Alicia Sacramone
4875216
224999441
2008-07-11T11:39:34Z
88.7.200.150
{{Infobox Gymnast
|gymnastname= Alicia Sacramone
|image=
|imagesize=
|caption=
|fullname=Alicia Marie Sacramone
|nickname=
|country= {{USA}}
|formercountry=
|birthdate= {{birth date and age|1987|12|03}}
|birthplace= [[Winchester, Massachusetts]]
|hometown= [[Winchester, Massachusetts]]
|deathdate=
|deathplace=
|height=
|discipline= Women's Artistic Gymnastics
|level= Senior International Elite
|natlteam=6 (2002-2008)
|club= Brestyan's American Gymnastics
|gym=
|collegeteam=[[Brown University]]
|headcoach= Mihai Brestyan
|assistcoach=Sylvie Brestyan
|formercoach=
|choreographer=
|music=Santa Maria(gotan project)
|eponymousskills=
|retired=
|medaltemplates= <!-- see [[Template:MedalRelatedTemplates]] -->
{{MedalSport|[[Gymnastics]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[World Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2007 Stuttgart]]|Team Competition}}
{{MedalGold|[[2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2005 Melbourne]]|Floor}}
{{MedalSilver|[[2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2007 Stuttgart]]|Floor}}
{{MedalSilver|[[2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2006 Aarhus]]|Team Competition}}
{{MedalSilver|[[2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2006 Aarhus]]|Vault}}
{{MedalBronze|[[2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2007 Stuttgart]]|Vault}}
{{MedalBronze|[[2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2005 Melbourne]]|Vault}}
}}
'''Alicia Marie Sacramone''' (born [[December 3]], [[1987]]) is an American [[artistic gymnast]] from [[Winchester, Massachusetts|
Winchester]], [[Massachusetts]].<ref name="bio1">{{cite web|url=http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/athletes/newbio/athletebios.php?id=307019|title=Alicia Sacramone's current national team biography|publisher=USA Gymnastics|date=2007|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref> A member of the U.S. National Team, she is the 2005 World Champion on [[floor exercise]], the current U.S. National Champion on [[Gymnastics vault|vault]], and a seven-time medalist at the World Championships.
==Early life and career==
Sacramone was born on December 3, 1987 to parents Fred and Gail Sacramone.<ref name="bio2">{{cite web|url=http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/athletes/bios/s/asacramone.pdf|title=Alicia Sacramone's 2004 USAG biography|publisher=USA Gymnastics|date=2004|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref> She is of [[Italian people|Italian]] descent.<ref name="chat">{{cite web|url=http://www.insidegymnastics.com/content/show/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=109&zoneid=1|title=Inside Chat with Alicia Sacramone|publisher=''Inside Gymnastics''|date=2007-07-22|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref> Sacramone has an older brother, Jonathan, who is 5 1/2 years her senior.<ref name=bio2 />
Sacramone began studying dance at the age of 3<ref name=chat /> and started training gymnastics five years later, at age 8, in 1996.<ref name=bio2 /><ref name="si1">{{cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/em_swift/09/09/worlds/|title=What we learned: U.S. women amazingly deep; men aren't bad, either|publisher=''Sports Illustrated''|date=2007-09-09|author=Swift, E.M.|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref> She began her gymnastics career with Romanian coaches Mihai and Silvia Brestyan at Gymnastics and More club and continued to train with them after they opened their own training facility in [[Ashland]]. The Brestyans still serve as Sacramone's coaches.<ref name="usag1">{{cite web|url=http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/news/2003/jan31-03amclassic.html|title=American Classic bounds into Boston March 14-16|publisher=USA Gymnastics|date=2003-01-31|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref><ref name=bio1 />
Sacramone entered the elite ranks in 2002, placing 7th in the all-around and 6th on the vault in the junior division at that year's U.S. Classic competition. At the 2002 U.S. National Championships, she placed 22nd, but achieved a seventh place finish on the [[balance beam]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/events/2002/champs/jrwomen2.txt|title=Scores from 2002 Nationals|publisher=USA Gymnastics|date=2002|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref> Her results improved immensely the next year, when she placed 14th in the all-around and won a bronze medal on the vault at the 2003 U.S. Nationals, earning a spot on the U.S. National gymnastics team. Sacramone also participated in her first international competition in 2003, the Massilia Cup in France, where she placed 4th on the [[floor exercise]] and 9th on vault.
