PARIS, France — Oregon State gymnast Jade Carey is headed to Paris, where for the second Olympics in a row, she'll try to bring home another gold medal.
Carey has seen the highs and lows of competing at the highest level of gymnastics. In Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic games, Carey stumbled on her vault routine, then just one day later took home the gold medal on the floor.
Carey told KGW it's surreal to get a second Olympic opportunity.
"I never thought that I would even get there once," she said. "So, getting here again is the most special feeling in the world. All the hard work, all the bad days have really paid off."
Throughout her journey to Olympic gold, Carey's father and coach, Brian, has been a pivotal part of her success.
"We've been through everything together, especially in gymnastics, me as a kid, he's never once doubted me in my whole life and helped me prepare to get where I am today," Carey said.
Brian spoke to KGW about how important it was to balance their relationship as parent/daughter and coach/athlete.
"It's been an incredible ride and a journey and I'm just happy I could be a part of it. I'm so proud of her," he said.
"We just made a rule when I started coaching her that we don't talk about gymnastics at home, ever. As she got a little older and we needed to talk about gymnastics, we'd have to schedule a meeting at the gym early," Brian said with a laugh.
At the 2021 Olympics, Carey participated as an individual and is now excited to be a part of the five-person team representing the U.S.
"We have big goals to bring a medal back to the United States, a gold medal back to the United States, so just being able to put my best foot forward, to contribute to that means a lot," she said.
Olympic gymnastics is scheduled to go from July 27 through Aug. 5, where Carey will look to bring back even more hardware to Corvallis.