2008 Woodie Awards
Lopez's Olympic dream comes true
Senior is first DU gymnast to go to Olympic Games
Arianna Ranahosseini
Issue date: 9/16/08 Section: Sports
Almost every athlete dreams to compete in the Olympic Games, a dream that only a handful of athletes worldwide will actually experience - a dream of senior All-American Jessica López's that came true this summer in Beijing.
"I can still remember the feeling after each event, the feeling that everything I did was worth it. It doesn't matter after the meet, I was happy with my results. It doesn't matter the results because I think I did the best I could. Just feeling prepared and feeling that I was at the top of my game, and I was enjoying my gymnastics.
"It was good because we worked so hard for so many hours and you only have five minutes of gymnastics and that's it, so you have to enjoy it. I enjoyed every single moment and I enjoyed the competition,` and the feeling of being there and doing your best."
López, the only gymnast representing her native Venezuela, and the first-ever gymnast to compete from DU, finished 43rd of the 62 gymnasts in the women's all-around with a score of 56.175.
Of her four routines, López finished 52nd overall in the floor exercise, scoring 13.95 and finished 61st on both the balance beam and uneven bars with scores of 14.050 and 13.800, as well as 56th overall on the vault recording a 14.375, her highest score of the four events in the Olympic Games.
"I am very happy, I qualified for the Olympics at World where I was 78th in the world and right now, at the Olympics I placed 43rd so that's really good," López said.
"I moved 35 spots and that's really good in nine months. With being a fulltime student-athlete and competing every single week, you don't have that much time to compare, so I think that was good for me."
But López's Olympic achievement did not come easy.
"Right now, looking back, it was fun and it was an amazing experience," López said. "It was hard sometimes, especially in training. It takes a lot of preparation and it takes a lot of hard work. It was really intense training; you have to physically and mentally prepare.
"I can still remember the feeling after each event, the feeling that everything I did was worth it. It doesn't matter after the meet, I was happy with my results. It doesn't matter the results because I think I did the best I could. Just feeling prepared and feeling that I was at the top of my game, and I was enjoying my gymnastics.
"It was good because we worked so hard for so many hours and you only have five minutes of gymnastics and that's it, so you have to enjoy it. I enjoyed every single moment and I enjoyed the competition,` and the feeling of being there and doing your best."
López, the only gymnast representing her native Venezuela, and the first-ever gymnast to compete from DU, finished 43rd of the 62 gymnasts in the women's all-around with a score of 56.175.
Of her four routines, López finished 52nd overall in the floor exercise, scoring 13.95 and finished 61st on both the balance beam and uneven bars with scores of 14.050 and 13.800, as well as 56th overall on the vault recording a 14.375, her highest score of the four events in the Olympic Games.
"I am very happy, I qualified for the Olympics at World where I was 78th in the world and right now, at the Olympics I placed 43rd so that's really good," López said.
"I moved 35 spots and that's really good in nine months. With being a fulltime student-athlete and competing every single week, you don't have that much time to compare, so I think that was good for me."
But López's Olympic achievement did not come easy.
"Right now, looking back, it was fun and it was an amazing experience," López said. "It was hard sometimes, especially in training. It takes a lot of preparation and it takes a lot of hard work. It was really intense training; you have to physically and mentally prepare.
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