Carly Patterson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Carly Patterson
Patterson in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Carly Rae Patterson
Country represented	United States
Born	(1988-02-04) February 4, 1988 (age 37) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
Hometown	Allen, Texas, U.S.
Height	5 ft 0 in (152 cm)
Weight	97 lb (44 kg)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior Elite
Years on national team	2000–2004 (USA)
Club	World Olympic Gymnastics Academy
Head coach(es)	Evgeny Marchenko
Assistant coach(es)	Natasha Boyarskaya
Choreographer	Tatiana Shegolkova
Eponymous skills	Patterson: Double Arabian Dismount (balance beam)
Retired	2006
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 2 0 World Championships 1 1 0 American Cup 2 0 0 Event 1st 2nd 3rd All-Around (OG/WC) 2 2 0 Uneven Bars (OG/WC) 0 0 0 Balance Beam (OG/WC) 0 1 0 Vault (OG/WC) 0 0 0 Floor Exercise (OG/WC) 0 0 0 Women's artistic gymnastics Representing  United States Olympic Games Gold 2004 Athens All-around Silver 2004 Athens Team Silver 2004 Athens Balance Beam World Championships Gold 2003 Anaheim Team Silver 2003 Anaheim All-around American Cup Gold 2003 Fairfax All-around Gold 2004 New York All-around
Awards	Longines Prize for Elegance

Carly Rae Patterson (born February 4, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and former artistic gymnast. She made history by winning the all-around gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This made her the first American woman to win this title at an Olympics that was not boycotted. Carly is also a proud member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Gymnastics Career

Carly Patterson started gymnastics in 1994, after going to a birthday party at a gym in Baton Rouge. Her first coach there was Yohanan Moyal, a former Olympian from Israel. She began competing internationally when she was 12 years old in 2000.

Early Competitions (2000–2003)

In 2000, Carly competed in the Top Gym Tournament in Belgium. She won a silver medal in the all-around and a bronze medal on the balance beam. The next year, at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia, she was doing very well. She was second in the all-around before the last part of the competition. However, she had some trouble on the floor exercise and finished seventh.

Carly became the U.S. junior national all-around champion in 2002. She then moved up to compete as a senior. In 2003, she won the American Cup, even though she was the youngest person competing at just 15 years old. Sadly, she couldn't compete in the 2003 U.S. National Championships because of a broken elbow.

Even with her injury, Carly was allowed to compete at the 2003 World Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim, California. There, she won the all-around silver medal. This was a big deal because she was the first American woman to win an all-around medal at the World Championships since Shannon Miller in 1994. She also helped the U.S. team win the gold medal, which was a first for American women gymnasts.

Olympic Year (2004)

Carly won the all-around title at the American Cup again in 2004. She dedicated this win to her coach's mother, who had recently passed away. Later that year, she shared the national champion title with Courtney Kupets. She also won the floor exercise at the National Championships and placed second on the balance beam.

At the Olympic Trials, Carly fell off the balance beam on both days. This caused her to drop to third place. However, her strong performances at a training camp afterward helped her earn a spot on the Olympic team.

Athens Olympic Games

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Carly performed very well in the first round. She finished first overall and qualified for the all-around and balance beam finals. In the team final, the U.S. women had some difficulties. Carly had a few mistakes on her vault, uneven bars, and balance beam. She later said she was distracted. The U.S. team, who were world champions, won the silver medal.

In the individual all-around final, Carly had a very close competition. She narrowly beat Svetlana Khorkina of Russia, who was a three-time world champion. Carly started with a lower score on vault. But she performed strongly on her last three events: uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. She became only the second American woman to win an Olympic all-around gold medal. She was the first to do so in an Olympics where all countries competed. (Mary Lou Retton won in 1984, but the Soviet Union boycotted those Games.)

On August 23, Carly competed in the balance beam final. She earned a score of 9.775 and won the silver medal. Cătălina Ponor of Romania won the gold.

After the Olympics

Soon after the Olympics, doctors found that Carly had some back problems. She decided to take time off from gymnastics to let her back heal. She officially retired in 2006 and did not compete in any more major events. In 2009, she explained her decision. She said her doctor told her she needed to stop if she wanted to be able to walk when she got older. So, she retired and started focusing on singing.

Carly still attends events and has worked with different companies. She also released her authorized biography in April 2006. In December 2011, she was featured on the TV show Hollywood at Home.

Special Gymnastics Skill

Carly Patterson has a gymnastics skill named after her in the Code of Points.

Competitive History

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
Junior
2000	American Classic		13			6
	U.S. Classic						6
	U.S. National Championships		4				4
2001	Goodwill Games		7			5
	Pule Int'l Junior Cup
	U.S. Classic				5
	U.S. National Championships
2002	Gymnix Int'l
	Jurassic Classic
	Pacific Alliance Championships
	TJ Maxx Int'l Challenge
	USA-Mexico Dual Meet
	USA-UKR-BRA Friendly
	American Classic				5
	National Elite Podium Meet
	U.S. Classic			4		7
	U.S. National Championships
Senior
2003	American Cup
	Pacific Challenge				5		5
	Anaheim World Championships
2004	American Cup
	Pacific Alliance Championships
	U.S. National Championships				5
	Olympic Trials
	Athens Olympic Games

Music Career

Carly first shared her dream of becoming a professional singer in a 2005 interview. She later gave more details about her music career on Fox Sports Net. She even sang a bit of a song called "Damaged." In December 2005, she signed a demo contract with Papa Joe's Records. This company is owned by Joe Simpson, who is the father of singers Jessica Simpson and Ashlee Simpson. Carly worked with singer and writer Chris Megert. They created songs like "Time to Wake Up" and "Lost in Me."

Celebrity Duets

On August 29, 2006, Carly appeared on a TV show called Celebrity Duets. This was a reality competition show where celebrities who weren't known for singing teamed up with professional singers. Each week, one celebrity was voted off. The show aired on Fox from September 7 to October 13, 2006.

Carly was eliminated from the show on September 15, 2006. She had been singing with Jesse McCartney. Carly said she would keep singing even after leaving the show. She also encouraged viewers to keep voting for the other celebrities, as each vote raised money for charity.

Recording Music

On February 4, 2008, Carly signed a recording contract with MusicMind Records. This is a music label based in Chicago. Her first single, "Temporary Life (Ordinary Girl)," was released on iTunes on March 25, 2008. Her first album, Back to the Beginning, came out later, on August 25, 2009. Before the album, she released another single, "Time to Wake Up," on iTunes in February 2009.

A new version of Carly's song "Temporary Life (Ordinary Girl)" was played on the Bobby Bones Show in September 2008. This remixed version featured an artist called Captain Caucasian, who was actually Bobby Bones himself.

Carly's song "Here I Am" was also featured on the TV show Make It or Break It. This show on ABC Family was about young gymnasts trying to reach the Olympic Games.

Personal Life

On January 21, 2012, Carly Patterson got engaged to Mark Caldwell, a strategy consultant. They got married on November 3, 2012, in Dallas, Texas. Carly and Mark now have three children.

Honors and Awards

Carly Patterson was chosen for the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2009. She was also inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024.

See also

In Spanish: Carly Patterson para niños

• Gymnastics at the 2004 Summer Olympics
• United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics