Courtney Kupets

58

Courtney Kupets : biography

July 27, 1986 –

Kupets tore her right Achilles tendon on floor exercise during a meet against Arkansas in March 2008, the second such injury she has suffered in her career. She was out for the remainder of the season, which saw her Gym Dogs win their fourth consecutive NCAA title.

The 2009 season got off to a fantastic start for Kupets, who was named SEC Gymnast of the week the first four weeks of the season and won the all-around for seven straight meets.http://www.georgiadogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8800&ATCLID=3669884 Against Alabama Kupets had perhaps the best meet of her regular-season collegiate career, recording a then career-best 39.825 to win the all-around and achieving perfect 10.00 scores on uneven bars and on beam.http://www.georgiadogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=8800&ATCLID=3631954 After failing to win the all-around for the first time all season against Arkansas,http://www.georgiadogs.com/pdf4/379636.pdf?ATCLID=3674923&SPSID=44934&SPID=4004&DB_OEM_ID=8800 Kupets returned to form and was named SEC Gymnast of the Week for the fourth time in the 2009 season after Georgia’s home meet against Florida, in which she scored the first perfect 10.00 of her career on floor en route to once again winning the all-around title with another then career-best of 39.850. Though the Gym Dogs faltered at the SECs and suffered their only defeat of the season, Kupets again claimed the all-around title and was named SEC Gymnast of the Year. She led the Gym Dogs to a win at Regionals with another all-around win and a 10.00 on vault, giving her 10.00s on every apparatus in the 2009 season. At the NCAA championships, she became national all-around champion for a record-tying third time, earning a 10.00 on beam en route to defeating runner-up Kristina Baskett of Utah with a 39.800, thus winning the all-around in all but one 2009 meet. The night afterward, Kupets played a central role in helping the Georgia team win their fifth consecutive and tenth overall NCAA championship, posting a career-best 39.900, with 10.00s on the uneven bars and vault bringing her 10.00 season total to seven, and her career total to eight. At the individual event finals, she won the bars and beam titles (beating fellow Gym Dog, 2004 Olympic Teammate, and best friend, Courtney McCool, on beam), tied to win floor, and placed third in vault, giving her a new NCAA record of an unprecedented nine individual NCAA titles to end her college career. Kupets is the only NCAA gymnast ever to win the all-around and every individual event. On June 22, 2009 Kupets was awarded the Honda-Broderick Cup, which is given to the top female college athlete.

Early gymnastics history

Kupets began competing in gymnastics in 1989, earned a place on the TOPS developmental team in 1994, and tested elite in 1999. One of the first gyms she trained at as an elite gymnast was Richmond Olympiad Gymnastics Academy in Richmond, Virginia along with her older sister. At her first US National Championships in 1999, she placed eighth in the junior division and became a member of the national team.

In 2002 during her first year as a senior competitor, Kupets placed a close second in the American Cup competition, behind Olympian Tasha Schwikert, and she placed eighth at Nationals. Nonetheless, her selection to the US team for the 2002 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Debrecen, Hungary was seen as a surprise by many. At Worlds, Kupets passed all other competitors, including five-time defending champion Svetlana Khorkina, to win the uneven bars event, making her only the second American woman ever to achieve the feat.

In 2003, Kupets won the US Classic and became the U.S. national champion for the first time. She was named to the US team for the 2003 World Championships in Anaheim, California. At Worlds, Kupets competed well in the team qualifying round, contributing to the USA’s high placement and qualifying to the all-around and uneven bars final. However, during a practice session before the team finals, Kupets tore her left Achilles’ tendon on a double Arabian somersault and was forced to withdraw from the event, returning home to Maryland immediately for emergency surgery. The US team went on to win the World Championships; Kupets was still considered a member of the squad and received credit and a medal for her contributions in the preliminaries.