Samantha Shapiro

Samantha Shapiro
— Gymnast —
Nickname(s) Sami
Country represented  United States
Born (1963-05-18) May 18, 1963
Hometown Los Angeles, California, California, USA
Height 5 1"
Discipline Women's artistic gymnastics
Level College, Senior International Elite (former)
Years on national team 2006-2011
Club All Olympia Gymnastics Center
College team Stanford Cardinal
Head coach(es) Kristen Smyth
Assistant coach(es) Chris Swircek
Former coach(es) Galina Marinova
Artur Akopyan
Music Telephone (Radio Edit) (2013)

Samantha "Sami" Shapiro (born May 18, 1993, in Santa Monica, California) is an American gymnast. She is a five-time member of the USA Gymnastics National Team.[1]

Personal life

Shapiro attended Windward School in Los Angeles and graduated in June 2011.[2] Her parents are Brent and Abbe Shapiro. Her sister, Nicki is also a gymnast.

Gymnastics

Though she was competing at an International level in 2008 and was a top-ranked junior national team member, she was 5 months too young to be eligible for the 2008 Olympic Team.

She trains at All Olympia Gymnastics Center, or AOGC, in Los Angeles with fellow National Team member Mattie Larson.

Junior career

Samantha first qualified for Junior International Elite in 2006 at age 13, when she finished 4th All-Around at the US Classic in Kansas, and competed in the US National Championships later that year finishing 13th. In 2007 she returned and won Gold on the Balance Beam and Silver in the All-Around competition, Uneven Bars and Floor Exercise.

In 2008, she returned to the VISA Championships to regain her title on the Balance Beam, and also took the Gold on the Uneven Bars, coming 2nd in the All-Around again. She was chosen to join some of the Senior Elite National team to go to the Pacific Rim Championships in San Jose, where she performed well on all 4 events helping the US Team win the Gold, and winning Gold on Uneven Bars and Silver in the All-Around competition. Most memorably, her performance on the floor exercise during the Team Competition was notable when the music cut out as she began her first pass. Seemingly unfazed, she continued her exhibition through to the end as the US team cheered her on and the arena began rhythmically clapping.[3]

Senior career

In the fall of 2008, Samantha competed in the Pan American Gymnastics Union Championships where she won Gold on Beam and the Uneven Bars.[4] In March 2009, Samantha represented the U.S. at the Montreal World Cup where she sustained a broken foot in training but persevered to win Gold on Uneven Bars.[5] Injuries kept Samantha from competing for most of 2009 and 2010,[2] but she resurfaced as a Senior Elite in 2010 qualifying at the US Classic 4th on Balance Beam and Floor Exercise. She fell and injured herself on Vault attempting a 1.5 Yurchenko, and had to be assisted off the podium. Despite this, she returned to the VISA Championships competing as a Senior and finished 7th on Beam and the All-Around and 5th on the Floor Exercise. Samantha earned a spot on the USA National Team for the 5th consecutive year.[6]

In 2010 Shapiro announced her intentions to commit to joining the Stanford Gymnastics Team.[2] In 2011, Samantha graced the cover of Inside Gymnastics' 50 Most Photogenic issue as a tribute to the artistry and grace she presented in her years as an international elite gymnast.[7]

NCAA career

In 2011, Samantha retired from elite level gymnastics to compete for Stanford Cardinal's women's gymnastics team.[8] In the 2012 season, Samantha earned the First-Team All-American honor and finished as runner-up on the uneven bars at the NCAA National Championships in Duluth, Georgia.[9] Samantha also was named a Scholastic All-American as selected by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women capping off a successful Freshman year.[10] As a sophomore, Samantha earned academic honors including the Scholastic All-American honor for the second year [11] along with receiving an Honorable Mention citation for the 2013 Pac-12 All-Academic Team.[12] In Samantha's junior year, she capped off a successful season at the NCAA National Championship's in Birmingham, Alabama, again earning the First-Team All-American honor and finishing as runner-up on the uneven bars.[13] On the road to nationals, Samantha was co-winner of the Regional title on the uneven bars with a 9.95 at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regionals.[14] During the season, Samantha also earned Pac-12 Conference honors including being named to the Pac-12 All Academic Second Team[15] and claiming Second Team honors on uneven bars for the 2014 All-Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Team.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Samantha Shapiro". USA Gymnastics. USA Gymnastics. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Windward School. "Olympic Hopeful, Windward's Sami Shapiro '11 Makes US Gymnastics Team, Commits to Stanford". Olympic Hopeful, Windward's Sami Shapiro '11 Makes US Gymnastics Team, Commits to Stanford.
  3. ↑ "Samantha Shapiro - Floor Exercise - 2008 Pacific Rim Championships". USA Gymnastics/YouTube. Retrieved April 30, 2009.
  4. ↑ "U.S. Takes Five Golds at Pan American Championships". International Gymnast/accessdate=November 25, 2008.
  5. ↑ "World Cup Bars Champion Shapiro Interviews with USA Gymnastics". USA Gymnastics. USA Gymnastics/accessdate=17th March 2009.
  6. ↑ "Sam Shapiro named to 2010 National Team".
  7. ↑ Inside Gymnastics. "And the Cover Goes To...". Inside Gymnastics\publisher+Inside Gymnastics.
  8. ↑ http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/shapiro_samantha00.html
  9. ↑ http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=25112
  10. ↑ http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-gym/spec-rel/081512aaa.html
  11. ↑ http://www.gostanford.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30600&ATCLID=209228004
  12. ↑ http://www.gostanford.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30600&ATCLID=208082539
  13. ↑ http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_25605298/local-sports-digest-stanford-gymnasts-excel-at-ncaa
  14. ↑ http://www.gostanford.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30600&ATCLID=209455047
  15. ↑ http://pac-12.com/article/2014/04/14/pac-12-names-all-academic-womens-gymnastics-teams
  16. ↑ http://www.gostanford.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30600&ATCLID=209445256

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