Life as an elite gymnast is a balancing act.
For Jordan Chiles, 2015 has provided challenges beyond her everyday school to gymnastics to homework schedule.
Growing pains meant extra physical therapy sessions, and forced her coaches at Naydenov Gymnastics in Vancouver to weigh the value of needed training against the impact on Chiles’ hurting body.
Despite those hurdles, the 14-year-old remains one of the top gymnasts in the United States.
At last month’s P&G Championships in Indianapolis — the national championship event for USA Gymnastics — Chiles placed fourth all-around in the juniors competition for gymnasts 15 and younger.
Her effort was highlighted by a championship effort on the vault, where she nailed a double twist for a score of 15.5.
For the third year in a row, Chiles is one of six girls on the USA Gymnastics Junior National Team. In the fall, she will travel to Belgium to represent the United States internationally for the second time.
Given this year’s training challenges, making the junior national team again is a significant accomplishment for Chiles, according to Erika Bakacs, who along with Dimitri Taskov has coached Chiles for seven years at Naydenov Gymnastics.
A freshman at Prairie High School, Chiles is the only member of the junior national team who is not old enough to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games. Her April 2001 birthday makes her four months too young.
“I don’t think about (missing the Olympics) unless someone brings it up,” she said.
Still, competing and training with aspiring Olympians over the next year should help Chiles as she works to perfect more difficult skills. She and her coaches make several visits a year to the USAG National Training Center in Texas.
Making it to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is her goal.
But it cannot be her focus now.
“She has to look a little bit closer and perform really well next year,” Bakacs said. “And then the following year she’ll be a senior (gymnast), so she can gain a lot of experience by going to the world championships and senior (national team) assignments. So her advantage will be that she will be a more experienced athlete.”
Another advantage, according to her coach, is Chiles’ skill on all four events. She does not rely on one or two specialties to raise her all-around score.
At the U.S. Senior Classic in July — a competition Chiles won in 2014 — leg cramps contributed to a disappointing eighth-place all-around score.
Bakacs called Chiles’ performance at the Classic brave. But both coach and athlete were disappointed.
“After what happened at Secret Classic, I knew I had to push harder at my practices here and at my practices (at nationals). I did do the practices well at the P&G Championships. It pushed me forward to do better at the competitions. I knew I was ready.”
To help Chiles’ confidence, Bakacs decided to step back from some newer skills at the nationals. The winning vault was one example. Instead of attempting a 2 1/2 -twist vault, she went with a double twist — and nailed it. Bakacs said the 15.5 score might be the highest ever earned for a double twist vault.
“Her vault was extraordinary,” Bakacs said.
Chiles’ athletic ability stood out to Bakacs from the moment Jordan showed up at Naydenov as a spirited 7-year-old whose parents Gina and Tim hoped would tumble away some of her abundant energy.
Seven years later, posters of Chiles at major competitions adorn the walls of the facility near Vancouver Mall, and Jordan is a hero to many of the young girls who see her there six to seven hours each day.
Bakacs said the goal for 2015-16 is to incorporate more difficult skills into Chiles competition routines, increasing her potential to score high. Even without an Olympic team spot in the balance, another challenging year lies ahead as Jordan adjusts to high school, staying disciplined about her studies, rest and nutrition.
“The requirements are still there, and the pressure is still there for her to achieve her potential,” Bakacs said. “She still has a lot to learn.”
