| Kyla Ross | |
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 Ross at the 2015 U.S. National Championships | |
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Full name |
Kyla Briana Ross |
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Nickname(s) |
Mighty Mouse |
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Country represented |
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Born |
October 24 1996 |
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Height |
5 ft. 4 in. |
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Years on National Team |
2009-2016 |
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Club |
Gym-Max Gymnastics |
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Coach(es) |
Jenny Zhang & Howie Liang |
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Current status |
Retired |
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Kyla Ross (born October 24, 1996) is a retired United States gymnast from Aliso Viejo, California. Kyla trains at Gym-Max in Costa Mesa, California, where she is coached by Jenny Zhang and Howie Liang. She is a member of the 2012 gold-medal winning American team, also known as the Fierce Five, 2014 World team gold and all-around bronze medalist, and 2013 three-time World silver medalist (all-around, bars, and beam). Her best events are balance beam and uneven bars. Ross is known for her consistent (earning the nickname "Miss Consistency"), clean routines, long lines and poise, but lacks the difficulty and power of many of her competitors, particularly on floor exercise.
Career
2009
In 2009, Ross competed at the United States Junior National Championships in Dallas, Texas. She won golds in the all-around, vault, and balance beam and won bronze on floor exercise. She competed at the 2009 Junior Pan American Games in Aracaju, Brazil where she helped the United States team win the gold medal. The U.S. team was composed of Ross, Sabrina Vega, Aly Raisman, and Bridgette Caquatto. The U.S. women swept the top four spots in the all-around: 1.) Ross 57.40 2.) Vega 56.25 3.) Raisman 56.20 4.) Caquatto 56.10. In event finals, Ross won golds in the all-around, the uneven bars, and the balance beam and won silver on the floor exercise.
2010
Ross was named to the team for the Pacific Rim Championships. The team won a gold in the team final. Individually, she placed second in the all-around, uneven bars, and floor exercise in the junior division. She also competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy, where she placed second in the all-around. She competed at the Pan American Junior Games, where she placed first with the team, second on floor, and sixth on uneven bars.
2011
Ross competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy, where she placed first in the all-around, on balance beam, and with the team. She also placed second on vault and uneven bars and seventh on floor in the junior division.
2012
Ross was named to the team for the Pacific Rim Championships. The team won a gold in the team final. Individually, Ross won a gold on balance beam, silver in the all-around and uneven bars, and bronze on floor.
Ross was also named to the team for the City of Jesolo Trophy. The American team placed first, and Ross won the all-around.
Ross competed at the Secret US Classic in May, where debuted a new Amanar vault. She placed second on uneven bars and second in the all-around.
Ross competed at the Visa Championships. She downgraded her vault to a double twisting Yurchenko, but posted the highest score on uneven bars, 15.5. She performed better on beam and floor exercise than day one, and placed fourth in the all-around, qualifying for the Olympic trials. She also placed second on uneven bars, fourth on balance beam, and sixth on floor exercise.
At the Olympic Trials, Ross performed very well, tying with Anna Li for the highest score on uneven bars on the first night of competition. She continued to compete well on night two, securing a spot on the Olympic team.
London Olympics
Originally, Ross was only going to compete on bars and beam, but was added to the floor exercise lineup in qualifications after McKayla Maroney sustained a foot injury. During qualifications, she put up solid scores on bars and beam, but stepped out of bounds on floor exercise.
During the team final, Ross competed on bars and beam, where she performed cleanly and scored a 14.933 and 15.133, respectively. Her performances helped the US win their second Olympic team gold medal.
Ross participated in the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions from September 8 to November 18. She left the tour briefly to go back to school. Her spot in the Olympic rings was filled by Nastia Liukin.
2013
On January 11, it was announced Ross would compete at the AT&T American Cup in early March. However, she withdrew from the competition five days prior, due to a bruised heel.[1] Instead, she performed an exhibition balance beam routine.
In March, she was announced as a member of the senior US team for the European Tour (City of Jesolo Trophy and GER-ROU-USA meet).[2] In Jesolo, Ross won gold with the senior American team and silver in the all-around behind compatriot Simone Biles. She won gold on uneven bars and silver on balance beam, again behind Biles. She contributed to the US's gold medal finish and won the senior all-around at the GER-ROU-USA Friendly in Chemnitz at the end of March.
In July, Ross competed at the US Classic, winning the all-around and uneven bars, placing second on beam and twelfth on floor. At the National Championships in August, she placed second in the all-around, first on bars and beam, and seventh on floor. Ross was also inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame with the rest of the Fierce Five. At the Worlds selection camp in September, she was named to the US team for the World Championships.
In qualifications, Ross competed in the first subdivision. She qualified second to the all-around and uneven bars final, third to the beam final, and sixth to the floor final. In the all-around, Ross had very clean routines and lead the all-around leading into the last rotation. She hit a great floor routine to win the silver behind compatriot Simone Biles and ahead of Russia's Aliya Mustafina. She became the first Asian-American to medal in the all-around at Worlds. At the end of the all-around, Ross was awarded the Longines Prize for Elegance, alongside Japan's Kohei Uchimura, who accepted it on the men's side.
