Members of the 620 Athletics troupe came face-to-face with gymnastics royalty last weekend.
Eight young gymnasts — Andrey and Stormi Yoder, Maddie and Adalyn Rausch, Scarlett and Zoey Scheibmeir, Piper Albert and Grace Moyer — traveled from Iola to Norman, Okla., for a three-day camp hosted by two-time Olympic gold medalist Bart Conner, and his wife Nadia Comaneci, arguably the most famous gymnast in history.
It was Comaneci who soared to superstardom when she won five golds, three silvers and a bronze medal spanning two Olympics, including when she scored the first “Perfect 10” in the history of Olympic gymnastics in 1976.
Comaneci and Conner were married nearly 30 years ago.
It was more than a simple meet-and-greet.
Conner, Comaneci and a cadre of pre-eminent coaches and gymnasts from across the country worked with the youngsters on a wide array of disciplines from vaulting and balance beam to parallel bars and floor exercises.
Each day consisted of about five hours of organized instruction, with plenty of supervised “free play’ in the gym between training sessions.
The local gymnasts also worked with Olympic coaching legend Paul Ziert, a longtime University of Oklahoma gymnastics coach, who recruited the aforementioned Conner to compete at OU in the early 1970s. Ziert led his men’s teams to a pair of national championships with Conner at the helm.
Others on hand to help with instruction were Christian Ivanov, a Bulgarian gymnast who competed in the 2000 Olympics and was a medalist at several World Cup events, and Irina Yarotskyaa, a retired Ukrainian gymnast and 2004 Olympian.
Conner hosts two such camps per year for advanced gymnasts.
“The girls, they worked really hard,” 620 Athletics proprietor and head coach Katie Yoder said.
But most of all, the event was geared for the participants to have fun.
Comaneci even brought one of her gold medals — the one in which she earned the perfect score on the parallel bars in 1976.
“They are so kind and gracious,” Yoder said of Conner and Comaneci. “The girls absolutely love them.”
620 Athletics is in the midst of its offseason workouts, where gymnasts train three days a week. Competition season runs January through May.
And while only the advanced students went to Norman, 620 Athletics works with gymnasts of all ages and skill levels.
This year, Yoder has about 90 students enrolled.
