2016 Olympic Hopeful Norah Flatley Set for International Debut

Mar 19, 2014 by Anne Phillips

In the past six years, I have traveled the globe covering gymnastics - everything from level 6 State to the Olympic Games. And every so often, I'll spot one special athlete who shows immense promise of being "the next big thing". I had a moment like this back in 2010. Amy Robertson and I were covering the event finals session of the Northern Lights Classic club meet in Minnesota. From across the gym, I spotted a tiny gymnast with pigtail buns waiting to warm up for beam. She was barely taller than the apparatus, and oh so cute. Then, she climbed up on the beam and began to warm up her skills. She was incredible.

Moments later, Amy captured her gold medal level 8 beam routine, and tiny Norah Flatley was introduced to the Gymnastike community. Flatley captivated the crowd and was awarded a huge 9.85 from the judges. This was just a couple days before her 10th birthday.

Watch here:

At the time, Flatley was training at Salto Gymnastics with Jim Chudy, Chellsie Memmel's first elite coach. Soon after, Chudy retired. Norah and her mom made the mature decision to relocate to Iowa and train with famed coaches Liang Chow and Liwen Zhuang at Chow's Gymnastics and Dance.

As evidenced above, Norah's always been a "beamer", but the training at Chow's has taken her natural beam ability to the next level with the signature Chow's "finish" after every skill, just like 2008 Olympic Beam Champion Shawn Johnson to which Norah is often compared.

Watch Flatley train beam, filmed during our Beyond the Routine shoot at Chow's last summer:

In her first year at Chow's, 2011, Flatley concluded her season at the Level 9 Western Nationals, winning all around, beam, and floor. The following year, Flatley and Chow tackled level 10. Once again, she won beam at Nationals and finished 3rd all around.

The obvious next step was to jump right into junior elite competition. However, as coach Chow famously told us in his Beyond the Routine feature, he likes to "slow cook" his elites. He doesn't believe in rushing his athletes and is the master of pacing for the Olympic Games. So, Flatley quietly spent the next year training hard and working upgrades. She finally made her elite debut in 2013 and the results were downright impressive.

In her very first major elite competition, the July 2013 Secret U.S. Classic, the 13-year-old won beam and finished 4th in the all around. In fact, little Flatley posted the highest beam score for both the junior and senior divisions. The following month, Flatley competed in her very first elite nationals, the 2013 P&G Championships. She finished 5th all around, the highest placement by a first year elite, and won the silver medal on beam. She also earned a place on the U.S. Junior National team in her first try. After the competition, she told us, "I'm super excited. It's been one of my dreams for a really long time."

And just like that, the little beam phenom from Wisconsin was introduced to the World as a 2016 Olympic hopeful.

To say that it's difficult to predict an Olympic Gymnastics Champion more than two years out from the Games in an understatement. But right now, Flatley has all the makings of a Champion with a master coach by her side. Plus, she'll turn sixteen in March of 2016, just in time for the Rio Olympic Games. Personally, I'm feeling great about her chances.

Now, two years out from potential Olympic glory, Flatley and Chow will make their first trip overseas together as she will make her much anticipated international debut at the 2014 City of Jesolo Trophy. National Team Coordinator Martha Karolyi will be keeping a close eye on Flatley as there are three junior spots up for grabs for the April 2014 Pacific Rim Championships. Flatley will take to the podium along with the U.S. Junior team on Saturday, March 22 in the Jesolo Team and All Around Finals.

Gymnastike is in Jesolo providing unprecedented video coverage of the 2014 City of Jesolo Trophy and Flatley's World Premiere. Gymnastike Gold is the ONLY place you can watch Flatley and the junior team's first day of competition as well as Jesolo training videos. Click HERE to sign up for exclusive training and competition videos from Jesolo.

Update: Watch Flatley train her new beam routine during the first day of training in Jesolo!