Tokyo trial run for Butler
Houstonian gets taste of Japan in preparation for shot at 2021Olympics
As gymnasts continue to work and train toward a chance to compete at the 2021 Olympics in Japan, Houston high school junior Sophia Butler already has had her spotlight moment at the Olympic venue.
Butler, 16, who trains at Discover Gymnastics in Houston, was one of six USA Gymnastics athletes who competed last weekend at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo at the International Gymnastics Federation’s Friendship and Solidarity Meet.
Butler competed on three of four events at the first major gymnastics event staged since the COVID-19 shutdown last spring, and she said she was impressed by the efforts Japanese organizers made to ensure athletes’ safety and health.
“For FIG to be able to put on such a well-organized meet while following all the COVID-19 protocols was just immaculate,” Butler said. “Everything from the practices to the hotels to the competition was so wellthought.
“I’m positive that they will be able to hold the Olympics and do it beautifully.”
Male and female athletes from the United States, Russia, China and Japan competed on two mixed international teams. Butler competed on beam, floor exercise and vault, skipping uneven bars as she continues towork back to her pre-lockdown conditioning on that event.
“It’s a blessing and honor towear the leotard that says ‘USA’ with the flag on the sleeve, to be one of the first to represent our country after this crazy first half of the year and to set the pace for
the season to come,” she said.
The 15-hour plane trip wasn’t half-bad, either. Butler said the U.S. delegation had the run of a commercial airliner for the trip and, while wearing masks, explored every nook and cranny of their private aircraft.
Athletes wore N-95 masks while in the airport and cloth masks at the hotel, where they were confined to their floor for meals and team meetings, she said.
Butler began the meet on balance beam, the most nerve-wracking event in women’s gymnastics, and opened with an acrobatic/ aerial combination that has not been previously performed in international competition. She also managed to stay on the beam after landing on one foot after two back handsprings.
“I don’t know how I stayed on,” she said. “I was so happy I didn’t fall.”
She also lost a point on floor exercise when she
tumbled out of a turning maneuver and omitted one twist from her Yurchenko vault for safety reasons. But given the ramped-up fourweek preparation period for the meet, she said she was pleased with the outcome.
She did conditioning and cardiowork athome during the 2 ½-month gym shutdown but said she struggled to regain routine shape after returning to the gym and during a period of uncertainty leading up to the Japan trip.
“We had about four weeks of pretty intense training to prepare,” she said. “I had to buckle down and push myself as hard as I have in a long time. When you get an opportunity like this, you want to do your best.”
Butler was back in the gym this week after returning from Tokyo and resumed work with her coach, Juan Corso, in preparation for a possible trip to Indianapolis for a national team training camp in De-
cember.
While USA Gymnastics has yet to confirm its competition schedule for 2021, Butler hopes to compete at the Olympic Trials next spring in St. Louis.
As one of the younger members of the national team, Butler is a decided long shot tomake the Olympic team, which will be limited to four members next year, and has adjusted her expectations accordingly.
“Reality sets in,” she said. “Mymain goal is to get to the Olympic Trials and have the best meet of my life with no regrets.”
From there, she plans to enroll on scholarship at the University of Florida in 2022.
But for now, it’s back to work.
“We’ll work on upgrades on bars and floor and try to get back into physical shape,” she said. “It’s a major working period on all cylinders.”