Chellsie Memmel and Alicia Sacramone Quinn, who were on the 2008 U.S. Olympic silver medal team, and longtime coach Dan Baker have been named the leaders of the U.S. women’s gymnastics program.
After USA Gymnastics changed its model from a single director to a trio, Memmel will be the technical lead, Quinn the strategic lead and Baker the developmental lead. They start next week.
“We are extremely pleased to have this well-rounded team of leaders to drive our program, from development to the Olympic stage,” U.S. women’s gymnastics vice president Annie Heffernon said in a press release. “They bring decades of experience in coaching, talent development, judging and elite competition. To have Olympians return to our national team in coaching and strategic capacities will have an even bigger impact on the next generation of women’s elite athletes.”
Memmel, who last year came out of a nine-year retirement and competed at nationals, will direct national team camps while providing “technical and coaching oversight” for the high performance program.
Quinn, captain of the 2008 Olympic team and a 10-time world championships medalist, will focus on “the overarching strategy for the national team,” overseeing planning and direction of the high performance program.
Baker, a club coach since 1998 and USA Gymnastics elite women’s development coordinator since 2018, will continue focusing on junior levels, overseeing the developmental program and camps.
Dominique Moceanu, a member of the 1996 Olympic gold medal team, said she applied for the strategic lead position and was interviewed.
Memmel, Quinn and Baker succeed Tom Forster, who stepped down at the end of 2021 after three and a half years at the helm that included a team silver-medal result at the Tokyo Games.
Top gymnasts are preparing for the U.S. Classic in July and national championships in August, after which the team for the world championships in October and November will be named.
OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!