Houry was a scholarship athlete at the University of Iowa between 2008-2011 and won a Big Ten Beam Title. She has a great story on how she began to compete for Armenia at the world championships and ultimately becoming the first armenian female gymnast to compete at the Olympic games. She has now moved onto coaching both club and future armenian gymnasts along with helping aspiring collegiate gymnasts with the recruiting process. She has done it all and is on our show today to give us her story of drive and determination to achieve her dreams. We welcome back Houry Gebeshian to the show today.
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Show Breakdown
5:22 – How and Why Houry decided to compete at the elite level for Armenia
7:16 – Transition from college to elite
9:22 – Experience as college athlete at Iowa and being 2011 Big Ten Beam Champion.
12:11 – What brought Houry back to competitive gymnastics after her short time as an elite in 2011?
14:45 – IF IF IF IF, You have the passion why not go for it.
16:25 – Competing at the 2015 World Championships in Scotland
19:08 – Experience of the new World Championships introductions (FIRE)
20:32 – Rio Olympic Test Event Experience
22:54 – Arriving at the 2016 Rio Olympics, village, lost luggage
24:12– The moment of realization of being an Olympian
27:08 -Talking about being part of the Armenian delegation at the opening ceremonies and in village
29:40– Marching out and competing at the Olympics
31:22 – Getting The “Gebeshian” bar mount
34:02 – Was the olympics all you dreamed of?
35:35 – Gym World and the owners impact on your olympic journey
39:14- MR G ( the late Ron Ganim)
41:12- Transition to coaching (coaching in Region 5 at Gym World)
43:22– Coaching at the elite level for Armenia and building up Armenian Gymnastics
45:16– What has Houry gained from her experiences in gymnastics?
If your interested in help with the college recruiting process Houry and Full out Recruiting are there to help. Check out their website at https://fulloutcollegiaterecruiting.com for more information.
Our next 20 Questions Athlete is a little dynamo from Cincinnati Gymnastics in Ohio. Ava Molina, is another outstanding former Level 9 who is one of my favorite athletes to watch, I saw this talent youngster a few times throughout the season, but it was the Region 5 Championships where she really caught my eye while watching her perform on the Balance Beam. Ava, who will be embarking on her first season at a Level 10, performed a triple series on Beam which not many Level 9 athletes do. Ava, who loves to perform on floor, is a bouncy ball of energy you just cannot help but smile while you watch her on the floor. Full of both power, grace and talent she is definitely going to be one to watch as she enters into Level 10 this season and tries to qualify to her first JO Nationals. Lets get to know this incredibly talented young athlete a little bit better as she gears up for competition season.
How did you get into gymnastics? How old were you? I decided I wanted to start gymnastics when I was 7 years old after I watched my sister compete for about a year.
What is your favorite event? My favorite event is floor because I love to perform! Video
Favorite Skill to train/compete? My favorite skill to train is a back-handspring, layout, layout on beam.
Dream Skill? My dream skill is a standing full on beam!
What is your favorite part of gymnastics? My favorite part of gymnastics is the excitement and joy of getting a new skill.
What is your favorite meet to compete at? Why? My favorite meet to compete at is our home meet, the CGA Coaches Spectacular. I love that my family and friends can come and watch me compete!
Biggest accomplishment in gymnastics so far? My biggest accomplishment in gymnastics would have to be when I won bars, beam, and all around at the 2018 Level 9 Eastern Nationals!
Who do you most admire in the sport of gymnastics? I most admire Amelia Hundley because no matter what the obstacle was, she was always able to overcome it with her consistent hard work.
What is your favorite Region 5 Insider Feature or Series? I like watching some of the All Access videos because it is cool to see other gyms train. I also like watching some of the Coaches Wired videos because its interesting to hear other coaches last minute corrections before their girls compete.
What is your go to playlist or song before meets? My go to song to listen to before a meet is “Glorious” by Macklemore.
3 Things you could not live without? I couldn’t live without my friends, family, and my phone!
If you could be any animal, what animal would you be and why? If I could be any animal I would be a giraffe because then I would know what it feels like to be tall! 🙂
5 Most Important or Must have Items in your gym bag? The five must have items in my gym bag are my grips, my tiger paws, a roll of tape, a roll of pre wrap, and an extra leo.
Do you have any pre-meet rituals or superstitions? My pre-meet ritual is to write down all my goals for that specific meet in a journal. This really helps me to focus on what I want to accomplish at that meet instead of focusing on nerves.
What do you like to do outside of Gymnastics? Outside of gymnastics I like to hang out with friends, run with my cross country team, and watch Netflix!
Most embarrassing meet moment or gymnastics moment? At our gym’s Fall Festival, my dad beat me in a rope climb contest when I was a level 4. (I could definitely beat him now though!!)
