CHANDLER KING: When other people watch me they say, ‘Oh, my god! How do you do that?’
CHANDLER KING: And they are so impressed. But when I do it, it’s not that hard. It’s pretty easy.
CAM J KING: She’s always wanted to be a gymnast as long as I can remember.
CHANDLER KING: My favourite thing about gymnastics is that I get to meet new people and I get
to go to a lot of places and I get to show off my new skills and I get to perform.
CHANDLER KING: I do love performing.
CHANDLER KING: On floor I get to perform more and show off all my cool dance moves and personality.
The whole gym would just stop and watch when I start to do my floor routine because it’s really sassy.
COMM: At just 10 years old, gymnast Chandler King is on the fast track to becoming an Olympic star.
RAJAUL KING: Chandler started gymnastics quite some time ago. I would say about 6 years ago
when she was about 3-4 years old. We kind of noticed she had a little gift for balance and strength.
LATOIKA KING: Around 6 years old that’s when she said, ‘I want to go to the Olympics.’
That’s when she, kind of, really got serious and that’s when she started doing a lot
of hours. She practices almost 30 hours a week and you hear sometimes, you know, ‘ Oh,
why do you make your child do that?’ No, you can’t make a child be somewhere for
that amount of time, like it is her passion. When she comes home she is still flipping
in the living room. She is still practicing on the beam.
CAM J KING: She is constantly doing tricks and stuff, like around the house.
CHANDLER KING: Oh my god Daddy!
RAJAUL KING: She embraces the moment to perform in front of people and in front of
the lights, you know, and to perform well.
BRIAN GEMBERLING: She has a drive. It’s her personality. She always wants to be the
best. She is a kid that thrives off the competition.
COMM: Chandler recently shot up from level 4 to level 7 out of a possible 10.
BRIAN GEMBERLING: She exceeds on bars for sure. She did level 7 this year and she definitely
was undefeated on bars. She went 95, which is obviously the best of the 100. Bars is
the event that the US struggles on a lot. So, she has a great opportunity.
CHANDLER KING: Bars is not my favourite but that’s the best event that I am best at.
I normally win a lot of medals on bars and some on floor. My favourite gymnastics trick
to do is double packs off the bars into the pit.
BRIAN GEMBERLING: She just turned 10 years old. So, she is definitely on the feeder track
towards the Olympics.
LATOIKA KING: Last year she had an accident
on bars and we had to call the ambulance to the gym. We were really nervous. It didn’t
turn out to be anything on the CAT scan but she, kind of, injured her neck a little bit
and had a concussion.
CHANDLER KING: Oh my god, that’s the best
thing I’ve, I’ve ever done in my whole life. I did 5.
BRIAN GEMBERLING: I wish I saw it. Got it on camera I guess.
RAJAUL KING: As far as how many medals she has, I would say about 30-40 medals at this point.
LATOIKA KING: But it’s never been about the medals for her. Like, even when she gets
first prize, like, I am like, ‘I will put your medals on this.’ She is like, ‘No, I am fine.’
CHANDLER KING: What we are looking at is all of my medals that I have won this year and
a lot of them are gold and silver. Some of them are bronze.
COMM: With numerous competitions under her belt, Chandler is already on the invite list
to the US National Squad. At this rate the Olympic team should be well within her reach.
RAJAUL KING: I am not scared to say it I am super proud of her drive. I am super proud
of her focus. I am just super proud of her being able to handle it all. Because it is
a lot when you think of a 9 or 10 year old performing in a sport that requires so much
concentration and so much discipline and so much time and effort. Whatever she decides
to do, her character is being built right now.
CHANDLER KING: My main goal in gymnastics in the future is to go to the Olympics and
make gold all around.