthopedics, a tear of a meniscus is a rupturing of one or more of the fibrocartilage strips in the knee called menisci. When doctors and patients refer to "torn cartilage" in the knee, they actually may be referring to an injury to a meniscus at the top of one of the tibiae. Menisci...
meniscus while warming up at a meet in Italy. She was forced to sit out the competition and returned home for surgery and rehabilitation, but recovered in time to compete at the 2008 U.S. National Championships, where she competed only on beam, bars and floor; and the U.S. Olympic Trials. Sloan was named to the U.S. team after the final selection camp in Houston in July 2008.
At the 2008 Olympics, Sloan competed in both the qualifying and team final rounds of competition. Her contributions to the team became critical in the qualifying round, where the Americans were forced to put up only four athletes on three events, and count all four scores, due to injuries to Chellsie Memmel
Chellsie Memmel
Chellsie Marie Memmel is an American gymnast. She is the 2005 World All-Around Champion, making her the third American woman, after Kim Zmeskal and Shannon Miller, to become World Champion in the All-Around. She is also a World Champion on the uneven bars and as part of the U.S. team...
and Samantha Peszek
Samantha Peszek
Samantha Nicole Peszek is an American national team gymnast. She was a member of the United States' 2008 Olympic women's gymnastics team.-Career:In 2007, Peszek competed on the gold medal-winning U.S...
. Sloan made small errors on floor and uneven bars but performed well under pressure.
Her all-around scores placed her 11th overall among all competitors. In the team finals, Sloan competed on vault, contributing a 15.200 score to the American team's silver medal win.
2009
In February 2009, Sloan competed in the Tyson American Cup and placed second to 13-year-old Jordyn WieberJordyn Wieber
Jordyn Marie Wieber is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2011 All-Around World Champion, the 2011 U.S. Senior National Champion and the 2011 American Cup Champion. She was also the 2008 U.S. Junior National Champion and the 2009 American Cup Champion.-Personal life:Wieber was born in...
. In August, Sloan competed in the US Nationals and had a shaky preliminary competition. However, her consistency in the finals won her the gold medal in the All-Around, Floor and Uneven Bars.
In October at the 2009 London World Championships
2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 41st World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at The O2 arena in London, United Kingdom, on 12 October to 18 October 2009. Similar to the World Championships in 2005, there were no team competitions...
, after a shaky preliminary round, Sloan qualified 5th for the all-around and 7th for the uneven bars final. She competed like a champion in the all-around final and won the gold medal over teammate Rebecca Bross
Rebecca Bross
Rebecca Bross is an American artistic gymnast. She won the all-around and three events at the junior national championships in 2007. At the 2007 Pan American Games in Brazil, Bross won a team gold, individual all-around second, and the first place in floor exercise. She was a member of the U.S...
by only 0.050. Sloan earned her place in gymnastics history as the fifth American woman to win the World all-around title. In the bars final, she performed a solid routine and placed 6th.
2010
Injuries plagued Bridget throughout the year, greatly limiting her in competitions. An ankle injury early in the year limited her participation in the Pacific Rim Championships to bars. The same injury kept Sloan to the beam at the CoverGirl Classic. A new pectoral injury prevented her from defending her National all-around title. At Nationals she performed two tentative beam routines, one that included a fall, and placed 11th on the apparatus. However, Sloan impressed National Team Coordinator Márta KárolyiMarta Károlyi
Márta Károlyi , is an American gymnastics coach and the National Team Coordinator for USA Gymnastics. Károlyi is originally from Romania, she and her husband, Béla, are ethnic Hungarians, and trained athletes there as well, but defected to the United States in 1981...
with her improvement at the selection camp, and was brought to the World Championships to perform on bars and floor, placing fourth in the bars final.
2011
Sloan sat out the majority of the competitive season while recovering from surgery on her bicep. She stated that it is unlikely she would take part in the 2011 National or World Championships in an effort to stay healthy for the 2012 season, her ultimate goal being the 2012 Olympics.Although Sloan did not compete in the 2011 National Championships, she later headed to the Karolyi Ranch in New Waverly, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, to participate in both selection camps for the 2011 World Championships team. She was subsequently named to the team for the 2011 Pan American Championships. She had a pretty weak showing at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, only competing floor and uneven bars and scoring in the thirteens on both apparatuses. She failed to qualify for either of the even finals, even though on uneven bars it was due to the "two (athletes) per country" rule (Bridgette Caquatto
Bridgette Caquatto
Bridgette Caquatto is an artistic gymnast born on the 14th of March 1994. She made her debut to the national scene in 2007 and has since then steadily been working to establish herself nationally and internationally...
and Shawn Johnson
Shawn Johnson
Shawn Machel Johnson is an American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic balance beam gold medalist and all-around, and floor exercise silver medalist, the 2007 all-around World Champion, and the 2007 and 2008 U.S. all-around champion...
both scored higher than her)
College
Sloan has committed to attend the University of FloridaUniversity of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
, signing her national letter-of-intent with the Gator Gymnastics team. Sloan will defer enrollment at UF until the 2012 fall semester to allow her to seek her second consecutive spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2012 Summer Olympics
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. Sloan will rejoin 2010 World Championship teammate Mackenzie Caquatto on the Florida team.
Senior Career History
| Year | Competition Description | Location | Apparatus | Rank-Final | Score-Final | Rank-Qualifying | Score-Qualifying |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | World Championships | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Team | 2 | |||
| Uneven Bars | 4 |
| Year | Competition Description | Location | Apparatus | Rank-Final | Score-Final | Rank-Qualifying | Score-Qualifying |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | American Cup | Chicago, IL | All around | 2 | 59.600 | ||
| U.S. Championships | Dallas, TX | All Around | 1 | 117.550 | 3 | 57.700 | |
| Uneven bars | 1 | 29.450 | 3 | 14.550 | |||
| Floor exercise | 1 | 29.350 | 3 | 14.300 | |||
| Balance beam | 5 | 28.850 | 6 | 13.950 | |||
| World Championships | London, UK | All Around | 1 | 57.825 | 5 | 56.075 |
| Year | Competition Description | Location | Apparatus | Rank-Final | Score-Final | Rank-Qualifying | Score-Qualifying |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Olympic Games | Beijing, China | Team | 2 | 186.525 | 2 | 246.800 |
| U.S. Olympic Team Trials | Philadelphia, PA | Uneven bars | 8 | 30.100 | |||
| Balance beam | 12 | 29.100 | |||||
| Floor exercise | 14 | 28.850 | |||||
| U.S. Championships | Boston, MA | Uneven bars | 3 | 31.700 | |||
| Balance beam | 7 | 30.600 |
| Year | Competition Description | Location | Apparatus | Rank-Final | Score-Final | Rank-Qualifying | Score-Qualifying |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | U.S. Championships | San Jose, CA | Floor exercise | 2 | |||
| All around | 5 | ||||||
| Uneven bars | 5 | ||||||
| Balance beam | 10 | ||||||
| U.S. Classic | Battle Creek, MI | All around | 1 | ||||
| Uneven bars | 2 | ||||||
| Vault | 3 | ||||||
| Balance beam | 3 | ||||||
| Floor exercise | 3 (T) |