NBC Dallas-Fort Worth – A sport teaching grace, turning little girls into young women, clings to a new class of athletes at Texas Dreams Gymnastics.
At 16, Kennedy Baker is a rising star. A third place finish at the 2012 Secret U.S. Classic followed by an eighth place finish at the 2012 Visa Championships sealed her spot at the 2012 Olympic Trials.
“I feel like I can do anything,” Baker said. “I feel like everything’s possible.”
The Flower Mound native is just one of 15 young women in the country who qualified for this year’s Olympic Trials.
Bailie Key, 13, lives in Coppell and also trains at Texas Dreams. The U.S. Junior National Team member is too young to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, but she’s looking toward the future.
“I want to go to the 2016,” Key said, “Pushing myself knowing that I did everything I could every day in the gym, with no regrets.”
At the helm of their workouts is their coach, Kim Zmeskal-Burdette.
The 1992 Olympian became the first American woman to win a world all-around championship title, but Zmeskal-Burdette says the journey is what matters most.
“It absolutely has to be about do you enjoy waking up and putting that leotard on, running around that floor and lifting your knees higher than that person next to you and going OK, I’m a little nervous about this skill but I trust that I’ve done all the preparation and I’m going to make it happen,” she said.
Above all, she wants her gymnasts to have fun.
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