With the Olympics starting up, some local athletes are watching who have Olympic dreams of their own.
Peter Davis-Ross, a Junior Elite Gymnast at Central Coast Gymnastics, described the feeling of being in the air. “Well, it feels like pretty much exactly how you think it would feel. You feel like, feel the air and stuff rushing past your body... like almost magical or whatever.”
Davis-Ross, 14, has been doing gymnastics most of his life. He says he practices about 20 hours a week and hopes to one day make it to the Olympic games, like his role model, Yul Moldauer, from Team USA.
“I don't know, I've always liked him. He's really, he has a good energy and vibe to him when he competes," Davis-Ross said, adding that he's best at the parallel bars and the rings.
Davis-Ross has met a few Olympians before. “I've gone to the Future Stars Nationals, which is at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, and it was a very amazing experience. I got to see a lot of Olympians, and just, it was amazing to train on the equipment that they train on.”
“You just have to tough it out, don't really think about it at all, that helps," Davis-Ross said about advise he would give Olympians and how he himself prepares for meets. "I try to play games and stuff before me to try to get my anxiety level down and just relax before me."
His goal is to compete in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“It’d be awesome. That would be, like, in my opinion, one of the best feelings to have ever," Davis-Ross said.
He says to make it to the Los Angeles Olympics, he would have to win some pretty big meets and make the national team.
Peter isn’t the only gymnast in his family.
Lucy, 12, and Mary Davis-Ross, 8, are the oldest sisters in the family.
They are both competitive gymnasts and for this year’s Olympic games, say they are most excited to see Simone Biles.
Lucy, who does acrobatic gymnastics, said, “I love how she's so like passionate in gymnastics, and she looks like she's such a hard worker.”
Mary added that she is excited to see Biles “because her floor routine and I like how high she gets in her flips, and she just inspires me.”
Mary says she has been training since she was 1-year-old and practices four days a week, more than three hours a day.
She talked about doing one of her signature flips. “[You’re] in the air, you're just there for a second, and it's just, you're in there gliding away.”
We asked both sisters about what the Olympians must be going through and the difficulties of doing gymnastics.
Lucy said, “The hardest part of gymnastics is probably failing. So, like, if you fall out of competition, or you, like, mess up, you feel like you're letting your coach down as well as your show.”
“Conditioning or falling or failing or feeling like you're behind somebody and they're, like, all ahead of you, but you don't, you're just like, way behind them,” Mary said.
The two other siblings of the Davis-Ross family, Anna and Thomas, compete together as partners at the same gym - Central Coast Gymnastics.
