Samantha Peszek

Samantha Peszek
Full name	Samantha Peszek
Nickname(s)	Sam
Country represented	United States
Hometown	McCordsville, Indiana
Height	1.52m (5 ft 0 in)
Weight	50kg (110lb)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Club	Sharp's Gymnastics Academy
Head coach(es)	Marvin Sharp
Former coach(es)	Peter Zhao
Music	Whatever Lola Wants (Sarah Vaughan & Gotan project)
Medal record Gymnastics Summer Olympics 2008 Beijing Team competition World Championships 2007 Stuttgart Team Pan American Games Rio de Janeiro 2007 Team

Samantha Peszek (born December 14, 1991 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American national team gymnast. She is a member of the United States' 2008 Olympic women's gymnastics team. She was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and the 2007 Pan American Games.

In March 2008, she competed at the American Cup. She placed 3rd in the all-around competition, behind teammates Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson.

After a solid performance at the 2008 U.S. National Championships, Peszek continued to prove her worth to the U.S. team at the Olympic Trials. At the conclusion of the meet, when she was invited to the final Olympic selection camp, most experts, including NBC's analysts, predicted she would be selected for the team. Indeed, she was selected on July 19, 2008 at the conclusion of the selection camp in New Waverly, Texas. Along with Peszek, Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Chellsie Memmel, Alicia Sacramone, and Bridget Sloan were also selected for the team.

She has high-difficulty skills such as a standing tucked full to immediate back pike (beam) and double twisting double (floor)

Peszek lives in McCordsville, Indiana and attends Cathedral High School. She also attended St.Simon the Apostle Grade School where she got high honors.

During the 2008 Summer Olympics, Peszek was injured during warm-ups just minutes before the women's qualifier and was restricted to the Uneven Bars. She was the second gymnast to be injured on the 2008 Women's gymnastics Olympic team, the other being Chellsie Memmel.

After Beijing, Peter Zhao, Peszek's long-time coach at DeVeau's School of Gymnastics, retired from coaching and returned to China to help with his family business. Peszek transferred to Sharp's Gymnastics Academy. She currently trains alongside Olympic teammate Bridget Sloan.

Routine Skills

• Vault - Double Twisting laid out Yurchenko
• Uneven bars - Straight Mount to High Bar; Kip; 1.5 pirouette; Gienger; Transition to lower bar in handstand; Stalder Transition to High Bar, Full pirouette, Double Twisting Dismount
• Floor Exercise - Double twisting double back; 2.5 Twist to a full twist; triple turn; Arabian Double Front; Double Back Pike.
• Balance Beam - Standing tucked full twist to a Back Pike; Front Aerial; Back handspring to stepped out layout; Sheep Jump; Split Jump; Front pike; Full turn with legs at 90 degrees; Round off to a double pike dismount

Competitive history

2008 season

Year	Competition	Location	Event	Final-Rank	Final-Score	Qualifying Rank	Qualifying Score
2008	2008 Summer Olympics	Beijing	Team	2	186.525	2	246.800
			Uneven Bars	DNQ	N/A	23	14.800
	Olympic Trials	Philadelphia	All Around	4	61.850	4	61.400
			Balance Beam	4	15.550	4	15.800
			Floor Exercise	2	15.500	3	15.650
			Uneven Bars	6	15.200	5	15.300
			Vault	4	15.150	3	15.100
	U.S. Championships	Boston	All Around	4	61.250	4	60.750
			Balance beam	5	16.000	5	15.400
			Floor Exercise	10	14.750	4	15.200
			Uneven Bars	6	15.550	6	15.150
	American Cup	New York City	All Around	3	63.075	3	63.075

2007 season

Year	Competition	Location	Event	Final-Rank	Final-Score	Qualifying Rank	Qualifying Score
2007	World Championships	Stuttgart	Team	1	184.400	1	245.025
			Vault	N/A	DNQ	N/A	15.050
			Uneven Bars	N/A	DNQ	N/A	14.875
			Floor Exercise	N/A	DNQ	N/A	14.500
	U.S Championships	San Jose	All Around	7	59.850	11	56.450
			Uneven Bars	10	14.700	13	13.950
			Balance Beam	9	15.000	13	13.950
			Floor Exercise	10	15.050	15	13.550
	Pan American Games	Rio de Janeiro	Team	1	243.225	1	243.225

2006 season (Junior Career)

Year	Competition	Location	Event	Final-Rank	Final-Score	Qualifying Rank	Qualifying Score
2006	U.S Championships	Saint Paul	All Around	3	59.650	3	59.800
			Balance Beam	7	14.900	7	14.700
			Uneven Bars	3	15.200	3	15.050
			Floor Exercise	5	14.350	5	14.600
			Vault	2	15.200	2	15.300
	Pan American Championships	Gatineau	Team	1	179.500	1
			All Around	4	59.250
			Floor Exercise	1	15.100
			Vault	2	14.387

• Scores from U.S. National Championships and Olympic Trials are totaled from 1st and 2nd day meets to produce a final score.

Floor Music

2008: "Whatever Lola Wants" by The Gotan Project
2007: "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou 2006: ?
2005: "Mr. Pinstripe Suit" by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

External links

• Samantha Peszek at the International Gymnastics Federation
• Samantha Peszek at USA Gymnastics
• 597 at Team USA (archived)

• Peszek on Twitter