Rachel Kathryn Gowey (born October 3 in Des Moines, IA) is a retired elite American gymnast. She trains at Chow's Gymnastics under Liang Chow and Liwen Zhuang. She is one of the few gymnasts who is capable of performing a 3½ twist on floor exercise. She began attending the University of Florida and competing for their gymnastics team in the fall of 2016.
Career[]
Junior Career[]
At the 2012 Junior Olympic Nationals, she won gold on balance beam, silver in the all-around, and placed fourth on bars, and seventh on floor.
Senior Career[]
2013-2014[]
Gowey was set to make her senior elite debut at the U.S. Classic in 2013, but pulled out because of stress fractures in her back. She was added to the National Team in March, and selected to compete at the City of Jesolo Trophy, which marked her international debut.[1]
In Jesolo, Gowey, along with teammate Madison Kocian, competed in a mixed team with gymnasts from Romania and Italy. The mixed team did not place in the team final, but Gowey placed fifth in the all-around. She and Kocian stood with the rest of the Americans on the podium.
Gowey began showing improvements over the summer, including an Amanar vault she unveiled at a National Team training camp. In early August, she competed at the U.S. Classic, where a fall on vault landed her in fourth place. She won bronze on balance beam, and placed fifth on floor and seventh on uneven bars. In podium training for Nationals, she fractured her ankle on her beam dismount and withdrew from the competition.[2] After attending a National Team training camp in late November, Gowey was added back to the National team.[3]
2015[]
Gowey's return to competition came at the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada. She only competed on bars and beam, qualifying to both event finals, and winning team gold. She won an additional gold in the uneven bars final, but fell twice in the balance beam final and finished last.
Having competed in Toronto, Gowey automatically qualified for the National Championships in August. She only competed on bars and beam, placing sixth on both events, but was not added back to the National Team.
2016[]
Gowey competed at the U.S. Classic in June, winning silver in the all-around behind Aly Raisman, and placing fourth on floor, fifth on vault, sixth on beam, and eighth on uneven bars. At the National Championships, she placed fifth on uneven bars, ninth in the all-around, twelfth on balance beam, and eighteenth on floor exercise. She successfully petitioned to the Olympic Trials, where she placed sixth on uneven bars, seventh on balance beam, tenth on vault, eleventh in the all-around, and thirteenth on floor exercise.
Gowey retired after the Olympics and began attending the University of Florida in the fall.
Medal Count[]
Year | Event | TF | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | Level 10 Junior Olympic National Championships | 2nd | 4 | 1st | 7 | ||
2014 | City of Jesolo Trophy | 5 | |||||
U.S. Classic | 4 | 7 | 3rd | 5 | |||
2015 | Toronto Pan American Games | 1st | 1st | 8 | |||
U.S. National Championships | 6 | 6 | |||||
2016 | U.S. Classic | 2nd | 5 | 8 | 6 | 4 | |
U.S. National Championships | 9 | 5 | 12 | 18 | |||
U.S. Olympic Trials | 11 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
Floor Music[]
2014-2016 - "My Sweet and Tender Beast" by Eugen Doga