Eyes on the Future | Sloane Blakely

When Sloane Blakely stepped onto the podium for the first time in her elite career, she instantly proved that she had all the qualities needed to become a star. The perfect combination of flexibility and power, she performs each of her skills cleanly and with ease. Enrolled in dance since the age of 2, Sloane started gymnastics at the age of 5 after her mother began searching for extra activities to try outside of tap and ballet. Now at the age of 14, Sloane is competing at the elite level with the hopes of someday representing the USA internationally.

A typical day for Sloane begins very early and contains a balance between gymnastics and school. She is one of two elite gymnasts currently training at the Frisco location of WOGA under coaches Tatyana Shadenko and Ryan Roberts. Monday through Thursday she trains twice a day with her first practice running from 7:30am-12:00pm. Then she shifts her focus to school, where she is enrolled in a home school program. "It gives me the flexibility I need for gymnastics," she told us. After school it's back in the gym from 4:00pm-7:30pm. On Friday she has one practice in the morning from 7:30am-11:30am and then she has the rest of the day to relax and focus on school. On Saturday she trains from 8:00am-12:00pm and then she has Saturday night and Sunday to spend time with her family, go to church, and read--which is what she likes to do in her free time. Sloane has a younger sister named Skye who is also a gymnast and is currently training for her second year as a HOPES elite. "It's fun training with my sister," Sloane told us. "We encourage each other and we are able to communicate by simply giving each other certain looks."

2016 was a good year for Sloane. It was her first year competing as a level 10 and she didn't disappoint, winning the all-around and several event titles at almost every competition she competed in. She concluded her level 10 season on a big note by winning the beam title at the JO National Championships. Next it was onto the elite ranks after a stellar performance at the Elite Qualifier (the one that is held at the Ranch prior to the American Classic) where she finished 3rd all-around and 1st on vault and beam. At the Secret Classic and the P&G Championships, Sloane might not have won any medals, but she is proud of her performances, gained some valuable experience and certainly put her name on everyone's radar with good reason. A lot like her idol Simone Biles, Sloane is a great all-around gymnast but specializes on vault, beam and floor. On vault she performs a clean yurchenko full with great height and distance. At Classics and on the first day of P&G's, she absolutely nailed the landing. In fact, she was one of the few girls who scored a 9.0 in execution throughout both competitions. If she has a weaker event it would be bars, however she swings with ease and shows lots of potential for upgrades. On beam she is as light as a feather, shows great extension in her leaps, and performs a sky high double tuck dismount. On floor she does a breathtaking arabian double front and performs to the tune of "Remember the Name." Coincidence? I think not.



Sloane wrapped up her year with invites to a few of the National Team camps, which are now lead by WOGA's own Valeri Liukin. "I was able to learn new techniques, different approaches to my current skills and I picked up a few new skills too," Sloane said of her first camp experience. While the camps are all business during training, the girls do get to have some fun and wind down after practice. "During my second camp we dressed up for Halloween and hung out watching Laurie Hernandez on Dancing with the Stars," she said. "It was fun!"

For next season, Sloane has a lot of big skills in the works that she would like to add to her routines. She is training an amanar, a vault that very few gymnasts compete at the junior level. On bars she is working to add two release moves (piked tkatchev and gienger) along with a new dismount (double layout with a full twist.) On beam she is working on adding a new dismount, either an arabian double front or a full-in. On floor she is working a double double, double arabian piked, and a double layout. With those new skills, Sloane's goals for next season should be fairly easy to achieve. "I want to make it back to P&G's again, have cleaner routines and higher difficulty, and make National Team." Like most elite level gymnasts, she aspires to someday represent the USA at the highest level like the World Championships and "maybe even the Olympics." Only time will tell if she has what it takes, but right now the sky is the limit for Sloane Blakely.