If you weren’t a gymnast, what sport would you do or try? Actually in addition to gymnastics I run cross country, too!
Which athletes (any sport) do you respect the most and why? Again I really admire Amelia Hundley. I had the privilege of watching her train and get ready for the Olympic Trials before she went to Florida. It was inspiring to see her come back from injury and be so successful hitting eight for eight routines at trials!
Most Memorable Gymnastics or JO Nationals Moment? My most memorable moment in gymnastics is winning the 2018 Level 9 Region 5 Championships! I had the best meet of my life with my personal best all around score! I had struggled consistently putting a four for four meet together that season but it all came together that day. I’ll never forget the feeling of winning all around at regionals!
What is the most valuable piece of advice or wisdom your coach has given you? The most valuable advice that a coach has given me is to always continue to try your hardest. Even if you don’t achieve what you wanted in that exact moment of time, you will eventually get it as long as you continue to give your all-in effort.
Bonus Question: Tell me something interesting about yourself…. I have a big extended family, and almost all of them live nearby. We get together often and I love hanging out with all of my cousins… They’re some of my best friends!
Check out Ava’s 2018 Eastern Nationals Photo Gallery
Our next 20 Questions Athlete is the 2018 Level 9 Eastern National Balance Beam Champion. Kylee Vanderbeek of Champion USA in Holland, Michigan is one of my favorite athletes to watch on the Balance Beam and it is no surprise she took the top spot at Nationals in 2018. Kylee exudes an extreme amount of confidence while performing on the Beam, she moves along and tumbles like she is walking across the floor. Each move is sharp, exact and flows from one to the other. it is a very rare quality sometimes to see someone work the Balance Beam like Kylee does. I am extremely excited to see what this season holds for Kylee, she has a brand new floor routine and I’m sure upgrades on the other events as well. Let’s get to know Kylee a little bit better and she is putting the final touches on her routines for the upcoming season.
How did you get into gymnastics? I started doing gymnastics because watching my sister over the years made me decide I wanted to be just like her
How old were you? I was 5 years old
What is your favorite event? My favorite event is beam
Favorite Skill to train/compete? My favorite skill to train would be a back handspring layout step out on beam
Dream Skill? My dream skill would be a double arabian on floor
What is your favorite part of gymnastics? My favorite part about gymnastics is the feeling of getting a new skill that you have been trying to get for a long time, and being able to be with my teammates 24/7
What is your favorite meet to compete at? Why? My favorite meet to compete at would definitely be our home meet because I have all my family and friends there to support me
Biggest accomplishment in gymnastics so far? My biggest accomplishment in gymnastics so far would be being the eastern national beam champion
Who do you most admire in the sport of gymnastics? I admire my sister the most in gymnastics because she is the one that had kept me going
What is your favorite Region 5 Insider Feature or Series? My favorite Region 5 Insider future is watching other gymnasts videos and watching everybody’s new skills and being able to to learn more about other gymnasts in our region
What is your go to playlist or song before meets? My top 3 songs that I would listen to before a meet are Happier, Rise Up, and Battle Scars
3 Things you could not live without? 3 things I could not live without is my family, friends, and gymnastics
If you could be any animal, what animal would you be and why? If I could be any animal I would say a dolphin because I love swimming and I could just swim all day if I were a dolphin
5 Most Important or Must have Items in your gym bag? 5 most important things to have in my gym bag is a Leo, grips, tape, pre-wrap, and a snack
Do you have any pre-meet rituals or superstitions? A pre-meet ritual that I do is always listen to music to get pumped up!
What do you like to do outside of Gymnastics? When I’m outside of the gym I like to spend time with my family and hangout with my friends
Most embarrassing meet moment or gymnastics moment? Most embarrassing meet moment for sure would be when I totally froze in one of my tumbling passes at eastern nationals
If you weren’t a gymnast, what sport would you do or try? If I weren’t a gymnast I would do track
Which athletes (any sport) do you respect the most and why? I respect gymnasts the most because it feels like we are in the gym more than any other sport and we are a year round sport and we don’t have any breaks
Most Memorable Gymnastics or JO Nationals Moment? My most memorable gymnastics moment was being the eastern national beam champion
What is the most valuable piece of advice or wisdom your coach has given you? The most valuable piece of advice that my coach has given me is to always be the best I can be and always go out there and have fun no matter what
Bonus Question: Tell me something interesting about yourself…. Something interesting about me is that I really enjoy hunting and fishing with my dad!
In our Jamaica Vlog 2 we embrace all that Jamaica has to offer and hanging out and bonding with the people of Jamaica. This video has scenery, waterfalls, private beaches, Jamaican dancing, FISH EYE BALLS, and of course some Handstands and Flips. Check it all out as we take it all in Jamaican Mon style.
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