In the uneven bars final, Ross performed sixth. She hit a great routine to score 15.266 and won silver behind China's Huang Huidan and ahead of Mustafina. In the balance beam final, she performed sixth. She hit a very good routine to score a 14.733. Her coaches filed an inquiry after her routine, which was accepted and her score was changed to 14.333. She won silver behind Mustafina and ahead of Biles. In the floor exercise final, she competed seventh. She hit a clean routine to score 14.333. She finished fifth, tied with Switzerland's Giulia Steingruber.
2014
In late December, she was announced as a competitor for the American Cup in early March,[3] but withdrew from the competition in January with a back injury.[4] In March, she was named to the senior American team for the City of Jesolo Trophy.[5] In Jesolo, she balked on her first vault attempt and received a 1.00 neutral deduction, scoring rather low. She bounced back on her next three events, winning the all-around and team gold medals. She also qualified to uneven bars and floor exercise, where she won silver behind her teammates, Madison Kocian and Mykayla Skinner, respectively. In the balance beam final, she had a surprising fall on her acrobatic series, finishing sixth.
Following Jesolo, she was named to the American team for the Pacific Rim Championships.[6] There, she won team and balance beam gold, and all-around, uneven bars, and floor exercise silver. In early August, she competed at the U.S. Classic, winning balance beam gold, all-around and floor exercise silver, and uneven bars bronze. She did not have her best day on the first day of Nationals, falling on floor and bars, but she rallied on day two and won silver in the all-around, as well as defended her National title on balance beam.
Ross came into the World Championships in October with a hip and hamstring injury, but pushed through the competition. She contributed to the American's gold medal finish in the team final. She performed cleanly in the all-around and picked up a bronze medal after some of the major players fell. She had a wobbly beam routine in the event finals and finished fifth.
2015
In mid-February, Ross committed to UCLA.[7]
At the City of Jesolo Trophy, she performed strongly on her first three events, but bounced out of bounds on floor and balked on her leap series, resulting in a low score and a tenth place all-around finish. However, her other three events contributed to the U.S. team gold medal. She went on to win an individual gold on uneven bars.
In July, she came to the U.S. Classic dealing with a bruised heel, and only competed on bars and beam as a result. She suffered two falls on bars and clipped the low bar right before her dismount, placing seventeenth, but performed well on beam, placing fourth. She competed the all-around at the National Championships in August, but suffered more falls on both days of competition. She managed to hit a solid beam set on the second day of competition to place third on that event, but placed a disappointing tenth in the all-around. After Nationals, she was named to the senior national team again as well as the Worlds Championship training squad but then she decided to withdraw from the training squad before the team selection camp.[8]
Ross announced her retirement in February 2016.[9]
Medal Count
| Year | Event | TF | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Junior Olympic Level 10 National Championships | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | ||
| 2009 | Junior American Classic | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | |||
| Junior Pan American Championships | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | |||
| Junior CoverGirl Classic | 1st | 1st | 5 | 5 | |||
| Junior Visa Championships | 1st | 1st | 1st | 3rd | |||
| 2010 | City of Jesolo Trophy | 2nd | |||||
| Pacific Rim Championships | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||
| Junior Pan American Championships | 1st | 1st | 6 | 2nd | |||
| Junior CoverGirl Classic | 4 | 4 | 1st | 8 | |||
| Junior Visa Championships | 1st | 3rd | 7 | 1st | 3rd | ||
| 2011 | City of Jesolo Trophy | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 7 |
| Junior CoverGirl Classic | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 4 | 3rd | ||
| Junior Visa Championships | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | 6 | ||
| 2012 | Pacific Rim Championships | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | |
| City of Jesolo Trophy | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 8 | |
| Secret U.S. Classic | 2nd | 4 | 2nd | 5 | 5 | ||
| Visa Championships | 4 | 2nd | 4 | 6 | |||
| U.S. Olympic Trials | 5 | 1st | 3rd | ||||
| London Olympic Games | 1st | ||||||
| 2013 | City of Jesolo Trophy | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | ||
| GER-ROU-USA Friendly | 1st | 1st | |||||
| U.S. Classic | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 12 | |||
| U.S. National Championships | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 7 | |||
| Antwerp World Championships | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 5 | |||
| 2014 | City of Jesolo Trophy | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 6 | 2nd | |
| Pacific Rim Championships | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | ||
| U.S. Classic | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | |||
| U.S. National Championships | 2nd | 6 | 1st | 5 | |||
| Nanning World Championships | 1st | 3rd | 5 | ||||
| 2015 | City of Jesolo Trophy | 1st | 10 | 1st | |||
| U.S. Classic | 17 | 4 | |||||
| Indianapolis U.S. National Championships | 10 | 12 | 3rd | 12 |
Floor Music
2011 - "Lunfardia"
2012-2013 - theme from Phantom of the Opera
2013-2014 - "Le Cirque" by Maxime Rodriguez
2015 - "Tango Volver" by Maxime Rodriguez