Erin Blanchard

Erin Blanchard
— Gymnast —
Country represented	United States
Born	(1989-11-20) November 20, 1989
Hometown	Broussard
Height	5’6” (1.68 m)
Discipline	Trampolining
Level	Senior International Elite
Club	Trampoline & Tumbling Express
Head coach(es)	Tara Guidry & Dmitri Poliaroush

Erin Blanchard (born November 20, 1989) is an American gymnast from Broussard, Louisiana.

Blanchard competed in the Women's Individual Trampoline on August 15, 2008, at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, but did not advance to the finals.^[1]

Early life

Erin is the daughter of Kay and Dwight Blanchard and has three brothers, Caleb, Jon and Dewey. Erin watched the '94 Olympic gymnastics team and dreamed of becoming an Olympic gymnast. Her mother then signed her up that year for a local gym.^[2]

The 2006 U.S. champion, Blanchard retired in 2007. She told the Houston Chronicle: "I had some complications with the gym and the coach. I just had to get away from it all." During her eight-month break she worked out with her brother, a body builder, but didn't bounce on a trampoline at all. But once the U.S. secured a wildcard Olympic spot, Blanchard reconsidered her retirement: "When I walked away, I never really thought of the Olympics as a possibility." After a rough first day back, Blanchard said that it took her about a month to relearn most of her skills.^[3]

Trampoline career

Road To Beijing

Blanchard earned her trip to China by edging friend Alaina Hebert in the U.S. trampoline Olympic selection points system. Blanchard and Hebert grew up a few miles apart in Broussard, La. (pop: 6,000) just outside of Lafayette and carpooled to practice during their early years in the sport. Fellow Olympic team member Chris Estrada trained with Blanchard before all three moved to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.^[3]

Beijing 2008

After earning a berth to the Olympics, Erin competed at the Olympics at the age of only 18. Erin scored a 27.1 during her first, compulsory, routine at the Olympics. She would be ranked tied for 14th after her first routine. Erin scored a 33.8 during her second, optional routine, at the Olympics. She would move up in the rankings to 13. However, only the top 8 advance to finals.^[4]

Accomplishments

Achievements

• 2001 – 2002 USA Junior National Team Member
• 2006 - 2008 USA National Team Member
• 2006 – Louisiana Athlete of the Year
• 2008 – USA Olympic Athlete^[5]

National Competition Results

• 2001 - Circle of Stars: 1st Place Trampoline Individual
• 2001 – USA Team Trials: 1st Place Trampoline Individual & Synchronized
• 2001- USA National Championships: 3rd Place Trampoline Individual
• 2001 – USA National Championships: 2nd Place Trampoline Synchronized
• 2002 – Winter Classics: 1st Place Trampoline Individual
• 2002 – USA National Championships: 1st Place Trampoline Individual & Synchronized
• 2006- Winter Classics: 3rd Place Trampoline Individual
• 2006 – Elite Challenge: 1st Place Trampoline Individual
• 2006– USA National Championships: 1st Place Trampoline Individual & Synchronized
• 2007 – Winter Classics: 1st Place Trampoline Individual
• 2008 – Winter Classics: 1st Place Trampoline Individual & Synchronized
• 2008 – Elite Challenge: 1st Place Trampoline Individual & Synchronized
• 2008 – USA National Championships: 2nd Place Trampoline Individual
• 2008 – USA National Championships: 1st Place Trampoline Synchronized
• 2008 – USA Olympic Trials: 1st Place Trampoline Individual^[5]

International Competition Results

• 2000 – Poliaroush Challenge, Canada – 3rd Place Trampoline Individual
• 2000 – Silnitskiy Cup, Belarus – 4th Place Trampoline Individual
• 2000 – Silnitskiy Cup, Belarus – 3rd Place Trampoline Synchronized
• 2000 – Silnitskiy Cup, Belarus – 2nd Trampoline Team
• 2001 – World Age Group Games, Denmark – 1st Place Trampoline Individual
• 2002 – Canada Cup, Canada – 3rd Place Trampoline Individual
• 2002 – Grenzland Cup, Germany – 4th Place Trampoline Individual
• 2002 – Greensboro Open, USA – 1st Place Trampoline Individual
• 2005 – Slavic Games, Belarus – 2nd Place Trampoline Individual
• 2006 – Pacific Alliance, Hawaii – 1st Place Trampoline Individual
• 2006 – World Cup, Belgium – 13th place Trampoline Individual
• 2006 – Pan-American Championships, Mexico – 2nd Place Trampoline Team
• 2006 – World Cup, Switzerland – 5th Place Trampoline Individual
• 2006 – World Cup, Germany – 9th Place Trampoline Individual
• 2007 - World Cup, USA – 5th Place Trampoline Individual
• 2007 – World Cup, Canada – 9th Place Trampoline Individual
• 2008 – Grenzland Cup, Germany – 1st Place Trampoline Individual
• 2008 – World Cup, Switzerland – 10th Place Trampoline Individual
• 2008 – World Cup, Switzerland – 1st Place Trampoline Synchronized
• 2008 – Olympic Games, China- 13th Place Trampoline Individual^[5]

References

External links

• http://gymnastics.teamusa.org/athlete/athlete/1403

2008 USA Olympic Gymnastics Team (Bronze Medal – Men's Team, Silver Medal – Women's Team) Men's artistic gymnastics athletes Alexander Artemev Raj Bhavsar Joseph Hagerty Jonathan Horton Justin Spring Kevin Tan Women's artistic gymnastics athletes Shawn Johnson Nastia Liukin Chellsie Memmel Samantha Peszek Alicia Sacramone Bridget Sloan Rhythmic gymnastics athletes DNQ Trampoline athletes Chris Estrada Erin Blanchard Coaches Liang Chow (Head Women's artistic gymnastics coach) Márta Károlyi (Assistant Head Women's artistic gymnastics coach) Valeri Liukin (Women's artistic gymnastics coach) XueYi (Peter) Zhao (Women's artistic gymnastics coach) Mihai Brestyan (Women's artistic gymnastics coach) Marvin Sharp (Women's artistic gymnastics coach) Andy Memmel (Women's artistic gymnastic coach)