Vanessa Atler

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Vanessa Marie Atler (born February 17, 1982) is an American former elite gymnast.

She is the 1997 national all-around champion, the 1998 Goodwill Games gold medalist on the floor exercise and vault, a four-time national champion in the individual events of vault, balance beam, and floor exercise, as well as a five-time World Cup champion.

She is also the 1996 national all-around and floor champion.

Atler made history by becoming the first female gymnast to successfully perform a Rudi vault at the 1999 American Cup. Atler, a member of the national gymnastics team of the United States from the age of 12, was one of America's most influential and talented gymnasts in the late 1990s.

She won or medalized in several significant competitions, was deemed one of the front-runners for the 2000 Olympics, owing to her explosive vaults, difficult tumbling skills, and a charismatic persona.

However, injuries, coaching conflicts, gym upgrades, mood breakdowns, and bulimia symptoms derailed her progress in 1999 and 2000, and after a poor showing at the 2000 Olympic Trials, she was disqualified from the Olympic team despite finishing sixth overall.

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Early career

Atler was born in February 17, 1982, in the Valencia neighborhood of Santa Clarita, California, and began gymnastics at age 5. She has a brother who plays baseball, her mother was a tennis coach, and one of her cousins was a Minnesota Vikings quarterback. She began training with Charter Oak Gliders in Covina, California, and was mentored by Beth Kline-Rybacki and Steve Rybacki. By the time she was 12 years old, she was already competing at the highest level.

Atler had a fruitful career as a junior elite gymnast. She attracted attention in 1995 when she finished third in the all-around at the United States Olympic Festival, behind Olympian Kerri Strug and Heather Brink. She also earned a gold medal on beam and a silver medal on floor. She went on to win the silver medal in the all-around at the U.S. National Championships that year.

Atler made her international competitive debut in 1995, winning the floor exercise title at the prestigious International Junior Gymnastics Competition in Japan.

Atler captured the American Classic's junior all-around championship in February. She became the junior national champion in both the all-around and the floor exercises in June at the U.S. National Championships. She was invited to attend a televised exhibition match between the United States and the world, with members of the Magnificent Seven and international Olympians.

Atler missed the age cutoff for senior competition in February 1982, which would have given her a chance to qualify for a spot on the 1996 Olympic team by only six weeks. As the FIG lifted the age limit from fifteen to sixteen years old in 1997, she found herself shutting down senior international competition once more.

Atler did well in 1997, competing in both junior and senior meets that were not bound by the FIG's new age limits. At the 1997 American Cup, she was second all-around and gained event titles on vault and beam. She captured the national all-around title in a tie with Kristy Powell in August at the 1997 U.S. National Championships. She also won the vault title and the bronze medal on uneven bars at the same festival. She went on to win the all-around title at the 1997 Canberra Cup in Australia, which was an important meet for junior international gymnasts.

Atler began having issues with the uneven bars in the same year. She was disqualified from winning the all-around title outright on the second day of the United States Nationals. This was the start of a string of competitions in which she made unusual mistakes and missed out on bars. She once referred to the bars as "the devil-testing my life and my patience, as well as my admiration of the sport." Bars will inevitably fall into a mental blockage for the young athlete who often failed to put together a mistake-free diet in the heat of combat over the next two years. Atler's biggest issue regarding bars was a comaneci salto, which she defeated at three consecutive National Championships from 1997 to 1999. Despite the fact that she did complete the job correctly on occasion, it led to persistent ambiguities regarding whether the Comaneci should have been banned from her bar routine.

Senior international career

Atler was first eligible for major senior international competition in 1998. A fall from bars cost her the all-around title in March and her fourth all-around. She won the vault title and ended third on bars in the event finals at the same level, with a hit routine.

Atler was selected to compete on floor exercise and vault in July 1998 Goodwill Games, her two best apparatuses. She earned the gold medal on both events, defeating a field of Olympic and World medalists. She captured the all-around silver medal, as well as the gold medal on floor and a silver medal on vault in August at the 1998 United States National Championships. On the second night of competition, she lost her chances of defending her all-around title, but she recovered well on the second day and was awarded a 9.8 for her hitting bar routine.

