Rebecca Bross

Rebecca Marie Bross
 Gymnast 

Bross at the 2012 U.S. Classic
Personal information
Full name Rebecca Marie Bross
Nickname(s) Becca
Bross the Boss
Country represented  United States
Born (1993-07-11) July 11, 1993
Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
Hometown Ann Arbor, Michigan
Residence Plano, Texas, U.S.
Height 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m)
Discipline Women's artistic gymnastics
Level Senior International Elite
Years on national team 2005–2012
Club WOGA
Gym World Olympic Gymnastics Academy
Head coach(es) Valeri Liukin
Former coach(es) Natalia Marakova
Choreographer Antonia Marakova
Retired 2012

Rebecca Maris Bross (born July 11, 1993) is an American former artistic gymnast and six-time World Championship medalist.

Personal life

Bross is the daughter of Terry Bross and Donna Bross (née Brugge). She has one older brother named Benjamin. Her parents put her in a gymnastics class at the age of five.[1] She was coached by Valeri Liukin at WOGA Gymnastics.[2]

Career

Bross first qualified to Junior International Elite in 2005, when she also qualified to her first U.S. Nationals; she placed 16th all-around and earned a spot on the national team. Bross then competed in a few international assignments over the next year. At the 2006 U.S. Nationals, Bross placed fourth all-around, which also qualified her to the Junior Pan American Games Team. In 2007, Bross was again selected for the Pan American Games team. She finished second all-around, behind teammate Shawn Johnson. At the 2007 U.S. Championships, Bross won her first national championships title, despite a fall. She later won the Junior Japan Invitational.

Bross was able to compete in some Classics and Invitationals in early 2008. She competed with WOGA teammate Nastia Liukin at the Pacific Rim Championships, where she won gold medals in the all-around and on beam, bars and floor. She sat out the rest of the year because of a broken foot.

On July 25, 2009, at the Covergirl Classic in Des Moines, Iowa, Bross competed on the uneven bars, scoring a 13.150 (.050 better than her teammate Ivana Hong), but was unable to compete on floor, beam or vault because of an ankle injury suffered during practice a few days earlier. She competed her bars routine without a dismount, thus lowering her overall score.

In August 2009, Bross finished third all-around behind Bridget Sloan (first) and Ivana Hong (second) at the U.S. National Championships. Bross also placed third on balance beam and second on floor to end a successful first senior Nationals.

The following October, at the World Championships in London, England, Bross qualified in first place into the all-around final. She also qualified second on uneven bars and eighth on floor exercise. She fell on her beam dismount in preliminaries, which prevented her from qualifying on that event. In the all-around final, Bross led the competition going into the final rotation. Needing only a 12.925 to clinch the gold, she fell on her final tumbling pass on floor and just missed that score (the judges awarded her a 12.875). Her teammate Sloan claimed the gold, while Bross took the silver. Bross tied Romania's Ana Porgras for the bronze medal in the uneven bars event final.

In March 2010, she won the all-around at the American Cup. Bross won every event with the exception of the vault, which was won by her teammate Aly Raisman. In April, she won the senior all-around title at the Pacific Rim Championships in Melbourne, Australia. At the 2010 Visa Championships, Bross finished Day 1 with a two-point lead. On Day 2, she finished with a three-point lead, clinching the event to become the 2010 national champion. She was selected for the women's team for the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. There, she helped the United States win a silver medal behind the newly dominant Russian team. In the all-around, after a fall on beam, she bounced back on floor to get the bronze medal, scoring a 15.233 — the highest score given on floor to any women in the entire meet. Russia's Aliya Mustafina was the winner, and China's Jiang Yuyuan was the silver medalist. In event finals, Bross clinched the bronze on the uneven bars and tied with China's Deng Linlin for the silver on the balance beam behind Romania's Porgras.

During Night 2 of competition at the 2011 Visa Championships, Bross dislocated her right kneecap during a third-rotation vault. Because of the injury, Bross sat out of competition for the remainder of the 2011 season. Despite this, she earned a second-place finish on floor exercise, with a two-night total of 29.50.[3] She also placed eighth on beam (27.6).[4] Bross has not yet retired but is coaching WOGA's Level 4 artistic team.

