Kate Richardson (gymnast)

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Kate Richardson (born June 27, 1984 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian artistic gymnast. She began gymnastics at age three. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she placed 7th in the floor exercises event. She is currently a student at UCLA.

Member of Canada's Women's Artistic Gymnastics Team, 1996-2004. National Novice Champion, 1996; Junior Champion, 1998; and Canadian Champion, 2001.

[edit] International honours

At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, Richardson became Commonwealth All-Around Champion, also winning gold on Balance Beam. She competed for Canada at two Summer Olympic Games - Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, where she qualified for the Floor Exercise Final, placing 7th. She was the first Canadian woman to qualify for an Olympic final. Even more remarkable was the fact that she qualified for the Olympics whilst competing in the NCAA, a feat not achieved in women's gymnastics since Kelly Garrison Steves in 1988. Fellow Bruin Mohini Bhardwaj also competed.

[edit] College gymnastics career

In 2002, Richardson was granted an athletic scholarship to attend UCLA, where she joined the Bruins' Gymnastics Team, repeating NCAA Champions in 2003 and 2004. Her teammates have included fellow individual NCAA champions Kristen Maloney, Tasha Schwikert and Jamie Dantzscher. During her four years competing for the Bruins, she also won Individual NCAA Championship titles on Balance Beam (2003), Bars (2003) and Floor Exercise (2006). In 2006, she was named Pac-10 Female Student-Athlete of the Year.

She has now retired from competitive gymnastics.