Katelyn Ohashi

Katelyn Ohashi
— Gymnast —
Nickname(s)	Chachi
Country represented	United States
Born	(1997-04-12) April 12, 1997
Hometown	Newcastle, Washington
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Years on national team	2009-2013
Gym	WOGA, GAGE
College team	UCLA Bruins (2015-19)
Head coach(es)	Valorie Kondos Field (UCLA)
Assistant coach(es)	Chris Waller
Former coach(es)	Al Fong (GAGE) Valeri Liukin Laurent Landi (WOGA)
Choreographer	Antonia Marakova
Music	Onegin's Theme (2010-2012), Ya Habibi, Always by Aysel and Arash (2013)
Medal record Competitor for  United States Jr. Pacific Rim Championships 2012 Seattle Team 2012 Seattle All-Around 2012 Seattle Uneven Bars 2012 Seattle Balance Beam 2012 Seattle Floor Exercise Jr. Visa Championships 2010 Hartford Uneven Bars 2011 Saint Paul All-Around 2011 Saint Paul Uneven Bars 2011 Saint Paul Balance Beam 2011 Saint Paul Floor Exercise 2012 St. Louis Uneven Bars 2009 Dallas Floor Exercise 2010 Hartford All-Around 2012 St. Louis Balance Beam 2012 St. Louis Floor Exercise American Cup 2013 Worcester All-Around

Katelyn Ohashi (born April 12, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast who is the 2011 U.S. Junior National Champion in the all-around, balance beam, uneven bars and floor exercise and the winner of the 2013 American Cup^[1] She is a four-time member of the U.S. junior national women's gymnastics team.^[2] Ohashi currently trains with Laurent Landi ^[3] at World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) in Plano, Texas.^[4]

After a brief stint as a Level 10 gymnast in 2015, she is currently attending the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and will represent the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team for the upcoming NCAA 2016 season.

Junior career

2009

Earlier in her career, Ohashi trained with head coach Al Fong at Great American Gymnastics Express (GAGE) in Blue Springs, Missouri. She made her debut on the national gymnastics scene at the 2009 Junior Olympic Level 10 National Championships, where she placed first on floor, tied for second on bars, placed fourth all-around and tied for seventh on vault.^[1]

Ohashi competed in her first elite meet at the 2009 CoverGirl Classic in Des Moines, Iowa, where she placed fourth on floor, tied for fifth on beam and placed ninth in the all-around of the junior division.

She qualified to the 2009 U.S. Junior National Championships in Dallas, Texas, where she won the silver medal on floor exercise, placed sixth on beam and finished 10th all-around. At the conclusion of the competition, she was named to the 2009-10 U.S. junior national gymnastics team.^[5] Soon after 2009 Nationals, Ohashi made the move to Plano to train with Liukin at WOGA.

2010

In the junior division of the 2010 CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, Illinois, Ohashi won the silver medals in the all-around, bars, beam and floor. She also placed eighth on vault.^[1]

During July's 2010 Junior National Championships in Hartford, Connecticut, Ohashi won the bars title, placed third all-around and tied for fourth on floor. She placed fifth on beam and seventh on vault.^[1]

At the 2010 Bumbo Cup in Pretoria, South Africa, Ohashi captured the junior gold medals in the all-around, floor and vault, along with the junior silver medals on bars and beam.^[1] She competed a standing Arabian on beam for the first time at the South African meet.^[4]

2011

In Jesolo, Italy, at the junior division of the 2011 City of Jesolo Trophy, Ohashi earned a share of the U.S. team gold medal, and she won floor. She tied for second on uneven bars and placed third all-around. She placed fourth on beam and fifth on vault.^[1] She also performed her back tuck dismount off bars for the first time at the meet, however she fell and was eliminated.^[6]

At the junior division of the 2011 CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, Illinois, Ohashi tied with Shawn Johnson and Chellsie Memmel for the last on uneven bars (14.0). She won the silver medal on beam (14.95) and no medal in the all-around (57.950), behind all-around gold medalist Ross and silver medalist Lexie Priessman. Ohashi also tied for fifth on vault with Kiana Winston (14.55).^[7]

In the junior division of the 2011 U.S. National Championships in August, Ohashi took the lead in the first rotation on night one and maintained the lead through all eight rotations, winning the all-around title with a score of 120.95 for both nights. Ohashi bested defending champion Kyla Ross, who had a two-night score of 117.650.^[8]

Ohashi captured the bars title (5.150) with skills that included an el-grip endo to straddled Jaeger,^[8] a Gienger and a tucked double-double dismount.^[9] Her winning beam routine featured a laid-out full, a standing Arabian, an Onodi, and a piked full in dismount. She became known for the extreme difficulty and clean execution of her skills on beam, one of the highest ranked beam routines with respect to difficulty in the whole world.^[9] She was victorious on floor (30.050) with skills that included a pike full in and a two-and-a-half-twist to front full.^[9] She performed a double-twisting Yurchenko on vault, finishing fourth on the event (29.700).^[9]

Senior career

2013

Ohashi placed first at the 2013 American Cup.^[10] She and Simone Biles were named as replacements for Elizabeth Price and Kyla Ross, both of whom withdrew from the competition due to injuries. Although she trailed Simone Biles after two rotations, Ohashi won the American cup.

In April, Ohashi had shoulder surgery. She did not compete in the Secret U.S. Classic or the P&G Championships and was unable to contend for a spot on the Worlds team. In an interview at the 2014 WOGA Classic, Ohashi expressed her desire to continue with competitive gymnastics but said she was unsure of her ability to continue as an international elite after her injury.^[11] Later in the year, she suffered a back injury that required surgery.

2014

Ohashi did not compete at any senior elite competitions in 2014 while she recovered from her injury.

Level 10 career

2015

Ohashi competed in her first meet since 2013 at Texas Prime Meet. She competed only on vault, beam, and floor. She is currently training Level 10. On January 20, 2015, Ohashi announced that she would be joining the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team, after verbally committing to the school. She will join the team for the 2015-16 season.^[12][13]

Katelyn competed at the 2015 Pikes Peak Cup in Colorado Springs, Colo. on February 6, 2015 and placed 17th all-around and finished second in the vault event final with a score of 9.850.^[14]

Ohashi competed at the 2015 WOGA Classic on February 14, 2015. She placed 14th overall, competing three events.^[15]

On February 20, 2015, Ohashi competed at the Legends Invitational in Los Angeles, Calif. and placed 13th all-around and was second on vault.^[16]She signed the National Letter of Intent to the University of California, Los Angeles and the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team on April 15, 2015.^[17]

College career

2016: Freshman

Ohashi started off her freshman season with the Bruins well, and was 49th tied in the nation in the all-around standings at Week 5.^[18] She was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on January 19.^[19] However, in a meet against the Arizona Wildcats, she fell awkwardly after the cap of the balance beam she was performing on fell off, and she landed on her neck.^[20] Initially, she had been cleared on the injury, but was complaining about pain in her sternum.^[21] Once further tests were carried out, it was revealed that she had sustained a sternal fracture, and her current return status is unknown as it typically takes 12 week to return; this would be after season had finished.^[22]

References