Hello, My Name Is: Arianna Ostrum
From the age of seven, Arianna Ostrum’s talent was evident. Now she’s taken her gymnastics career to the national stage.
STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAW) - When she was seven years old, coaches from Russell Gymnastics in Stevens Point found Arianna Ostrum in a gymnastics class at a YMCA in Wisconsin Rapids. It was evident from a very young age that she had something special.
“You could see she was just a very talented little girl at that age,” said David A. Russell, co-owner of Russell Gymnastics.
Even Ostrum herself remembers her gymnastics ability coming naturally.
“I remember my mom telling me like, ‘We need to find you something to do because you’re always on the trampoline,’ said Ostrum. “I just remember going to the Y for the first time and being able to, like, anything honestly.”
Now a freshman at John Edwards High School in Port Edwards, Ostrum has grown leaps and bounds in her gymnastics career, all while continuing to train at Russell.
”They’ve helped me a lot through everything from when I was like seven to fourteen,” said Ostrum. “They’ve helped me a lot to be really good at this and be confident at everything.”
Her schedule consists of the practice for nearly 20 hours over five days a week. Her coaches say it’s that desire to practice and really shape her craft that makes her such a special athlete.
“She is one of those that, if she doesn’t do it right, she’s going to do it again,” said Debra Russell, co-owner of Russell Gymnastics. “She will do it until she gets it right. She’s a true perfectionist.”
“If she doesn’t get it correctly, she does it over and over and the other thing, she has very good form, technique,” added David Russell.
For Ostrum, her motivation is simple. She wants to be great at the next level.
“I want to do my best for my level and I want to do college gymnastics for Division One, so that’s what pushes me to keep going,” said Ostrum.
Ostrum’s practice hasn’t been in vain. She’s excelled at all levels of the sport. This year, she won the USA Gymnastics state competition both in all-around and beam. From there, she went on to place fourth overall at regionals in Minneapolis., while snagging first in the beam. Those finishes earned her a trip to nationals, which were held this past weekend in Phoenix where Ostrum placed 22nd in the all-around and 7th on the beam.
Ahead of the competition, Arianna said it was a mix of nerves and anticipation.
”I’m really excited because I’ve never gone to nationals before,” said Ostrum. “It’s just a lot of people from around the world so you never know how good people are going to be so you want to do your best.”
While Ostrum still has the world in front of her, she’s going to continue training in a place she calls home and with a support group that roots her on every step of the way. Those that know Ostrum best, know she’s got nothing but success on her horizon.
”We just think of her like how well is she going to do,” said Debra Russell. “We know she’s going to hit, but how well is she going to it.”
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