World Olympic Gymnastics Academy


The World Olympic Gymnastics Academy is a two-facility gymnastics club located in Plano and Frisco. Since its inception, WOGA has garnered a strong reputation for consistently contributing top notch gymnasts to the U.S. Junior and Senior National Teams. WOGA trained gymnasts have a long and established history of competing in and winning at the highest level of competition, with several former National Champions, World Champions, and Olympic Champions amongst their past and present students.
The head coaches at WOGA are former USA Gymnastics women's national team coordinator Valeri Liukin, who was a Soviet medalist at the 1988 Olympic Games, and Yevgeny Marchenko who coached gold medalist Carly Patterson. Some of the notable past elites are Elizabeth "Lizzy" LeDuc, Katelyn Ohashi, Grace McLaughlin, Briley Casanova, Ivana Hong, Rebecca Bross, World Champions Hollie Vise and Alyssa Baumann, as well as Olympic Champions Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin and Madison Kocian. Edouard Iarov, former coach of Valeri Liukin, the USSR and Canadian national teams also trained gymnasts at the club.

History

World Olympic Gymnastics Academy opened in 1994 by co-founders Valeri Liukin, a 1988 Olympic Champion and Yevgeny Marchenko, a World Sports Acrobatic Champion.
In 2003, WOGA gymnasts Carly Patterson and Hollie Vise won 2 individual medals and contributed to the first team gold for the US at the World Championships. In 2004, Carly Patterson became the second American gymnast to become the Women's Olympic All-Around Gymnastics Champion, and the first American to do so in a non-boycotted Olympics.
WOGA is home to three Olympic Champions – Patterson, Nastia Liukin, and Madison Kocian ; and home to six World Champions – Patterson, Hollie Vise, Liukin, Ivana Hong, Kocian, and Alyssa Baumann.

WOGA Classic

WOGA hosts an annual meet at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, which has competitions from levels 1-10 as well as an International elite competition which has seen competitors such as Laurie Hernandez, Katelyn Ohashi, Madeline Gardiner, Marine Brevet, Mira Boumejmajen and Jordyn Wieber.

Notable Gymnasts and Alumni

Nastia Liukin:
Carly Patterson:
Madison Kocian:
Hollie Vise:
Ivana Hong:
Rebecca Bross:
Alyssa Baumann:
Irina Alexeeva:
Katelyn Ohashi:
Skye Blakely:
Dylan Inserra:
Axl Osborne
Briley Casanova:
Glenn McCuen
Grace McLaughlin:
In 2006 a WOGA coach was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a 14 year old gymnast. The gymnast and her family filed a lawsuit against the owners of World Olympic Gymnastics Academy
alleging that they had failed to properly screen and supervise the coach. The suit does not seek a specific amount of money from the academy owners and doesn't accuse them of abuse.
Bill Boyd, the gym's attorney, has said all instructors receive a criminal background check and the gym was not aware of any accusations until a police investigation in 2005, after Wagoner had left.
Wagoner was arrested in Jacksonville, Florida and received a 15 year prison sentence after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting the gymnast.