Katelyn Ohashi felt like a rookie.
Her bag did not make it to Hartford, and her turning shoes were inside it. Both arrived in time for podium training Friday (17 July) ahead of the U.S. Classic, where the 29-year-old continues her return to elite gymnastics on Saturday (18 July).
“I learned the hard way,” Ohashi told reporters after training. “Everything goes in the carry-on.”
Podium training is the last practice before the meet, a gymnast’s one chance to feel the competition equipment before it counts. The equipment felt good under her on Friday. That was the most important part.
“Every turn counts, and so it kind of just builds your confidence up,” she said. “There’s mistakes here and there, but just get them out of the way today, and have fun with it, and just figure out the equipment mostly.”
The American Classic, where she returned last month after seven years out of competition, had no podium – the raised platform that holds each apparatus at the sport’s biggest meets.
“American Classic is a lot more intimate. It feels like my everyday workout,” Ohashi said. “This is, ‘OK, there’s only one beam here. You don’t have a beam next to you’.”
The surface is springier, too: “A little bouncier and a little nicer on the body, which is always great for a 29-year-old.”
She was glad to be back on it. “Back on podium, baby,” she called out during her beam rotation.
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read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/gymnastics-katelyn-ohashi-us-classic-return
