May 13, 2004

Inside Interview: Sarah Shire

By Inside Gymnastics

In any other gym, Sarah Shire (pictured) would be the standout star. But at Great American Gymnastics Express (GAGE), in Blue Springs, Mo., Shire is one of three Athens hopefuls.

Not quite as well-known as teammates Terin Humphrey, who won world gold in 2003, and Courtney McCool, who broke through big time at this year’s American Cup, Shire is nonetheless focused on her own Olympic goals, and she’s got the gymnastics goods to back up her dreams of gold.

Shire started the Olympic year off strong with a solid performance at Germany’s Cottbus Cup, where she finished second behind World Champ Oksana Chusovitina on vault. “That competition was outstanding, very high level,” coach Armine Barutyan-Fong said of Shire’s performance in Germany. “She competed against some of the toughest competitors from around the world and she had a very good meet, making four event finals and came back with a silver on vaulting, which was really exciting.”

Whatever her Olympic outcome, the future undoubtedly holds many exciting things for Sarah Shire.

Inside Gymnastics sat down this outspoken and articulate up-and-comer at April’s National Team Training Camp…

INSIDE GYMNASTICS: Are interviews something you enjoy or fear?

SARAH SHIRE: I like it. It’s really exciting. Wednesdays are always our day off, so Wednesdays are the day we talk to our home media—if anyone wants to talk to us, that is (laughs).

INSIDE: You aren’t necessarily as well-known as your teammates. Where do you see yourself in the Olympic mix?

SHIRE: I see myself up there with everyone else. It’s kind of like we’re all on an equal playing ground. Courtney and Terin have maybe got their names out there a little bit more, but [my coaches] put me on a track and I feel like I’m right on that track. I have as good a shot as anybody.

I think that everyone here has the same chance to make the team. At Trials they’re not just going to be looking at your performance there, but everything you’ve done up until then.

INSIDE: Everyone is talking about the U.S. team’s depth right now. How good is this team going to be in Athens?

SHIRE: Wow. I mean, look at what happened at the [2003] World Championships. They were able to bring in totally different girls who did an equally great job. I think they could have gone out and picked a whole different team and they would have done just as well; had the same success. It was really pretty amazing and it still worked out well and proved how strong the U.S. is right now.

There’s so many great girls and, as we go out there, it’s almost harder to compete against the girls here—just to make the team—than it is to compete against girls from different countries. At least I think it is.

Our team is so strong. If you can battle it out with these girls in the USA, then you know you’ve got a pretty good chance with all the other girls out there.

INSIDE: What’s so special about GAGE?

SHIRE: Just three gymnasts. Three gymnasts going for the Olympic team. I mean, it’s just unheard of. The fact that we can all be there together, support each other every day in the gym and motivate each other at the same time.

I know that if I can beat my teammates, because my teammates are so good, I know I can compete against anyone. And the same thing at training camps. You know that if you can finish in the top with [all] the American girls, you can finish in the top of the world. America is No. 1 right now.

INSIDE: How much preparation do you do for camps? When you’re here it’s kind of like a competition every day, and the people watching control your Olympic fate.

SHIRE: Yeah, we all know that. You have to start training a couple of weeks at home in preparation for a camp. This [April] camp was a little bit different. We only did half routines. We’re not in our full competition shape yet. We got into it a little bit slower, and the training just continues when you get [to camp].

When you’re getting ready for a full-routine camp, [preparation] starts almost a month prior with routines, repetitions, numbers and consistency.

You train at home, you come [to camp] and you train more. Of course, all the coaches are watching you and that does put a little more pressure and makes it a little bit more intense, but I think we’re very well-prepared for that.

INSIDE: Your coach, Armine, has a very distinct style and tries to pass that on to her gymnasts. She is very detail-oriented, making sure everything is just so; is that similar to Martha Karolyi’s style?

SHIRE: I think so. I think that the way Armine treats us, what she expects of us, prepares us for the way that Martha treats us. Armine is always there with a little correction—something so small that a common person wouldn’t even notice it, but [Armine] is so focused on details.

It’s amazing to watch her watch gymnasts. She just pulls stuff out, like ‘Boom, boom, that’s wrong, fix that.’ When we come to training camps, some people may be surprised at the way Martha treats us, what she expects, but that’s exactly the way Armine treats us. We’re totally used to it. We’re totally used to the little pickiness.

INSIDE: Does that make you a perfectionist?

SHIRE: Most definitely. Especially Courtney and I, we’re always in the mirror, looking at ourselves and asking each other, ‘Does that look right? Was that a little bit off?’

Now that I’ve been training with Armine for three years I pay much more attention to detail than I used to.

INSIDE: Armine is one of the few coaches that really seems to focus on the whole package: everything from makeup to fashion as well as choreography and skills. How does that help you in competition?

SHIRE: You know, it’s made me realize that it’s not all about the skills. It’s not who throws the biggest, hardest, toughest tricks. It’s about who goes out there with the right attitude, the confidence. It’s about the way she smiles, the way her hair is done, the way her leo looks. It’s the little things that you start to concentrate on.

I don’t worry about, ‘Oh I don’t have the big skill that that girl has.’ I know I have the clean form. I don’t give any deductions away. Even if you’re starting at a lower Start Value, if you give away less tenths you can still be up there with everybody else.

INSIDE: Tell us a little bit about your Cottbus Cup experience?

