Blue Springs teen handles pressures of Olympics with a smile

Do you remember what you were doing when you were 15 years old?
I really don’t, but I’m betting I was checking the daily box scores for the Kansas City A’s, mowing the lawn for my neighbor, Mrs. Lee, and walking up to C&J’s United Super to pick up a pack of baseball cards and a bottle of soda.
Ivana Hong is 15 and the Blue Springs High School dynamo is getting ready to represent her country on the grandest stage of all sporting events – the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.
Every time I am around the honor roll student and world class athlete, I realize just how special she is.
When Terin Humphrey and Courtney McCool represented the Blue Springs-based Great American Gymnastic Express (GAGE) and the metro area at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece, I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch hometown heroes make their mark in Olympic history.
While McCool didn’t quite live up to pre-Olympic expectations, Humphrey won an individual silver on the bars and along with McCool paced the U.S. team to a silver medal second-place finish.
I remember watching their performance on a giant screen at GAGE and literally felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up when all the younger gymnasts screamed in delight following each of the GAGE girls’ performances.
In three weeks, we’ll all find out if we get to experience the same thrill, as Hong just finished fifth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Philadelphia.,
The top six gymnasts, plus three alternates, will make the U.S. team. I don’t know much about gymnastics, but I do know a champion when I see one and Hong is the total package.
I received a lengthy e-mail during the school year from one of her teachers at the Blue Springs Freshman Center. It didn’t say a word about Ivana Hong, the world-class gymnast. It went on and on about Ivana Hong, the world-class freshman.
She excels in the classroom in much the same fashion she does on her floor routine, beam, uneven bars or vault.
Yet she gets as excited talking about American Idol winner, and fellow Blue Springs product, David Cook or making pink cupcakes for her sister’s 10th birthday, as she does the likelihood of making the U.S. Olympic team.
She has a smile for the ages and the type of personality that welcomes the youngest of GAGE members to give her a hug.
The U.S. team will be selected July 16-20 at Bela and Martha Karolyi’s Ranch outside of Houston.
Unlike the dog and pony show that took place in 2004, this year’s final selection will not be televised.
“That is a good thing,” said Hong’s coach, Armine Barutyan-Fong. “It gives me goosebumps to think about Terin (Humphrey) being selected for the 2004 team. The look on her face was so special.”
That’s because Humphrey was not expected to make the team. But her strong showing at the selection camp proved to be a huge plus for the silver-medal team as she won an individual silver medal on the uneven bars.
“But the looks on the faces of the girls who did not make it,” Barutyan-Fong added, “were so sad.”
This year, the team will be announced once all the members and alternates are selected. They will meet the press and begin preparation for the Summer Games.
And Ivana Hong will be right there, with the best athletes in the world, representing GAGE, Blue Springs and her family and friends.
It will be a dream come true for a young lady whose work ethic is off the charts.
Not bad for a cupcake-making teen who’s not old enough to get behind the wheel of a car.