Kayla Williams, 16, looked like an old pro in winning the vault title yesterday at the World Gymnastics Championships.
(Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
World Gymnastics Championships
Williams, 16, first US woman to take vault gold
Kayla Williams, 16, looked like an old pro in winning the vault title yesterday at the World Gymnastics Championships.
(Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
LONDON - Kayla Williams probably ruins the curve in her classes at school, too.
The 16-year-old from Huntington, W.Va., who was still competing at the level below elite five months ago, looked like an old pro yesterday in winning the vault title at the World Gymnastics Championships. Only when she stood atop the podium did she seem overwhelmed, taking several deep breaths as she waited for the gold medal to be put around her neck and fighting back tears as the national anthem played.
Just how big a leap was this? Think LeBron James going straight from high school to the NBA - if James had won the NBA title his rookie year.
“This past five months, or however long it’s been, has been the most hectic and crazy,’’ Williams said, wide-eyed. “But I’ve learned a lot and I finished it off as best I could.’’
China, meanwhile, finished things off in its usual fashion, winning three of the five titles yesterday. He Kexin added a world title to her Olympic gold on uneven bars, Zhang Hongtao won pommel horse, and Yan Mingyong closed the day with a win on still rings.
Romania’s Marian Dragulescu won his fourth world floor title - not bad for a guy who retired after the Beijing Olympics.
Williams’s rise just doesn’t happen in gymnastics. Newcomers do make a splash at the World Championships or Olympics all the time, but odds are they’ve had some international seasoning at the junior level at least.
Not Williams. She was at the Level 10 championships in May, so far off the radar that her only trip to the Karolyi ranch before the world team was selected was for a developmental camp.
“My teammates and the rest of the USA delegation have been very good about telling me to treat it like just another meet,’’ Williams said. “If I was by myself, I’d definitely be a nervous wreck.’’
This was the first world vault title by a US woman, giving the Americans four medals in three events. Bridget Sloan and Rebecca Bross went 1-2 in the all-around Friday, and Bross tied for bronze on uneven bars yesterday.
“That’s a huge accomplishment,’’ Sloan said. “She should be very, very proud of herself.’’
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