Gymnastics: Chase Clingman, Age 11, Wins Four Medals at 2013 Men's Junior Olympic Championship in Oregon

(May 17, 2013) - APEX gymnast Chase Clingman, age 11, spent his first week of May in Portland, Oregon competing at the 2013 U.S. Junior Olympic National Championships. He was accompanied by his coach, Vladimir Shamenko, a bronze medalist in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and Clingman came away with an impressive four medals including 3rd on the floor, 4th on parallel bars, 5th on high bar and tied for 6th on vault.

More than 700 of the USA's top Level 8, 9 and 10 men's gymnasts competed over the course of 5 days. Chase was one of only four 11 year olds from Region 7 (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) to qualify to this event.

On his first day of competition, Clingman started strong by posting some of the best scores of his season on parallel bars, high bar, floor, vault, and rings. The scores from these 5 events were high enough for him to qualify to the Event Finals round on Sunday.

Clingman competed again on Sunday with greater resolve and surprised both his parents and coach by posting even higher scores than the first day of competition. The combination of scores from both days of competition were high enough to earn him medals in 4 events. In the Junior Olympic 11 year old category, Clingman placed 3rd on floor, tied for 6th on vault, placed 4th on parallel bars, and placed 5th on high bar.

Many Junior Olympic champions have gone on to make the U.S. National Team and represent the United States in international competition and/or to compete in collegiate gymnastics.

All of the members of the men's medal-winning 2004 (silver) and 2008 (bronze) U.S. Olympic Teams, as well as the 2012 Olympic Team, are former Junior Olympic National Championships participants. Past participants include Paul Hamm, 2004 Olympic all-around champion; Jonathan Horton, 2008 Olympic horizontal bar silver medalist and 2010 World all-around bronze medalist; and Danell Leyva, 2012 Olympic all-around bronze medalist.


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