Jana Bieger
Encyclopedia
Jana Lyn Bieger is an American
gymnast
of German descent. Raised in the U.S. and a citizen, Bieger has competed only for the U.S. At the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
, she won three silver medals. Bieger was an alternate on the 2008 Olympic team.
In 2004, she won a bronze medal in the all-around in the junior division and won the vault title at Nationals, earning her first national team berth. The same year, Bieger made her international debut, competing with the American junior team at the 2004 Pacific Alliance Championships and winning four medals: gold in the team event and vault final; silver on the balance beam and all-around, behind teammate Nastia Liukin
.
Bieger made her senior debut in 2005, placing third in the all-around, vault and floor exercise at the U.S. Nationals. She was selected to compete at the 2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
. At Worlds, Bieger turned in a strong performances on the uneven bars (injury prevented her from competing on more than one piece) but was shut out of finals on this event because of the FIG "two-per-country" rule (only two gymnasts from each country may participate in each event final). She was also a member of the American squad at the 2005 Pan Am Championships, where she placed first with the team and earned individual silver and bronze medals on the vault and floor exercise.
At the 2006 Cottbus Cup, part of the prestigious World Cup circuit, Bieger competed well, winning the vault title, taking the silver on the beam and third on bars. Bieger was also a member of the American team at the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships, where she won three gold medals in the team, vault and floor exercise finals.
In late August at the 2006 National Championships, Bieger finished third in the all-around, maintaining her previous year's ranking. She also placed in the top six on all four events, winning a silver medal on the vault and a bronze on beam.
In October 2006, Bieger was a member of the silver medal-winning U.S. team at the World Gymnastics Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. Despite a fall on vault during team finals, she was a key contributor to the US squad, earning scores over 15.000 on her other three apparatus.
In the All-Around competition at Worlds, Bieger turned in solid performances on all four events to win the silver medal. This result was, however, controversial, due in part to the fact that the gold medalist, Vanessa Ferrari
, managed to win her title despite a fall on the balance beam. Additionally, Ferrari and Bruno Grandi, the president of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) are from the same country, Italy, raising questions of judging impariality. Both gymnastics fans and officials from other countries, including the head of the Romanian team, Nicolae Forminte, have publicly voiced objections to both the final results and the scoring. USA Gymnastics has yet to take an official stance on the issue.
After the All-Around, Bieger competed in the floor exercise event final, where she won her third silver medal of the World Championships behind Cheng Fei
of China. She also participated in the uneven bars final, replacing her injured teammate Chellsie Memmel
, and finishing in fifth place.
She sustained an ankle injury in early 2007 at the American Cup that took her out of competition for a while. Jana competed at the 2007 U.S. Nationals despite being unprepared. She did not do well there and was not chosen for the World Championship team.
Although scheduled to compete at the 2007 Cottbus Cup, U.S. National Team Coordinator, Marta Karolyi pulled Bieger from the meet as she was not prepared for international competition at the time.
Bieger returned to international competition in 2008 at a small meet, competing on all events but floor. She went on to compete at the 2008 Pacific Rim Championships, where she won Silver in the All Around, and Gold on the Uneven Bars.
Following the 2008 Olympic Trials and Selection Camp, Bieger was named as an alternate to the 2008 Olympics. Although two gymnasts on the squad were injured, she was not given the opportunity to compete. She expressed disappointment about her Beijing experience, but continued to compete in 2009, making appearances at the Cover Girl Classic in July and the Visa Championships in August. She was selected to the final round of the World Team selection camp at the National Training Center in October 2009, but was not chosen to represent the USA in the competition. Instead, she received a berth to the Croatia World Cup in November 2009, alongside US gymnast Kytra Hunter.
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...
of German descent. Raised in the U.S. and a citizen, Bieger has competed only for the U.S. At the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The World Artistic Gymnastics Championships are the World Championships for artistic gymnastics. They have been held since 1903.* * First time track and field event fully disappeared from the sport of gymnastics.- All-time medal count :...
, she won three silver medals. Bieger was an alternate on the 2008 Olympic team.