In 2004, Sacramone earned a spot on the American team for the important Pacific Alliance Championships in Hawaii. She contributed several scores to help the team to a gold medal finish and won the individual vault title. Sacramone's strong performances caught the attention of the media, who began to consider her a legitimate contender for the American team at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.<ref name="hawaii">{{cite web|url=http://starbulletin.com/2004/04/17/sports/story1.html|title=Matching Jewelry|publisher=Honolulu ''Star-Bulletin''|date=2004-04-17|author=Wen, Grace|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref><ref name=chat />
However, at the 2004 U.S. Nationals, an error-filled performance dashed Sacramone's hopes of an Olympic berth. Although she tied with [[Mohini Bhardwaj]] for the silver medal on the vault,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intlgymnast.com/events/2004/usa-nationals/results_sr_women_ef.html|title=WAG event final results, 2004 Nationals|publisher=''International Gymnast''|date=2004|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref> she finished in 19th place overall and did not qualify to the Olympic Trials. She also suffered an injury to her back and required time off to recover.<ref name=chat />
==2004-2006==
Sacramone continued competing in late 2004 as a member of the U.S. national team, and was assigned to several international meets, including the Pan American Individual Event Championships, where she won the vault and floor exercise titles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/athletes/athletenews/2004/an-dec04.html|title=1st Pan American Event Championships|publisher=''Athlete News,'' USA Gymnastics|date=2004-12-05|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref> At the World Cup Finals in [[Birmingham]], [[England]], Sacramone attracted media attention again when she upset reigning Olympic [[vault]] champion [[Monica Rosu]] to take first place on the event.
At the 2005 U.S. National Championships, Sacramone won the individual titles on floor and vault, scoring a 9.9 on the latter event, and placed 3rd on the balance beam and 4th in the all-around. She was named to the American team for the 2005 World Championships in [[Melbourne]], [[Australia]], where she won a gold medal on floor and placed 3rd on the vault. She also defended her World Cup vault title successfully in 2005, winning the event at both the World Cup qualifier in [[Ghent]] and the finals in [[Paris]].<ref name=bio1 />
Sacramone continued to compete for the U.S. team in 2006, participating in the 2006 World Championships in [[Aarhus]], where she won a silver medal with the American squad and an individual silver on the vault. She defended her vault and floor titles at that year's U.S. Nationals.<ref name=bio1 />
In September 2006, Sacramone enrolled in [[Brown University]], an [[Ivy League]] school, and joined the Brown gymnastics team. During the 2006-2007 season, she juggled a full [[NCAA]] competition schedule with her elite training at Brestyan's. She is the first female American gymnast since [[Kelly Garrison]] in the late 1980s to combine full-time university studies and NCAA competition with elite gymnastics.<ref name="usatoday">{{cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/summer/2007-08-14-busygymnast_N.htm|title=Double-duty gymnast sets bar high|publisher=''USA Today''|date=August 2007 |author=Garcia, Marlen|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref>
During Sacramone's first year with the Brown Bears, she broke the school's records for the highest scores in the all-around, vault and floor exercise. She was named ECAC Rookie of the Year<ref name="brown1">{{cite web|url=http://brownbears.cstv.com/sports/c-gym/spec-rel/042707aaa.html|title=Sacramone's Gymnastics Season Comes to an End at 2007 NCAA Championships|publisher=Brown Gymnastics|date=2007-04-27 |accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref> and swept the Ivy League Classic, becoming the first gymnast to win all five events and posting the highest all-around total ever recorded at the competition.<ref name="brown2">{{cite web|url=http://brownbears.cstv.com/sports/c-gym/recaps/022607aab.html|title=Bears place fourth at Ivy League Classic|publisher=Brown Gymnastics|date=2007-02-26 |accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref> She qualified as an individual on the floor exercise for the NCAA National Championships, the second Brown gymnast ever to do so, but did not advance beyond the preliminary round.<ref name=brown1 />
==2007==
