Athletes - Courtney Kupets

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	Athletes - Courtney Kupets

Courtney Anne Kupets (born July 27, 1986 in Bedford, Texas) is an American gymnast. She is best known for her 2003 and 2004 all-around national championships (with Carly Patterson as co-champion in 2004); her membership on the 2003 world championship and 2004 Olympic silver medal-winning teams; and her individual bronze medal on the uneven bars at the 2004 Olympics.

Kupets resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland and trains there for 35 hours each week. She was a member of the Colonel Zadok A. Magruder High School gymnastics team during her teen years. Her older sister, Ashley Kupets, is a gymnast at the University of Georgia, and her father was a college football player.

While she is considered best on the uneven bars, Kupets excels on the other events as well, with her balance beam routine in particular having a 10.0 start value, the same as her bars routine. Her lowest-valued skill is her Omelianchik vault, which has a 9.5. start value, though her Podkopayeva has a 9.7 and is frequently used in competitions requiring harder skills and higher scores. The floor exercise Kupets does is valued at a 9.9.

Early gymnastics history

Kupets began competing in gymnastics in 1989, reaching the elite level in 1999. She has been competing at the senior elite level since 2002, and was selected to join the U.S. national team shortly after reaching that level.

At the 2002 world championships in Debrecen, Hungary, Kupets passed all other competitors, including five-time defending champion Svetlana Khorkina, to win the uneven bars event, making her only the third American woman ever to achieve the feat.

In 2003, Kupets became the U.S. national champion for the first time. At the world championships, Kupets was considered a front-runner in the all-around and uneven bars events, but ended up tearing her Achilles' tendon during a practice session. After she withdrew from the event, the U.S. team went on to win the team championship, an accomplishment Kupets still receives credit for regardless of her absence from the finals due to her contributions prior to her withdrawal.

In 2004, Kupets was named the co-national champion with Patterson in Anaheim, California, the same place where she had torn her Achilles' the previous year. A few weeks later, Kupets placed highest overall at the U.S. Olympic trials, earning a spot on the Olympic team.

2004 Olympic Games

At the Olympics in Athens, Greece, Kupets won a silver medal with her fellow U.S. team members in the team all-around competition. It had originally been decided that she would compete on each of the events aside from vault; however, after injuring a hamstring in practice between the uneven bars and floor exercise, her balance beam position was given to teammate Mohini Bhardwaj. In the two events she competed in, Kupets received the team's highest score on uneven bars with a 9.662 out of a 10.0 start value — putting the U.S. team temporarily ahead of eventual winner Romania in the standings — but also received the lowest on floor exercise with a 9.187 out of a 9.9 after faltering on a dance combination that had just recently been added to her routine.

Kupets competed in the individual all-around at the Olympics after placing 4th overall (37.937) in the qualifying round on the first day of competition, when the team qualifications also took place. Even though she was dealing with her injury, Kupets finished 9th overall in the all-around with a score of 37.112, a little over one point behind winner who scored a 38.387.

Her final score in the all-around was hurt by an unusually low-scoring routine on the balance beam (8.975), as well as a step out of bounds on the floor exercise, where Kupets scored 9.237. As usual, her highest scoring event was the bars, where she received a 9.625; Kupets also scored a 9.275 on the vault (out of a 9.7) after taking a step with her landing. Although she had not been expected to medal after her injury, Kupets said after the event that she was happy she had competed regardless.

Kupets won the bronze medal in the individual uneven bars competition with a score of 9.637, behind Émilie Lepennec of France (9.687) and fellow American gymnast Terin Humphrey (9.662). Kupets also finished 5th in the individual balance beam competition with a score of 9.375 out of a 10.0. She did not qualify to compete in the individual floor exercise and vault competitions.

After the Olympics

After returning from Athens, Kupets travelled across the United States with other gymnasts on an exhibition tour sponsored by retailer T.J. Maxx. She has accepted a full scholarship offer from the University of Georgia and began there in the autumn of 2005. She is currently competing in the NCAA. http://www.gazette.net/200450/sports/updates/248870-1.html] As of February 28th, 2006, she is ranked first in the all-around, and very high in all of the individual events in the NCAA! She has debuted some new skills in NCAA, including a new double layout dismount off of bars.

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