Determination and Dreams
September 8, 2008 | Men's Gymnastics
Sept. 8, 2008
Through stellar youth and college career and a multitude of injuries, surgeries and setbacks, one thing remained for Justin Spring, his dream of being on the US men's gymnastics Olympic team. While some may take significant injuries, such as a torn ACL less than a year before the Beijing Olympics, as a sign to let up, Spring did not. He pushed on.
At the 2008 Olympic Trials, Spring was scheduled to compete on only four events due to a nagging ankle injury, but he knew he needed to do more in order to make the team. He needed to show the Olympic selection committee that he had the complete package they were looking for. With his dream on the line, Spring rolled the dice and made a last minute decision to add floor exercise to his competition events. Despite not practicing on the event in nearly two months, the gutsy moved paid off as he posted a score of 15.200, the second highest score of the night.
After a second strong day of competition at the Olympic Trials, all Spring could do was wait. The Olympic team would be announced the next day. In the end, the decision to add floor proved to have a huge pay off, as Spring's name was one of the six announced to the team. After the announcement, an elated Spring could only remember one other name being called, that of roommate Joey Hagerty.
The rest of the team consisted of Kevin Tan, Jonathon Horton, and past Olympians, Paul and Morgan Hamm. However, injuries forced both Paul and Morgan Hamm to withdraw. Their replacements, Raj Bhavsar and Sasha Artemev, were called up, leaving the team with all first-time Olympians.
While most people counted the United States out of medal contention, Spring and the rest of the team did not. They started their quest for a medal with a solid showing in the team qualification round, finishing first in their group and sixth overall to advance to team finals.
Two nights later, Team USA showed the world that they would not be overlooked. Four out of the six members of the American team competed at the collegiate level, and that team experience showed throughout the night.
"The experiences that I had competing at Illinois for four years absolutely prepared me for the Olympics," Spring said. "The only team competitions for USA gymnastics other than the Olympics are the World Championships, and I was injured for two of those in 2006 and 2007. My days at Illinois provided me with a backbone of experience that was invaluable in Beijing."
His experience showed. In the three-up, three-count scoring format, the US would rely on Spring's scores on four events - vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar, and floor. Spring was spectacular all night, but the highlight came on his signature event, the horizontal bar, and Team USA in medal contention. Last up for the Americans on high bar, the Burke, Va., native nailed his three gravity-defying release moves and stuck his show-stopping triple-back dismount, bringing the US team to their feet and viewers across the world out of their seats.
"As soon as my feet hit the ground and didn't move, I didn't know what to do with myself," Spring said of the moment. "I remember running off the podium and slapping high fives with the guys. I was like, `This is happening! We're doing it.' We had so many hit routines and we were on a roll. That was one of the greatest moments of my life. That's the routine you dream about."
That wasn't the only dream of Spring's that came true that night. The US men's team captured the improbable bronze medal, silencing all doubters that said it could not be done.
"Making the Olympic team in an Olympic sport such as gymnastics, that's it, that's the epitome of our sport," Spring said. "When you're a kid you dream about making the Olympic team and becoming an Olympic medalist," Spring said. "We did it. We were all first time Olympians and we did it, we brought home a medal. Can this get any better? It was unbelievable."
And they're not done yet.
"Now coming back and looking forward to 2012 we want more, we want a different colored medal," Spring added. "No one trains for bronze, everyone trains for gold and we've got a lot of work to do. We're all going to go back and do what we have to do to make sure that the US men's team is not only on the podium, but fighting for a good shot at gold at the next Olympics."
Between now and 2012, Spring plans to continue coaching and training at Illinois.
"I've got a great situation here in Champaign, where I have a job and a house and I love this area," Spring said. "I've got a great coach, Jon Valdez, who I work with very well. He's stuck with me through the thick and the thin. When we look at 2012, we have to train a little bit smarter, but that's hard to do when you're pushing the limits in this sport. We're going to push the difficulty level, but do it as smart and safe as possible and take our time."
Known as one of the most daring and dynamic competitors in gymnastics, Spring has pushed the limits and succeeded, and he has a message to those in pursuit of their own dreams.
"It's sounds so cliché, but `Never give up'," Spring said. "After my ACL surgery, my first meet back was in April at the qualifier for the USA Championships and I was just using it as a prep meet to get ready for the Olympic run. Unfortunately I landed short on a pass on floor and just crunched my ankle. I thought to myself, `this can't be happening to me.' After all my previous injuries and comebacks, it was just way too close to the Olympic Trials. I thought my dream was over.
"That night Jon and I went to a Chinese restaurant and my fortune cookie read `Determination will get you through this'. I thought that it couldn't be more perfect for the moment. You're going to have ups and downs in life, but if your head's strong and you're determined to accomplish your goals, you are going to be successful. You can't ever doubt yourself. You'd be amazed at how far you can go."
Spring didn't, and it took him all the way to China. And if things go as planned, he'll be competing in London in four short years.
