Elsa García (gymnast)
Elsa García Rodriguez is a Mexican artistic gymnast who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She also won the Longines Prize for Elegance during the 2009 World Championships.
Senior career
2006
In March, Garcia placed fifth at the American Cup in Philadelphia, United States with a score of 57.050.In April, Garcia competed at the Pacific Rim Championships in Honolulu, United States. She contributed a vault score of 14.650 toward the Mexican team's sixth-place finish.
In July, Garcia competed at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games in Cartagena, Colombia. She contributed an all around score of 57.250 toward the Mexican team's first-place finish. She placed first in the all around final with a score of 58.332. In event finals, she placed third on vault scoring 14.062, first on uneven bars scoring 15.150, and first on floor scoring 14.125.
In October, Garcia competed at the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. The Mexican team placed eighteenth and individually she placed thirty third with a score of 56.525.
2007
At the beginning of March, Garcia placed third at the American Cup in Jacksonville, United States with a score of 60.200.In March, Garcia competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Paris, France. She placed third on vault scoring 14.325, sixth on uneven bars scoring 14.425, and second of floor scoring 15.100.
At the end of March, Garcia competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Cottbus, Germany. She placed third on vault scoring 14.450, first on uneven bars scoring 15.250, and first on floor scoring 15.125.
In May, Garcia competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Ghent, Belgium. She placed second on vault scoring 14.463 and second on floor scoring 14.675.
In July, Garcia competed at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She placed seventh in the all around final with a score of 56.200. In event finals, she placed fourth on vault scoring 14.462, fourth on uneven bars scoring 15.050, and fifth on balance beam scoring 14.525.
In September, Garcia competed at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. The Mexican team placed twentieth and individually she placed seventy fourth in the all around competition with a score of 52.775. Prior to the competition she injured her Psoas muscle and based on her performances she did not qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Garcia said, "2007 was a really special and contradictory year for me, because I achieved so much in the World Cup series and obviously because of my injury that left me out of Beijing."
2008
In June, Garcia competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Barcelona, Spain. She placed fourth on vault scoring 13.438 and third on uneven bars scoring 13.750.Garcia hoped to earn a wild card spot for the 2008 Summer Olympics but did not. "2008 was kind of frustrating, mainly because I didn't know if I would get the wild card or not. Finally I got an answer to that, and, well, you know all about that." She added, "It was tough to continue knowing that my goal and dream was passing me by. It was hard seeing the competitions on TV in my house, but I wouldn't let myself quit. First of all, because I can't give up on something that fills me with happiness and that I still enjoy very much. Second, I know who I am, and what I am capable of doing if I set my mind to it, so there's nothing like keeping on training and setting new goals to keep myself motivated. Of course, not every day is a great day, but overcoming the hard parts is what makes us realize why we are doing this."
In December, Garcia competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup final in Madrid, Spain. She placed fourth on vault scoring 14.400 and eighth on floor scoring 13.175. Garcia said, "The World Cup Final in Madrid came like a surprise for us, and it helped my coaches and me get the hang of things again, and to reassure me that I want to keep doing this for another four years."
2009
At the beginning of the year. Garcia had surgery on her left hand. She said, "There was an abnormal bone growth due to hard impacts and over-training. So I had surgery, and then had to recover from it and start little by little again. So this year I haven't competed at all. This year is the first year in the Olympic cycle, so we're taking it slow, because next year will be a busy one."In October, Garcia competed at the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in London, United Kingdom. She placed twelfth in the all around final with a score of 54.875 and eighth in the vault final with a score of 13.287. At the World Championships, Garcia was awarded with the Longines Prize for Elegance.
2010
In March, Garcia placed eighth at the American Cup in Worcester, United States with a score of 53.900.In July, Garcia competed at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. She contributed an all around score of 55.200 toward the Mexican team's first-place finish. "Mexico really started well and ended well," Garcia said. "There were great performances from us and other countries, but in the end we got first." She placed second in the all around final with a score of 55.950. In event finals, she placed first on vault scoring 13.812, eighth on uneven bars scoring 11.275, second on balance beam scoring 13.675, and first on floor scoring 14.000. Garcia said, "I think that over the past four years, the technical quality of the gymnasts in this region has improved."
In September, Garcia competed at the Pan American Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. She placed fourth in the all around competition with a score of 56.232. In event finals, she placed sixth on vault scoring 13.825, seventh on uneven bars scoring 13.300, fourth on balance beam scoring 13.625, and fifth on floor scoring 13.650. "It's a good place, but I know I can improve further," Garcia said. "The objective was met. We are very happy because we were fighting on each apparatus."
In October, Garcia competed at the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The Mexican team placed twenty first and individually she placed fifty first in the all around competition.
In December, Garcia had surgery to remove a Synovial cyst in her left hand.
2011
In February, Garcia resumed training. She said, "After surgery it was immobilized for a month with a splint. I am almost ending my second month that is filled with mobility, rehab and strengthening my hand. So I think I will be recovered completely in April, or maybe May. I am constantly visualizing myself doing the skills I do, and that makes me want to train more and more." Garcia later added, "It was a rough and slow beginning this year because of the operation; but my hand has been fully operational since May, so I've had the chance to slowly regain and really train all the apparatuses and skills. The only times it hurts a bit is when there is a change of climate or when I do lots of vaults, but nothing serious. After my hand operation, it took me a lot of out-of-the-gym training to regain all of my body strength. I did a lot of cardiovascular training and weight lifting, and went back to the basics in gymnastics. The skills I do were in my mind, and my body knew how to do them. I just had to regain control of my body."In October, Garcia competed at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. The Mexican team placed seventeenth and individually she placed sixty third in the all around competition. Before the competition she said, "I can surely say that I am really excited about this year's world championships. I hope that we Mexicans show the world what we are capable of achieving, I think we can place in the top 18."
Later in October, Garcia competed at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. She contributed an all around score of 52.875 towards the Mexican team's third-place finish and she placed fifth in the all around final with a score of 54.425. In event finals, she placed second on vault scoring 14.312, third on uneven bars scoring 13.625, and fifth on floor scoring 13.400.
2012
In January, Garcia competed at the London Prepares series in London, United Kingdom. She placed seventeenth in the all around competition with a score of 54.631. She injured her knee during warm-ups for the vault final. She said, "It was a hyperextension of the ligaments around the knee and connection between the bones, because as my knee went backward my bones crashed into each other. No surgery was needed, but I used a knee cast for a while and then pure rehab, slowly regaining mobility and strength."In May, Garcia competed at the Mexican Championships. "My performance was exactly as planned," she said. "It was the first competition after my injury so it was to get back in competition form but without doing very difficult skills — letting myself know that I was back in the game. only bars and beam with full difficulty skills, vault all I did were Yurchenko layouts and on floor I did my first two passes with my coach spotting me, and the rest were very simple tumbling passes."
In June, Garcia won the all around competition at Mexico's National Olympiad with a score of 56.300. In event finals, she placed third on vault scoring 13.762, third on uneven bars scoring 13.075, first on balance beam scoring 14.200, and second on floor scoring 14.600. "I recently competed at our country's National Olympiad doing four full routines packed with almost every difficulty I will be showing in London," she said. "Hopefully just missing an upgrade to a double-twisting Yurchenko on vault and a Patterson dismount on beam."