Bridget Sloan

At 32 years old, Bridget Sloan has this physical status:

Bridget Elizabeth Sloan (born June 23, 1992) is an American artistic gymnast.

She is the 2009 world champion in the all-around, the 2009 United States national champion, and a bronze medalist with the American team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Sloan competed for three consecutive NCAA National Championships titles from 2012 to 2016.

She is also the 2013 NCAA national champion in the all-around and on the balance beam, as well as the 2014 NCAA champion on the uneven bars.

She was the first University of Florida gymnast and the seventh NCAA gymnast to score a perfect 10 on each of the four events in 2015.

She captured the all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam titles at the 2016 NCAA Nationals, her last appearance.

Early life

Bridget Elizabeth Sloan was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 23, 1992, and graduated from Tri-West Hendricks High School. She began gymnastics at the age of 4 and studied at Sharp's Gymnastics Academy in Indianapolis.

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Elite gymnastics career

Bridget finished fifth in the all-around and third on bars at the U.S. National Championships in her first year as a senior, and she was the alternate on the American team for the 2007 World Championships. She represented the United States in the Good Luck Beijing Olympic test event in December, winning the bronze medal in the all-around and a silver on floor exercise.

While warming up at a meeting in Italy in March 2008, Bridget suffered a torn meniscus. She returned home for surgery and recovery, and she returned in time to compete in the National Championships—where she only appeared on beam, bars, and floor—and the United States Olympic Trials. After the final selection camp in July 2008, Bridget was admitted to the Olympic team.

Bridget qualified and team final rounds at the Olympics. After Chellsie Memmel and Samantha Peszek were hospitalized, her results became extremely important in the qualifications, where the Americans were forced to bring up only four athletes on three occasions, and count all four scores. Bridget made minor mistakes on the floor and uneven bars, but overall, they did well. Her all-around scores ranked her 11th among all competitors. She competed on vault in the team's silver medal, putting together a 15.200 point.

Bridget participated in the American Cup in February 2009 and finished second to 13-year-old Jordyn Wieber. She competed at Nationals in August and took the all-around, floor, and uneven bars.

Bridget finished fifth for the all-around and seventh for the uneven bars final in October at the 2009 World Championships in London. She captured the gold medal over teammate Rebecca Bross by 0.050, becoming the fifth American woman to win the world all-around championship. She came in sixth place in the bars final.

Bridget was plagued with injuries all year, effectively limiting her participation in athletics. An ankle injury early in the year limited her participation in the Pacific Rim Championships to bars. Bridget was on the beam at the US Classic due to the same injury. She was barred from competing her national all-around title due to a recent pectoral injury. She did two tentative beam routines at Nationals, one of which involved a fall and the other of a top 10 finish, and she ranked 11th on the equipment. Bridget impressed National Team Coordinator Márta Károlyi with her performance at the recruitment camp, and she was invited to the World Championships to compete on both floors and in the bars final, placing fourth.

Bridget sat out the majority of the season because of bicep surgery. She said she was unlikely to participate in the 2011 National or World Championships in an attempt to stay fit for the 2012 season, her primary goal being the 2012 Olympics.

Although Bridget did not qualify for the 2011 National Championships, she later moved to Karolyi Ranch in New Waverly, Texas, to compete in both selection camps for the 2011 World Championships team. She was later selected to the team for the 2011 Pan American Games. She competed only on the uneven bars and floor exercises, and she finished in the thirteens on both apparatus. She didn't qualify for either of the event finals, but it was due to the "two [athletes] per country" rule (Bridgette Caquatto and Shawn Johnson both scored higher than her).

As a result of Bridget's injury and her participation in the Pan American Games the previous year, she was able to successfully apply for a spot in the 2012 National Championships. She had intended to compete at the U.S. Classic but decided against it out of respect for her mentor, who would have been unable to attend because he was at his father's funeral. For the first time since 2009, she competed in all four sports, finishing sixth on the uneven bars and tenth in the all-around. She was selected to compete in the Olympic Trials but she was forced to withdraw from the London Olympic Games and her national team careers on the first night of the Trials.

NCAA career

Bridget accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she was a member of the Florida Gators women's gymnastics team and later under Rhonda Faehn's leadership. Bridget postponed enrollment in the fall semester until the 2012 Summer Olympics, which gave her a second straight spot on the U.S. Olympic team. Bridget was forced to withdraw from the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials due to injury and recalled 2010 World Championship teammate Mackenzie Caquatto on the Florida Gators team.

Bridget won the all-around title in 2013 with a score of 39.600, her first NCAA Championship with the Gators. She led her team to their first NCAA Championship appearance, scoring 39.75 all-around. Bridget also won the beam title in the event finals. Bridget is an eight-time All-American (first-team awards in all-around, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercises at the NCAA Championship; first-team awards for all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam; and second-team in vault in the first National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches (NACGC) Bridget was named as the 2013 recipient of the Honda Sports Award, recognizing her as the best women's college gymnast of the season. She was only the fourth freshman to win in the award's 37-year history, and the second straight Florida freshman to win the accolade.

Bridget's second season with the Gators was her second as a team. Bridget, the NCAA National Champion in the uneven bars, was a first-team All-American on vault and bars, as well as a second team All-American on floor. She was named National Accredited Gymnast of the Year (NAC) first team All-American on all four events.

Bridget was named SEC Specialist of the Week in her first meet of the 2015 season against Ball State on January 11, 2015, after a 10.0 score on vault. However, she suffered an ankle and was also out of action for five meetings. She returned to action at the end of the regular season. She was a member of the University of Georgia as they captured their third consecutive NCAA Championships title and finished second on vault and uneven bars, earning first team All-American honors. In the all-around, Bridget came in sixth place. She has been the first gymnast from Florida to earn 10.0 points on all four sports, and she is only the seventh NCAA gymnast to do so.

Bridget earned her second NCAA All-Around title in 2016, as well as winning the beam and uneven bars.

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