2012 Olympic Trials

In the summer of 2012, Bross competed in the Olympic Trials in hopes of making the Olympic team for London. She competed on the beam and uneven bars, finishing in last place on both. Despite an excellent routine on the first night of competition, Bross fell three times off the bars on Night 2 and was instructed by her coach to stop mid-routine.[5] As a result of her low scores, particularly on the uneven bars — an area in which National Team Coordinator Márta Károlyi stated that the women's team would need strong competitors[6] — Bross did not make the main Olympic team, nor was she named as an alternate. Sports commentators speculated that Bross' defeat at the Trials would likely be a career-ending one because of her previous injuries and age.[7]

Post-competitive career

Bross has not officially announced retirement, but she has not competed since the Olympic Trials in 2012 and is currently not training. She is regarded by some gymnastics fans as "one of the most unfortunate and unluckiest gymnasts" because of the injuries she suffered. In the four-year period from 2008–12, she incurred four injuries, including a broken foot, dislocated knee and other ankle and knee injuries that could have been serious.

Since September 2013, Rebecca has been a coach at Iarov Elite Gymnastics in Dallas, Texas.[8]

Routines

As of 2011, Bross performed the following skills on these apparatus:[9]

Apparatus Skills D Score Top Score in World Championship/World Cup/Olympic Competition
Vault Double twisting Yurchenko 5.8 14.700
Uneven Bars Glide Kip Cast to Handstand (KCHS) (B) on low bar + toe-on to handstand 1/1 (D) + Van Leeuwen (toe-on circle to Shaposhnikova 1/2) (E); KCHS (B) + piked stalder 1/1 (E) + Tkatchev (D); KCHS (B) + piked stalder 1/2 (D) + Straddled Jaegar (D); KCHS (B) + stalder to handstand 1/1 (D) + Pak Salto (D); KCHS 1/2 (B) + toe-on shoot up to high bar; KCHS (B) + giant + giant + tucked full-in dismount (D) 6.5 15.050
Balance Beam Jump on to beam; 1/1 turn in tuckstand (B); standing Arabian (F); front aerial (D) + flip flop (B) + back layout stepout (C); switch split leap (C) + back tuck (C); sheep jump (D); switch split ring leap (E); side somi (D); front tuck (D); roundoff + Arabian double front dismount (G) 6.5 15.300
Floor Exercise Front handspring + front layout (B) + double front (E) + Stag jump (A); roundoff + back layout 3/2 (C) + front layout 2/1 (D) + Split Leap (A); switch ring leap (C) + switch leap 1/2 (C); 2/1 turn with leg at horizontal (D); split leap 3/2 (D); roundoff + back layout 5/2 (D) + front layout 1/1 (C) 6.3 15.250

Floor music

2011: "Beethoven Virus"

2010: "Dark Eyes" [10]

2005-2009: "National Treasure Suite" from the National Treasure Soundtrack Jh

Competitive history

Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2006Pacific Alliance Championships (Junior) 1st 4 5
Junior Pan American Championships 1st 5 1st
U.S. Classic (Junior) 6
Visa Championships (Junior) 4 8 15 2nd 20
2007Pan American Games 1st 2nd 1st
Visa Championships (Junior) 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st
International Junior Japan Competition 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
2008 Italy-Spain-Poland-USA Competition (Junior) 1st 2nd
Pacific Rim Championships (Junior) 1st 1st 1st 8 1st 1st
2009U.S. Classic 10
Visa Championships 3rd 6 3rd 2nd
World Championships 2nd 3rd 5
2010American Cup 1st
Pacific Rim Championships 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st
U.S. Classic 1st 6
Visa Championships 1st 1st 1st 2nd
World Championships 2nd 3rd 3rd 2nd
2011Visa Championships 8 2nd
2012City of Jesolo Trophy 1st 9 8
U.S. Classic 3rd 16
Visa Championships 4 13
Olympic Trials 13 14

[11][12] [13] [14] [15]

References

External links

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