Hundley, who is headed to the University of Florida this fall, qualified for the Olympic Trials with a sixth-place all-around finish at the P&G Championships last weekend in St. Louis, Missouri. She leaves Tuesday for San Jose, California, where she will train with the other U.S. national team competitors before the Trials take place there July 8 and 10.
“Each year I have different long- and short-term goals, but going to the Olympics has always been a dream, so this year, the whole focus was on getting to the Olympic Trials,” said Hundley, who began gymnastics when she was 3. “Now, I just have to focus on doing my best and putting everything together so the committee sees what I can add to the team. I don’t necessarily expect to make it, but I’m just so happy I have a chance, and right now, that’s all I can ask for.”
The top six individuals in the all-around competition at P&G nationals automatically qualified for the Trials, but several others also were taken.
The selection committee will choose five gymnasts to take to the Olympics later this summer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“It was super exciting (qualifying for Trials,” Hundley said. “I knew they definitely take the top six, so that was my goal, and it was just beyond amazing when it actually happened and I knew I was going to the Olympic Trials. I was just as shocked as probably everyone else.”
Hundley, who trains at Cincinnati Gymnastics in Fairfield, has been competing at a high level for several years, but coach Mary Lee Tracy said she’s especially seen improvement the past two years. To her, it was no surprise Hundley made it.
The home-school student finished fourth in the all-around competition at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, last summer, as Team USA won gold, and she was third in an international competition in Germany this year at the Stuttgart World Cup.
“Her whole career she’s been a good competitor, but she was not mature enough when she was younger to know the importance of being clean and strong,” said Tracy, who owns Cincinnati Gymnastics and has been coaching Hundley for more than 10 years. “The competition part has always been there, but we’ve upped the difficulty and consistency the past two years and she’s achieved that.”
Hundley said it is rewarding to see the hard work pay off, as “it all just seems to be coming together.” She feels physically strong and at her best heading into the Trials, and her training this past week has focused on fine-tuning and perfecting her routines.
At this point, she feels comfortable in all four events and considers herself pretty even in all of them.
“I’m just keeping things the same,” she said. “I’m not going to go add a bunch of things to try to get higher scores, I’m just going to work to get my routine as perfect as I can. My coach is putting me in different pressure situations and seeing how I respond so I’m ready for just about anything that could happen.”
Tracy just hopes the selection committee sees what she believes about Hundley’s ability to contribute to the team. The committee will look at scores from competition at the Trials but also will factor in what they see in training throughout the week.
“Her claim to fame is her consistency,” Tracy said. “She’s not the highest all-around scorer and she doesn’t have the toughest difficulty in her routine, but there are a lot of different team needs – there are event needs and team needs. What she offers is a good starter and someone they can count on. The other thing they will see is her attitude and team energy. She has a reputation of being that type of person.”
Hundley admits she still gets nervous for just about any competition – and Tracy said that’s a good thing to indicate how bad she wants it – but she also hopes to soak in the experience at her first Olympic Trials.
“I’m definitely going to have some nerves, but I just want to try to enjoy the moment and stay focused and try to do my best,” Hundley said. “All I can do is give it my best shot, and I know I’ll have no regrets.”
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