December 21, 2002

Building confidence
GAGE gymnasts mount momentum for burgeoning international careers

By Bill Althaus
The Examiner

Sarah Shire could be placed in a cage full of lions and tigers and have them eating out of her hand in minutes.

"She's fearless," Great American Gymnastic Express (GAGE) coach Al Fong said of the freshman sensation from Sweet Springs, Mo., who trains at Fong's facility in Blue Springs. "She already has a presence, and that's something the judges are looking for."

Shire, competing in her first international meet, placed third on her floor exercise and fifth on the vault and beam at the de Hypotheetship Gymnastics Meet in the Netherlands.

"We just call it the Netherlands Cup," Fong said, grinning, "because it's a lot easier to pronounce."

While Shire was starring in the Netherlands, veteran GAGE gymnast Terin Humphrey attracted a lot of attention at the 2002 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Humphrey placed ninth during both days of competition in the vault and eighth the first day and 11th the second day in her floor routine.

"I don't think most Americans realize just how big the individual world championship is," GAGE coach Armine Barutyan Fong said. "It's like the Super Bowl is in our country. Terin did a great job representing her country and just missed out advancing from the semifinals.

"But the judges know her name and that will certainly help her down the road."

Humphrey is a junior at Odessa High School and believes the best is yet to come.

"I wish I would have done better," Humphrey said, "but it was just a great experience. I was competing against, and training alongside, some of the greatest gymnasts in the world.

That was just unbelievable. I will never forget it, and I will use that experience to know what I have to do to medal the next time."

Shire was surprised by her success, as she never dreamed she might bring home a medal.

"I didn't know what to expect, but I went over there to do well," Shire said. "I guess I'm kind of surprised just because it was all so new and so scary. But once I got there, I just trained and concentrated and went out and did my best."

Fong said Shire's performance placed her at a new level of competition.

"To go to her first big meet and come home with a medal tells you what type of competitor she is," Fong said. "When she got there, she acted like she was going to the winner's stand. And that attitude really came across ­ it was just a case of supreme confidence."

While Humphrey didn't bring home a medal, she might have brought something even more significant back to the United States.

"Terin was one of the few American gymnasts who could have competed in any of the four events and done very well," Barutyan Fong said. "It was difficult to select the two areas in which she would perform, because we had to go with what would best help the United States team.

"She has been working on a routine on the beam that will just knock you out. She's worked on it eight years ­ since Day 1 that she first came here to train with us ­ and when people see it, they will be amazed."

Humphrey is gracious in her desire to help the team and not show off her skill on the beam at the world's biggest non-Olympic meet.

"There's always next year," Humphrey said. "I wanted to help my team, and I think I did. I'm already thinking about next year."