Atler took the Australia Cup all-around title in November with a solid showing on every occasion. She has also achieved the vault and floor titles. She maintained her momentum in December at the 1998 Copa Gimnastica Championship in Mexico City, where she delivered solid routines on all four events and claimed the all-around bronze medal behind Viktoria Karpenko and Simona Amânar. She also won the gold medal on vault, defeating Amanar, as she had done at the Goodwill Games.

Atler began her 1999 season in February with a good showing at the American Classic, where she took the all-around title by a large margin with top quality routines on every apparatus. She became the first American woman to successfully complete a Rudi vault in competition in March. She also won the event title and beam and floor titles, as well as the beam and floor titles. Despite falling off bars in Preliminaries, she finished first all-around in the first round of qualifying. Her routines were outstanding on three fronts, but she fell off bars once more, putting her in danger of losing her title and sending her to third all-around.

Atler also received the vault gold medal after a competitive all-around field behind Svetlana Khorkina and the Paris-Bercy competition in France. She suffered a fractured ankle when she landed her double layout-punch front opening tumbling pass out-of-bounds during the final leg exercise event. This particular floor mat's out-of-bounds area did not have the necessary spring and safety equipment. Atler recovered in time to compete in the 1999 United States National Championships, where she captured the silver medal in the all-around competition behind Kristen Maloney. She was leading the competition going into the final rotation, but a fall from bars cost her the title. In the event finals, she went on to win the gold medal on vault and beam.

Atler retired longtime coaches at Charter Oak gymnastics club Steve and Beth Rybacki after the U.S. National Championships. She was coached by Artur Akopyan at a local California gym as she was preparing for the US World Team Trials and World Championships. She was, however, too ill to attend the World Team Trials, and was chosen to join the team based on her performance at 1999 Nationals, as well as Kristen Maloney and Jennie Thompson who were also suffering from injuries.

Atler, a top US qualifier, was out of shape and unprepared for the sport in October at the 1999 World Championships in Tianjin, China, but she did a good job in qualifying for the All-Around Final in 7th place. Kristen Maloney had also qualified for the Floor Final and had to be replaced by her after being forced to leave the final due to an injury. She made some uncharacteristic errors and scored an 8.025 on beam after counting two falls. The team finished sixth, but after the Chinese team was disqualified due to Dong Fangxiao's age, the U.S. team's ranking was bumped to fifth place, the Chinese team was pushed to fifth place. After ending her floor routine with a basic layout tumbling pass, she was struggling with her ankle injury, which was getting worse. She then qualified for both of her event finals.

Atler underwent two operations to fix the ankle that had plagued her for the majority of 1999. Valeri Liukin, 1988 Olympic champion Valeri Liukin at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy, went from California to Texas at the same time. (WOGA)

Atler returned to form in July at the United States Classic, where she captured the all-around title in 2000 after her injury layoff. She came fourth in the all-around at the 2000 United States National Championships, a respectable finish after a lengthy injury recovery that prepared her well for an Olympic debut. She also won the silver medal on vault and the bronze medal on floor.

Atler suffered what some described as a meltdown at the 2000 Olympic Trials just a few weeks later. She was unable to maintain a good routine over the two days of play and botched moves that she normally did well, including her second vault on the first day and falling on her back on her beam dismount during the first day. As a result, the Olympic Selection Committee voted to keep her completely off the US Olympic Team. However, despite many major mistakes, Atler came in sixth at Trials and was regarded as one of the United States' best gymnasts, prompting others to protest that she was given a spot on the squad and challenge the process's fairness. Six players were chosen as well as two alternates, as well as two others.

Post-competitive gymnastics career

Atler now works as a mentor and is the girls team director at American Kids Sports Center in Bakersfield, California. She is married and has two children, a son born in January 2014 and a daughter born in February 2018.

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