SHIRE: I went to Germany in November [of last year] for the DTB Cup and they wouldn’t let me compete because they thought I was age-ineligible. I wasn’t, but they thought I was. It was really messed up. I placed fourth on the first day but in finals they didn’t let me compete because they thought I was too young.

So, when I went to Germany in March it was like redemption. It was like, yes, I made finals and I can do this. Finishing second [on vault] to a World Champion was amazing.

INSIDE: Was that performance the confidence boost you needed to get to the next level?

SHIRE: I think so. I think it set me on the right track. A couple months prior to the meet, I think I was in a little bit of a down time. Now I’m recharged, ready to go and so excited for the next three months.

INSIDE: There are benefits to having a successful team with lots of top athletes, but there is also a downside. Odds are slim that all three of you will be on the Olympic team with only six spots available. How do you handle that aspect of it?

SHIRE: We’re best friends and that’s what best friends do, they support each other. We’re friends to the end, no matter what. We’re friends first before we’re teammates, and we don’t let gymnastics come in between us.

It’s kind of like, when one of us makes it, we all make it. They’re representing the USA and we’re all a part of the USA. It’s kind of like we’re right there with them. We know that even if only one of us makes it, we were all a part of it because we helped them train. We wouldn’t have gotten this far without each other. It’s almost like we’re one person.

But of course, then there’s always that part that wants it just a little bit more for yourself.

INSIDE: This is a very pressure-filled time. Are you having fun?

SHIRE (pictured at left at the 2004 podium meet): It’s constant adrenaline. It’s always something. There’s always another interview or another competition. It’s like, wow, I’m 16-years-old—we all are—and we’re on TV and in the newspaper.

It’s incredible. I don’t think I’m going to regret anything. I’m having the time of my life. I don’t know any other 16 and 17-year-old girls who get to travel the way we do. It’s such an amazing experience.

It leads up to your life. It’s discipline. Things you learn in gymnastics carry on into your life after gymnastics.

INSIDE: When did you first start thinking of the Olympics as a realistic goal?

SHIRE: Honestly, I don’t know if that thought really came in until not too long ago. It’s always been, ‘I want to go to the Olympics. I want to go to the Olympics.’ After 1996 I was, like, ‘Wow, I want to go.’

I was eight and I was like, ‘I’m going to the Olympics.’ I had no idea what it took. I didn’t know anything about Elite, about training. About anything.

When I moved to GAGE I was 13 and I went Elite with Al (Fong) and Armine. OK, so I accomplished that. Then I had to go senior. Then I had to get my name out. Then I had to start competing internationally.

Now it’s like everything is falling into place. I thank my parents for that. I thank God for that. It’s just been a blessing. I mean, things in my life have just kind of fallen into place. I pray that that continues, and with hard work and dedication, I think that it will.

INSIDE: How are your parents helping and encouraging you?

SHIRE: I think sometimes it’s hard for them. It’s hard for me too. I mean, being away. From the end of February to the beginning of March I was gone for three weeks straight. I didn’t see my parents for so long, and it’s hard, but I think it makes me appreciate my parents a lot more. I know that my parents do everything for me. Even though we sometimes have our arguments, they’re always there for me and, in the end, they’re the ones that are always going to be there for me.

I don’t want to say, ‘If I fail in gymnastics’ because, at this point, nothing that I do is going to be a failure. I think that everything now is just a plus, icing on the cake. But I always have something to fall back on.

My family has always been there to support me. It’s tough on my Mom and Dad when I’m gone, but I think they know that this is what I want to do. They know that I have this dream and I’m pursuing it.

INSIDE: Do you feel like you’ve made sacrifices for the sport?

SHIRE: Oh yeah! I moved away for a summer to come to GAGE and try it out. That was tough. I called my parents crying and said, ‘I love gymnastics, but I miss you guys.’ My parents moved up there within the next month. As a family we decided we’re all going to do this together.

I’ve made sacrifices but it’s worth it for the much bigger reward. I think it’s that way for all of us. I don’t think I’m so special for having made a sacrifice. All of us have. Courtney, Terin, the entire National Team has made a sacrifice—at least one. The end result is so much worth it. That sacrifice is so worth it.

INSIDE: Is it worth it even if you don’t make the Olympic team?

SHIRE: Oh, definitely. Training like this, gaining all these experiences, like we were talking about before. I mean, I couldn’t ask for anything better.

Right now, I just feel so close. It’s sort of like, ‘This is great, but I might as well finish it out and make the Olympic team.’

INSIDE: You’ve talked about wanting to do NCAA gymnastics. What makes you want to keep going in college?

SHIRE: I look at college gymnastics as such a team. I mean, [the USA is] very team-oriented right now, but you watch college gymnastics and it’s so different. It’s a different world. I’ve grown up around Missouri and Mizzou Gymnastics, and I’ve seen college gymnastics my whole life.

It just looks so fun. It’s so great, being able to get a scholarship, be with the team and do all that. It’s something I’ve really always wanted to do.

INSIDE: Any early favorite schools?

SHIRE: I don’t know. I’m only a sophomore. I would definitely look at Georgia, UCLA, Stanford—especially Stanford lately. I’m pretty focused on my grades, so that’s something I’m going to want to keep strong.

It’s not the school I want to go to; it’s the team, the coaches and the atmosphere that I’ll be looking for.