Personal life
Her parents are mother Andrea Bieger and father Jürgen von Brümmer. Her mother and Wolfgang Heiden owned Bieger International Gymnastics, now closed. Andrea Bieger was a three-time Olympic gymnast for West Germany.Career
Jana Bieger competed at her first U.S. National Championships in 2003, placing third on the vault in the junior division.In 2004, she won a bronze medal in the all-around in the junior division and won the vault title at Nationals, earning her first national team berth. The same year, Bieger made her international debut, competing with the American junior team at the 2004 Pacific Alliance Championships and winning four medals: gold in the team event and vault final; silver on the balance beam and all-around, behind teammate Nastia Liukin
Nastia Liukin
Anastasia Valeryevna "Nastia" Liukin is a Russian-American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic individual all-around Champion, the 2005 and 2007 World Champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World Champion on the uneven bars...
.
Bieger made her senior debut in 2005, placing third in the all-around, vault and floor exercise at the U.S. Nationals. She was selected to compete at the 2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 38th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia from the 21st to the 27th November 2005. Only the all-around and event finals were contested at this meet...
. At Worlds, Bieger turned in a strong performances on the uneven bars (injury prevented her from competing on more than one piece) but was shut out of finals on this event because of the FIG "two-per-country" rule (only two gymnasts from each country may participate in each event final). She was also a member of the American squad at the 2005 Pan Am Championships, where she placed first with the team and earned individual silver and bronze medals on the vault and floor exercise.
At the 2006 Cottbus Cup, part of the prestigious World Cup circuit, Bieger competed well, winning the vault title, taking the silver on the beam and third on bars. Bieger was also a member of the American team at the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships, where she won three gold medals in the team, vault and floor exercise finals.
In late August at the 2006 National Championships, Bieger finished third in the all-around, maintaining her previous year's ranking. She also placed in the top six on all four events, winning a silver medal on the vault and a bronze on beam.
In October 2006, Bieger was a member of the silver medal-winning U.S. team at the World Gymnastics Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. Despite a fall on vault during team finals, she was a key contributor to the US squad, earning scores over 15.000 on her other three apparatus.
In the All-Around competition at Worlds, Bieger turned in solid performances on all four events to win the silver medal. This result was, however, controversial, due in part to the fact that the gold medalist, Vanessa Ferrari
Vanessa Ferrari
Vanessa Ferrari , is a World Champion Gymnast from Italy. Her mother, Galya, is Bulgarian and her father, Giovanni, is Italian....
, managed to win her title despite a fall on the balance beam. Additionally, Ferrari and Bruno Grandi, the president of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) are from the same country, Italy, raising questions of judging impariality. Both gymnastics fans and officials from other countries, including the head of the Romanian team, Nicolae Forminte, have publicly voiced objections to both the final results and the scoring. USA Gymnastics has yet to take an official stance on the issue.
After the All-Around, Bieger competed in the floor exercise event final, where she won her third silver medal of the World Championships behind Cheng Fei
Cheng Fei
Cheng Fei is a Chinese gymnast. She is a three-time World Champion on the vault and 2006 World Champion on floor exercise. She was a member of the gold medal-winning Chinese teams for the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Aarhus, Denmark and 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China...
of China. She also participated in the uneven bars final, replacing her injured teammate 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 finishing in fifth place.
She sustained an ankle injury in early 2007 at the American Cup that took her out of competition for a while. Jana competed at the 2007 U.S. Nationals despite being unprepared. She did not do well there and was not chosen for the World Championship team.
Although scheduled to compete at the 2007 Cottbus Cup, U.S. National Team Coordinator, Marta Karolyi pulled Bieger from the meet as she was not prepared for international competition at the time.
Bieger returned to international competition in 2008 at a small meet, competing on all events but floor. She went on to compete at the 2008 Pacific Rim Championships, where she won Silver in the All Around, and Gold on the Uneven Bars.
Following the 2008 Olympic Trials and Selection Camp, Bieger was named as an alternate to the 2008 Olympics. Although two gymnasts on the squad were injured, she was not given the opportunity to compete. She expressed disappointment about her Beijing experience, but continued to compete in 2009, making appearances at the Cover Girl Classic in July and the Visa Championships in August. She was selected to the final round of the World Team selection camp at the National Training Center in October 2009, but was not chosen to represent the USA in the competition. Instead, she received a berth to the Croatia World Cup in November 2009, alongside US gymnast Kytra Hunter.