Beckerman earns spot on Olympic gymnastics team Strong showing at Sunday’s trials results in first alternate selection

Beckerman earns spot on
Olympic gymnastics team
Strong showing at
Sunday’s trials results in
first alternate selection

MARIE ORTIZ THE CHASE IS ON — Glenn Parisi of the Monmouth Rugby Football Club runs with the ball while teammate Jim Shaw (l) shouts encouragement during Saturday’s Jersey Shore Rugby Tournament in Sea GIrt.

Alyssa Beckerman made her dream come true over the weekend, but not before some anxious moments nearly cost her a spot on the U.S Olympic gymnastics team.

Going into the U.S Olympic Trials in Boston this weekend, the former Middletown High School South star was expected to be a strong contender for one of the seven available spots on the team.

A strong showing (fifth) at last month’s U.S. Gymnastics Championship in St. Louis put Beckerman, 19, in a strong contending position for the trials, which uses a combination of scores from the trials and the nationals in its overall final standings.

However, despite her strong showing at the nationals, Beckerman knew that she needed to compete well this weekend in order to convince gymnastics guru Bela Karolyi, who headed the committee that chose the six-member Olympic team, that she deserved a trip to Sydney.

In order to lure Karolyi out of retirement to assemble another dream team, the four-person selection committee was established because he argued that the new process would result in the best team. He said that he could take someone who is dominant in one particular event rather than selecting six gymnasts who have high overall scores.

At Friday’s preliminary competition, Beckerman nearly ended the speculation concerning her chance for a spot on the team with a disappointing 12th-place finish.

It was a night when Beckerman simply made too many mistakes, including a slip on the uneven bars, her favorite event, when her foot struck the bar, causing her to lose her grip. She finished 12th in that event.

Her contingent of fans, all of whom traveled from as far as Middletown and Cincinnati, where she trains, as well as Florida, where her grandparents live, could only watch as Beckerman’s shot at the Olympics seemed to slip away with each mistake.

Her bad luck continued on the balance beam, where she stumbled only to keep herself from falling off several times. A ninth-place finish on the beam prolonged the nightmare.

The vault and the floor exercise were not any better, as Beckerman managed to score a 13th- and a 12th-place finish, leaving her in 12th place overall at the end of the first day of competition.

But like a true champion, Beckerman remained positive, determined to improve her performance on Sunday to earn a trip to Sydney.

On Saturday, Beckerman spent the entire day preparing herself for what would be the most important day of competition in her life. She knew that she needed to have a spectacular showing in order to convince Karolyi and the committee that she had what it takes to perform under pressure.

But somehow, despite the abundance of pressure she must have felt on her shoulders, Beckerman was confident. In fact, she boldly predicted that despite her poor showing in the prelims, she would rebound on Sunday and make the team.

Sunday’s competition gave Beckerman the opportunity to demonstrate why she has such confidence in her ability.

With the pressure at its highest point, the 5-foot-7 kid from Middletown managed to finish fourth in Sunday’s all-around competition. Along the way she put up high scores on the uneven bars (9.625 for second), the balance beam (9.550 for third), and most importantly, the floor exercise, where her 9.600 earned her fifth.

After the competition, while hiding in the bathroom waiting to hear her fate, Beckerman learned that she is going to Sydney. She was chosen as the first alternate for the Olympic Team during the closed-door committee meeting that directly followed the competition.

She will join a team which features former gold-medalists, a national champion, and will be led, of course, by the legendary Karolyi.

Her eighth-place overall finish following her disappointing showing on Friday was enough to convince the committee that she deserves a spot on the team, more so than any other competitor who actually finished ahead of her in the overall standings. Vanessa Atler, who finished sixth despite an inconsistent showing throughout the competition, did not earn a spot on the team.

Former gold-medalist Dominique Dawes, who finished seventh, will compete for gold again, along with her teammate from 1996, Amy Chow. They will be joined by national champion Elise Ray (first), Kristen Maloney (third), Morgan White (fourth) and Jamie Dantzscher (fifth).

Although they will be the six gymnasts representing the United States in Sydney, Beckerman will be right behind them, willing to participate if needed. And she knows that there is still a chance that she will compete because the coaches can move the alternate in to one of the six competing spots up to 48 hours before the Olympics.

But either way, Alyssa Beckerman has earned a trip to Sydney, overcoming enormous odds along the way. And when the Olympics begin, she will be there, representing the nation.

She’s hopeful that she’ll get the chance to compete because she has proved that she can handle the pressure.

In fact, following her performance on Sunday, she’s already proved that she is a champion.