'All worth it'
CRANBERRY TWP — She's injured her back, her elbows, her knees and her wrists.
She's rolled out of bed before the sun rises to attend two-hour practices before school and then five-hour practices afterward.
Olivia Yarussi has given her life to gymnastics since the age of 5.
She wouldn't change a thing.
“It teaches you a lot of life lessons,” said Yarussi, a senior at Seneca Valley High School. “It kind of built me into the person I am today. It teaches you determination and hard work and what it takes to achieve your goals.”Yarussi quickly progressed through the gymnastics ranks, reaching Level 10 — the highest level in the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympics Program.She advanced to national competitions.Now she is preparing for the next level.Yarussi recently signed to compete in gymnastics at Penn State University, culminating a long recruiting process that began for her all the way back in the eighth grade.“It's always been a goal of mine to compete in NCAA gymnastics.”Not always at Penn State, though. The Nittany Lions just recently became her dream team.Now, she can't wait to get started on the challenges she will face at the next level.“In college, you do whatever the team needs you to do,” Yarussi said. “What I do now in USA Gymnastics is more individual-based. In college, if you're needed for one thing, that's what you're going to do. Only six people can compete in an event, so you work to get into the lineup. Everyone is fighting for a spot.”Fighting is something not foreign to Yarussi, who has had to battle through injuries along her gymnastics journey.She's had surgery on her elbow and wrist and tore the meniscus in her knee.The worst of her injuries, however, came recently to her back.A stress fracture and then a cyst has forced Yarussi to shelve one event all together — the bars.“I can do everything but bars,” Yarussi said. “My doctors and I decided the bars were too hard on my back.“So,” Yarussi added, chuckling, “I retired.”Because she can no longer compete in the bars, she can't advance to the national competitions with her team, Exquisite with X-Cel Gymnastics in Cranberry Township.At nationals, a gymnast must compete in floor, vault, beam and, yes, bars.“It's OK,” Yarussi said. “I can still compete in regionals.”It's a shame, too, because Yarussi was quite good at bars, especially when she was younger.Now, floor is her favorite and best event.“I kind of got more aggressive with my gymnastics and that translated to floor getting better,” Yarussi said. “I love performing, dancing around, tumbling — it's really fun for me.”Beam, however, is her least favorite.She's not alone — Yarussi said most gymnasts are not particularly fond of the beam.“That's just the way it is in gymnastics,” Yarussi said. “Beam is a little scary sometimes.”As much work as Yarussi puts in on her physical skills — about 25 to 30 hours a week — she spends almost as much time on her mental approach.Gymnastics, she said, is also a mental grind.And she's had doubts over the years creep in.“Lots of them,” Yarussi said. “Even just little things. You have to focus on pushing yourself to get over those fears.”Ironically, Yarussi will get a break from the time crunch in college, where gymnastic teams are limited to 20 hours of practice a week.“That's less than I'm doing now, but it's intense and you make the most of your time. You get a lot of work in during those 20 hours.“Gymnastics is a very hard sport,” Yarussi added. “But when you see all your hard work pay off, it's very rewarding and all worth it.”
