Mattie Larson

Mattie Larson
Larson performing on the balance beam at the 2008 U.S. National Championships
Personal information
Born	(1992-05-20) May 20, 1992 Los Angeles, California
Height	5 ft 2 in (157 cm)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	International Elite (2006–10)
Club	All Olympia Gymnastics Center
College team	UCLA Bruins
Former coach(es)	Galina Marinova, Artur Akopyan, Valorie Kondos Field
Music	Assassin's Tango (2008) Apasionada (2010) Bust Your Windows (2011-2012) Opera Dance (2013)
Retired	January 10, 2014
Medal record Women's gymnastics Representing the  United States World Championships 2010 Rotterdam Team

Mattie Larson (born May 20, 1992) is an American former artistic gymnast. She competed at the senior elite level from 2008 to 2010. Larson was the 2010 U.S. national champion on floor exercise. At that year's World Championships, she won a silver medal with the U.S. in the team competition, but she became known for critical mistakes that cost the U.S. the gold. Larson then competed at UCLA from 2012 to 2014.

Junior career

2006

Larson first qualified to junior international elite in July 2006 at the U.S. Classic, where she finished fifth all-around. Larson was supposed to compete at her first U.S. National Championships, but an injury forced her out of the competition.

2007

Larson returned to competition in 2007. She finished second all-around and first on vault at the WOGA Classic. She then finished third all-around at the U.S. Classic, qualifying once again to the National Championships. She performed well enough to make the national team. She then competed at the Junior Pan American Games, her first international assignment, where she won gold in the all-around and on floor. She was named the November USOC Female Athlete of the Month.

Senior career

2008

Larson started her senior career in 2008. She finished second on beam and first on floor at the WOGA Classic. At the Gymnix International competition, she won the silver in the all-around and bronze on bars. She was also named to the Grand Prix Team in Italy but was unable to compete due to a foot injury. During the Friendship International Exchange, she placed 4th all-around and won silver on floor behind teammate Alicia Sacramone. At her first Senior Nationals, she finished seventh all-around to make the national team and qualified for the Olympic Trials. After the Olympic Trials she made the Olympic training squad. Larson had a leg injury and ultimately did not make the team.

2009

Larson opened her 2009 season at the Gymnix World Cup and earned gold medals on beam and floor. She was selected as part of the European Tour. She did not compete all-around but helped the team win against Germany and France. Larson suffered a double-ankle sprain shortly before the 2009 U.S. National Championships. Thus, she was unable to compete and did not recover in time to secure a bid to the 2009 World Championships.

2010

Larson came back in 2010 to win the all-around title at the CoverGirl Classic in July.^[1] A month later, she won three medals at the 2010 U.S. National Championships: gold on floor, silver in the all-around, and bronze on uneven bars. She was subsequently chosen to be a member of the U.S. team for the World Championships in Rotterdam.

World Championships

In the qualification round, Larson competed all four events and would have qualified for the all-around finals in 11th place if not for the two athletes per country rule. She also failed to make floor finals, her specialty, due to a fall on her first tumbling pass, a double layout. Nevertheless, she was set to compete floor in the team finals in a "3 up 3 count" format, meaning that three gymnasts compete on an event and every score counts towards the team total. Larson had a sub-par performance, leaving out a mandatory requirement, losing her half a point, and falling on her knees on the final tumbling pass, losing another point. The U.S. was beaten for the gold by Russia by a margin of 0.2 points.

Larson was subsequently criticized not only for her mistakes but for her apparent lack of knowledge concerning the requirements in the floor exercise, as she could have made up for her missed connection by throwing in two easy skills as a front handspring and aerial (the requirement was that a gymnast must perform front tumbling as well as back tumbling).

College career

In 2009, Larson signed her letter of intent to UCLA. She competed for the UCLA Bruins from 2012 through 2014 before retiring from gymnastics.^[2]

Personal life

Larson was born in Los Angeles. Her parents, Eric Larson and Gail Boggs, are actors.^[3]

Competitive history

Senior career

Junior career

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mattie Larson.

• Mattie Larson Online
• Mattie Larson at USA Gymnastics