At the 2007 U.S. National Championships, Sacramone competed on three events, choosing to skip the uneven bars. She defended her title on the vault, placed 2nd on the floor exercise and 3rd on the balance beam. Following Nationals, Sacramone was named to the American team for the World Championships in [[Stuttgart]], [[Germany]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/news/2007/aug18-07-WomensWorldTeam.html|title=USA Gymnastics names U.S. Women’s Team for 2007 World Championships|publisher=USA Gymnastics|date=2007-08-18 |accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref>
During the qualifying round at the World Championships, Sacramone performed well, qualifying for event finals in floor and vault and contributing to the top qualifying position of the American team. Sacramone also posted a score on beam that would have been high enough to qualify her to the beam event final. However, due to the FIG rule only allowing two athletes per country to participate in each event final, and due to the fact that teammates [[Nastia Liukin]] and [[Shawn Johnson]] qualified ahead of her with higher scores, Sacramone was unable to compete for a beam medal. For the team final, Sacramone competed on vault, beam, and floor, earning 15.750, 15.600 and 15.325 respectively. The American team earned 184.400 points overall which was good enough to secure the gold medal ahead of the Chinese and Romanians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/news/2007/pr-sep02-WomenAdvance.html|title=U.S. women advance to team finals, qualify for 2008 Olympic Games|publisher=USA Gymnastics|date=2007-09-02 |accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/news/2007/pr-sep05-WomenWinTeamGold.html|title=U.S. women win team title at World Championships|publisher=USA Gymnastics|date=2007-09-05 |accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref>
During event finals, Sacramone received a bronze medal for her vault performance and a silver on floor behind teammate Shawn Johnson.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/news/2007/pr-sep09-ApparatusFinalsDay2.html|title=U.S. women win three more medals at 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|publisher=USA Gymnastics|date=2007-09-09|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref> She was visibly upset by her performances, and fought back tears after floor and during the flower and medal
ceremonies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-gym10sep10,1,5912173.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-olympics|title=World is at Johnson's feet|publisher=''Los Angeles Times''|date=2007-09-10 |author=Pucin, Diana|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref>
Both the Brestyans and the U.S. National Team Coordinator, [[Marta Karolyi]], suggested that Sacramone forgo NCAA competition during the 2007-2008 season to concentrate on her preparations for the [[2008 Beijing Olympics]].<ref name=usatoday /> In September 2007, Sacramone announced that she was "turning pro" and signed with an agent, forfeiting her remaining NCAA eligibility.<ref name=si1 /> She continues to work with the Brown Bears gymnastics team as a volunteer assistant coach, and remains a Brown student, but took the spring 2008 semester off to prepare for the Olympics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/sports/articles/2007/09/27/sacramone_has_balancing_act_down/|title=Sacramone has balancing act down|publisher=''Boston Globe''|date=2007-09-27 |author=Powers, John|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://brownbears.cstv.com/sports/c-gym/mtt/sacramone_alicia00.html|title=Sacramone's official Brown University biography|publisher=Brown Bears Gymnastics|accessdate=2008-01-18}}</ref><ref name=garcia08>{{cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2008-06-03-sacramone_N.htm|title="Sacramone's love, commitment inspire others to succeed"|publisher=''USA Today''|date=2008-06-03 |author=Garcia, Marlen|accessdate=2008-06-30}}</ref>
In June 2008, Sacramone, along with teammates Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, became the first female athlete ever to be signed as a [[CoverGirl]] spokesmodel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=PR&date=20080626&id=8831219|title=CoverGirl Flips for USA Gymnastics|publisher=PR Newswire|date=June 26, 2008|accessdate=2008-06-30}}</ref>
==References==
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==External links==
*[http://gymnastics.about.com/od/athletestowatch/p/AliciaSacramone.htm Alicia Sacramone Profile]
*{{fig|id=5846|name=Alicia Sacramone}}
*{{USAGymnasticsName|id=307019|name=Alicia Sacramone}}
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[[Category:1987 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American gymnasts]]
[[Category:Italian-Americans]]
[[Category:World champion gymnasts]]
[[Category:Medalists at World Gymnastics Championships]]
[[es:Alicia Sacramone]]
[[pt:Alicia Sacramone]]