World Olympic Gymnastics Academy
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[edit] Introduction
The World Olympic Gymnastics Academy, or WOGA, is a two facility gymnastics club located in Plano, Texas and Dallas, Texas.
The head coaches at WOGA are Valeri Liukin, gold and silver medallist at the 1998 Olympic Games representing the former Soviet Union, and Yevgeny Marchenko, a five time World Champion in Sport Acrobatics. [1]
[edit] History
Since opening in 1999, WOGA has had a number of successes unprecedented in US gymnastics history, including placing more than 30 National Gymnastics Team members.[2]
In 2003, WOGA gymnasts won 3 individual gold medals at the World Championships and 4 individual gold medals at the US National Gymnastics Championships.
In 2004, Carly Patterson became the first American to become Olympic All-Around Gymnastics Champion in a non-boycotted Olympics.
In 2005, Nastia Liukin (daughter of Valeri Liukin) was crowned US National Champion and placed 2nd at the World Championships.
In 2006, Nastia Liukin defended her US National Champion title.
[edit] Notable Gymnasts and Alumni
- Carly Patterson, 2004 Olympic Gymnastics All-Around Champion
- Hollie Vise, US National Gymnastics Team member
- Nastia Liukin, 2006 and 2005 US National Gymnastics All-Around Champion, 2005 2nd World All-Around
[edit] 2006 Abuse Controversy
In September 2006, a former WOGA gymnast claimed she was sexually abused by coach Christopher Wagoner. Among the accusations were that Wagoner had encouraged the gymnast to use cocaine as a weight loss drug, that Wagoner had assaulted her during two separate sleep-overs, leading to continued abuse in the coach's apartment during the next 6 months. The gymnast's lawsuit claims that the owners of WOGA failed to properly screen or supervise Wagoner during his tenure. [3] After one hour of court proceedings, Wagoner changed his initial plea of not guilty in exchange for a 15 year sentence. [4]
