Tracy Press

Kelly School fourth-grader Hannah Douglas (top) is a member of the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic Team. Hannah, 10, and partner Soffia Metzler, 15, will compete this week in the British Open Tournament. Courtesy photo.

If she makes it to the World Championships next year — and even if she doesn’t — 10-year-old acrobatic gymnast Hannah Douglas, a member of the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic team, has one person to thank.

Her older sister, Haley.

Three years ago, the Kelly School fourth-grader’s experiences with gymnastics were limited to watching Haley’s acrobatic gymnastics (acro, for short) practices. When the family moved to Tracy from San Jose almost three years ago, Hannah did the same at Haley’s new acro gym in Livermore — until coaches approached her and asked if she wanted to try it out.

“I just followed after seeing her — it was a cool thing she was doing,” Hannah said Friday, mere days before she and her partner will jet to Great Britain for international competition. They’re one of five pairs selected nationally to represent the United States, only about 2½ years after Hannah began her acro career.

Partly through hard work — Hannah practices 3½ hours four days a week, plus another 4½ on Saturday mornings — and partly through natural ability, Hannah turned from casual spectator into international competitor.

“It’s really quite amazing” how quickly she’s learned the skills, said Maria Annonson, her coach.
She managed to earn a gold medal at her first competition, and now, with partner Soffia Metzler, 15, the pairing can perform such feats as to be, in Annonson’s eyes, legitimate hopefuls for the World Championships in 2008.

All thanks to a sibling-inspired, split-second decision.

“It really was kind of a whim,” said Leslie Douglas, Hannah and Haley’s mother. “And she’s really not a competitive person … it’s funny.”

Mind, Haley’s no slouch, either. She came close to qualifying for the same trip, finishing sixth. And, luckily for the Douglas household’s harmony, she doesn’t seem to begrudge her sister’s relatively easy success.

“I hate to say it, but Haley had to work a lot harder,” Leslie said. “(Hannah) had taken tumbling before, but really, before that she hadn’t done anything. But Haley’s been supportive. She’s been real good about it.”

The best part about acro, Hannah says, isn’t the globe-hopping trips or the championship hardware. It’s feeling — after Soffia tosses her up in the air and Hannah lands on her partner’s hands, after she does a back-tuck flip off her partner’s shoulders, after any of the other stunts that would leave most parents sick with worry — “like I’m flying.”

“It’s really fun to be so far up off the ground,” she said.

Hannah’s done more in her brief time in the sport than she or her parents thought possible. Leading up to the big trip to England, she’s won gold medals on a yearly basis and gotten to rub shoulders with greatness at renowned gymnastics coach Béla Károlyi’s house in Texas during a national training camp this past summer. But even that didn’t go to her head.

“She thought the best thing about (the trip to Károlyi’s house) was, ‘I got to know (older, teenaged) kids who don’t pay attention to me because I’m little,’’’ Leslie said.

“She’s a funny kid.”

At a glance
What is acrobatic gymnastics?
An official USA Gymnastics discipline, acrobatic gymnastics combines “artistic gymnastics, pair ice skating and Cirque du Soleil,” coach Maria Annonson says. Gymnasts are organized in pairs. Routines last 3½ minutes and include synchronized dance, hand-to-hand — or foot-to-hand — balancing skills, and acrobatic tosses and flips.
Acrobatic gymnastics is still a non-Olympic sport, but gymnasts can compete in the World Championships, and the sport’s addition to the Games is under consideration by the International Olympic Committee.

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