| Kara Eaker | |
|---|---|
 Eaker at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials | |
|
Country represented |
|
|
Born |
November 7 2002 |
|
Years on National Team |
2017-2021 |
|
Club |
GAGE |
|
Coach(es) |
Al Fong, Armine Barutyan |
|
Current status |
Retired |
|
College team |
Utah Red Rocks |
Kara Eaker (born November 7 in Jiangxi, China) is an elite Chinese-born American gymnast. She was adopted from China in 2003 and raised in Grain Valley, Missouri.[1] She trains at GAGE and is coached by Al Fong and Armine Barutyan. In her first year as an elite gymnast, she won the Junior National title on balance beam and was named to the National Team alongside fellow club member Leanne Wong. In 2021, she began attending the University of Utah and competing for their gymnastics team. She left the University of Utah in 2023 after two seasons and retired from the sport.[2]
Junior Career[]
2017[]
Eaker made her elite debut at the U.S. Classic in July, where she won bronze on balance beam and placed fifth in the all-around, seventh on floor, fourteenth on bars, and twenty-sixth on vault. She advanced to her first National Championships, where she won gold on balance beam, bronze in the all-around, and placed fourth on floor, fifth on bars, and fourteenth on vault. Her third place finish in the all-around earned her a spot on the National Team.
Senior Career[]
2018[]
Eaker made her senior debut at the American Classic in July, where she placed fourth in the all-around and posted the highest score on balance beam. Later that month, she competed at the U.S. Classic, placing fifth on uneven bars, thirteenth on uneven bars, fourteenth on floor exercise, and sixteenth in the all-around. She qualified to her first senior National Championships in August, winning silver on balance beam and placing fifth on floor, seventh in the all-around, and ninth on uneven bars. She was named to the American team for the Pan American Championships in Peru, where she won team and balance beam gold and floor exercise bronze.
She was later named to the American team for her first World Championships in Doha, Qatar in late October. She helped USA win team gold and qualify a full team to the 2020 Olympics, but fell on her mount in the balance beam final and only finished sixth.
2019[]
Eaker competed at the International Gymnix in Montreal in March, winning team, all-around, and balance beam gold and placed fifth on the uneven bars. In July, she competed at the U.S. Classic. She won balance beam and placed fourth in the all-around and on floor exercise, and tenth on uneven bars. Following the competition, she was named to the U.S. team for the Pan American Games.[3] At the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, Eaker had a great showing during qualifications which also served as the team final. She won gold with the American team and made the all-around, beam, and floor finals. Unfortunately, during the all-around final she fell on her beam mount and had to put her hand down on a floor pass, and finished in fourth place, just out of the medal. She bounced back during event finals, hitting a strong beam routine and floor routine to finish first and second respectively.
In August, she competed at the National Championships, finishing second on beam after a fall, tenth in the all-around and on floor exercise, and eleventh on bars. In October, she competed at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. She had some issues in qualifications on balance beam. She initially scored high enough to qualify to the beam final, but after her coach submitted an inquiry about her score, which caused her start value to drop and take her out of the final. In the team final, she helped USA to a fifth straight World team gold medal. After the all-around, Canada's Ellie Black withdrew from the beam final with an injury, allowing Eaker to step in as the first reserve. Eaker placed fourth in the final.
2020-2021[]
In November, Eaker officially signed with the University of Utah.[4]
In 2021, Eaker competed at the American Classic, placing fifth in the all-around. In May, she attended the U.S. Classic, finishing ninth in the all-around and winning bronze on beam. At the U.S. National Championships, she finished tenth in the all-around. She qualified to the Olympic Trials, where she placed seventh in the all-around and placed second on beam. She was named an alternate for the 2020 U.S. Olympic team. That fall, she began attending the University of Utah.
College Career[]
Eaker attended the University of Utah, competing during the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons. She earned two perfect tens during her career, both on balance beam. She was also a two-time All-American on beam. In October of 2023, she announced her departure from the University and their gymnastics team as well as her retirement from the sport.[5]
Medal Count[]
| Year | Event | TF | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | U.S. Classic | 5 | 26 | 14 | 3rd | 7 | |
| U.S. National Championships | 3rd | 14 | 5 | 1st | 4 | ||
| 2018 | American Classic | 4 | |||||
| U.S. Classic | 16 | 13 | 5 | 14 | |||
| U.S. National Championships | 7 | 9 | 2nd | 5 | |||
| Pan American Senior Championships | 1st | 1st | 3rd | ||||
| Doha World Championships | 1st | 6 | |||||
| 2019 | International Gymnix | 1st | 1st | 5 | 1st | ||
| U.S. Classic | 4 | 10 | 1st | 4 | |||
| Lima Pan American Games | 1st | 4 | 1st | 2nd | |||
| U.S. National Championships | 10 | 11 | 2nd | 10 | |||
| Stuttgart World Championships | 1st | 4 | |||||
| 2021 | 2021 American Classic | 5 | |||||
| U.S. Classic | 9 | 7 | 3rd | 14 | |||
| U.S. National Championships | 10 | 16 | 5 | 12 | |||
| U.S. Olympic Trials | 7 | 11 | 2nd | 6 |
Floor Exercise[]
2013-2019 - "The Last Sunday (Tango)" by Ballroom Orchestra & Singers
2020-2021 - "Tango To Evora" by Consoul Trainin & Pink Noisy ft Anastasia Zannis