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"Excited to watch me?" I asked, the implication was obvious. I was in a really good mood.
Kova tried not to look at me, but I could tell it was a challenge by the squint in his eye. I knew Kova liked to watch me perform on the floor. He dropped his arms behind his back and grabbed his wrist.
"You think changing the tumbling passes will really help?"
He wavered back and forth on his toes and heels. "I do. USA is very close to being first. We may not make it there in this rotation, but with everyone's upgraded skills, I believe we will in the last event." He paused for a moment, then lifted one shoulder. "Well, I am sure we all here believe that," he said more to himself.
I cracked my knuckles. The floor music ended and my heart beat spiked. Butterflies swirled in my stomach and I inhaled slowly. I loved floor, but it'd always caused me a little trepidation. There were many risks involved in doing gymnastics, but I didn't really ever feel like I could become paralyzed on the other events as easily as I could with floor.
"This is for you, Kova," I said, and stepped up the stairs to the floor. I saluted the judges then walked to the center of the floor, taking my stance. I positioned my arms like a delicate swan out to my sides and exhaled before I bent over and dropped my head dramatically.
Five seconds later, I began. I lost myself
in my element, flouncing from one corner to the next in a sequence of whimsical leaps and delicate jumps. There was no faking the smile on my face—I truly loved performing on the floor. I danced the way I felt, so alive and free. As I made my way to the corner for my first tumbling pass, I took a deep breath and turned around, counting the music in my head. My heels met the edge of the tape and I brought my hands down and rose up on my toes. With my last-minute change, Kova stood in the corner that I was running to simply for peace of mind.
I turned over my roundoff, punching my feet out of the wide back handspring and set the first flip, rotating in a snug twist. I decided midair I wasn't going to add the bonus leap like Coach Elena wanted.
Spotting the ground, I landed with the force of ten times my weight into a graceful lunge and smiled from ear to ear. Or, as Kova had once put it, "Become a gentle ripple in the ocean when you lunge." I’d made fun of him for that one.
My arms spread out as I danced to the next corner like a feather billowing through the air, my toes hardly touching the floor. I could see Kova from the corner of my eye make his way to the opposite corner to spot me again. It was silly, if I really thought about it. The comfort of a coach triggered bravery for the athlete to attempt something outright intimidating. A lot of gymnasts chose to have their coach nearby. It was the psychological part of the sport. Kova couldn't step onto the floor, but just knowing he was there made all the difference.
Kova dipped his chin once. I counted the music beats in my head and hurdled into the center of the floor to do the front flipping tumbling pass I warmed up earlier. Forward flipping was more terrifying for me, not to mention, exhausting. It took a lot of energy out of me. I stepped into a front handspring and dug deep. I pushed away any type of mental and physical fatigue and ran on autopilot, releasing every ounce of energy I had left in me. I knew this series of flips were worth more if executed properly. It was why I didn't do the bonus jump a few seconds ago. I wanted to conserve my energy for this tumbling pass.
My figure breezed through the air, defying gravity with completely straight body twists every three seconds until I reached the corner. I paid attention to the tightness of my muscles and centered my hips in rotation. Feet punching the ground in the blue spring floor, I immediately rebounded with the bonus jump and then stepped into another front handspring without taking a breath and into a roundoff, a full twisting layout, and then flipped to the other corner in a series of back handsprings to complete a double layout.
Rippling like a wave, I smiled and let out a huge gush of air as my fingers fluttered for effect. I could faintly hear the crowd clapping and cheering, but I wasn't sure for who. My lunge was completed with finesse and ease and then I was skipping around the floor until my last tumbling pass came. It was a simple one, a double twisting double back.
Counting down the beats, I drew in a breath and leaped to the center of the floor to finish my floor routine with a flare from the ground, my body contorted like a pretzel. My heart was racing so hard my chest physically hurt.
As the music came to an end. I exhaled and held my position, then I was standing up to salute the judges twice.
Panting, I spun around and clapped my hands excitedly as I exited the floor. Coach Elena was waving her flag in the air. Her excitement was contagious and I found myself smiling in return. Guess she wasn't too mad I skipped out on the extra points. All those around her watched her cheer with the crowd, her pride obvious. Floor was always so much fun to watch.
I stepped down right into Kova's arms and pulled my feet up behind me. The smell of his cologne lured me closer to his neck. I wished I could give him a little kiss on the lips to the ending of a great routine. I'd performed my heart out for him and I could tell by the way his fingers pressed into me that he was indebted by the gesture. He hugged me tight to him as he took a few steps. He said something in my ear, but I didn't catch it.
Kova released me and my teammates came running. As much as I loved training at World Cup, it would've been nice to have camaraderie like this when we competed together. The girls got dressed to rotate to the final event, but my body was too warm to put clothes on just yet.
My breathing labored a bit. I took huge breaths when I knew I shouldn't because I just couldn't help myself. I paced the floor waiting for my score while holding my neck. Time always slowed waiting for the numbers to populate. Inhaling, I could feel the low-pitched wheezing sounds in my chest as I struggled to pull air into my lungs.
I stared at the screen and I didn't blink. Goose bumps broke out over my body as the black, bold letters finally appeared.
My lips parted. I held first place for vault, and now I was in third highest overall for floor too. Now I had medals for two of the four events.
A sated smile split across my face. Now that I had the third highest floor score of the entire meet, Team USA was only five tenths of a point away from gold.
Easy peasy.
Maybe Kova had been telling me the truth all this time. Maybe I do work really well under pressure.
Thirty-Four
Once we rotated, I sat down on the floor to remove the tape from my ankles just as Kova squatted in front of me.
He didn't speak. He was waiting to wrap my wrists for me. After I balled up the tape from my ankles and dropped it into my bag, I glanced down at my hands and my brows furrowed. Kova reached for my fingers and turned my wrists over. He inspected them the way I had. He pressed gently and flexed a digit back. They were much more swollen than normal, and my fingers were puffy. This could've easily been from how much of an impact my bones took today, though.
I took my hands back and shook them out. I looked ahead, acting like it was normal, then gave Kova my wrists again with steadiness this time.
Kova ripped a piece of tape with his teeth. I asked, "What did you say to me when I got off the floor? I didn't catch it."
