The World Olympic Gymnastics Academy has the golden touch. Olympic gold medalists Nastia Liukin and Carly Patterson trained there, and so does current U.S. Olympic gymnast Madison Kocian.
"Here, I think it's all about the work. We work really hard," said Kocian's coach, Cecile Landi. "The kids are committed. They have big dreams."
Those big dreams start little. On a Thursday afternoon, gymnastics summer camp at WOGA is bustling with little girls, some of whom are shorter than the balance beams they conquer.
"I think I could actually be an Olympic gymnast when I grow up," said 7-year old Brynli Smith. Her favorite events are bars and floor routine. "Maybe I could get really good at it and win first place on it."
The legacies of those who trained at WOGA before them stare down from the walls of the gym in bigger-than-life posters.
"I think some day I'll be doing that," said 7-year old Cardin West, smiling. "It kind of shows who I am and what I can do."
But getting to the Olympic stage isn't easy. Few make it to that level.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
"Even if you're not a professional, you can tell sometimes, 'Oh, look at that one. She stands out,'" explained Landi. "It's a combination of brain and body, I'd say. If you can find a little girl who has both, it's gold! And that's really rare."
Landi was on the 1996 French Olympic gymnastic team. Rio is her first Olympic Games as a coach. She remembers starting to coach at the time Liukin was going to her Olympic Games in Beijing.
"I was thinking, I hope one day I can have a gymnast who experiences what she's about to," Landi said. "And it's here and pretty unbelievable."
