Welcome Home Samantha Peszek & Coach Peter Zhao!

Watch videosof DeVeaus Welcome Home for Samantha and Peter!

Welcome Home!

Interview with Joan DeVeau, owner of DeVeau’s School of Gymnastics!

After pep rally, Olympian back to normal life

By Vic Ryckaert Indy Star

Fresh from a pep rally honoring her silver medal performance in the Olympics, Cathedral High School junior Samantha Peszek is ready to get back to normal.

“It’s overwhelming,” the gymnast said moments after closing her medal into its wooden case. “I’m ready, prepared and excited to get back to my normal life.”

Peszek, 16, was one of America’s hopes for gymnastics gold before she sprained her ankle practicing just before the competition began in China.

But the silver sits well with her classmates.

“I think it’s really awesome,” said Brittany Kaelin, 14. “She’s practically a celebrity here.”

Nick Bates, 15, agreed.

“I’m glad she’s back at school and glad she got a silver medal,” he said.

Despite the national attention, Cathedral vice president Jim McLinn said Peszek is “pretty grounded.”

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Sloan, Peszek have fun, eager to compete again

Silver medalists take in sights with families, trade e-mails with friends from home

By David Woods

BEIJING — Before the Beijing Olympics, Samantha Peszek wasn’t sure how she would feel about continuing in her sport.

Now, she is.

The fire is still burning inside of me. I can’t wait to compete,” the McCordsville gymnast said.

Peszek and Bridget Sloan, Pittsboro, earned silver medals last week as part of the U.S. team that finished second to China.

They have remained in Beijing to support teammates during event finals and for sightseeing. They visited the Great Wall with their families Saturday, taking a cable to the top and then sliding down a toboggan run.

Both have been communicating with friends from Indiana via e-mail.

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Local Olympians added to 2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars

: Fresh from their triumphs in Beijing, local Olympians Samantha Peszek and Bridget Sloan will join their teammates for the Nov. 11 Conseco Fieldhouse appearance of The 2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars.::

Tickets are on sale now!

Picture of the Silver Medal Olympic Gymnastics Team!!

Enjoy this picture of the 2008 USA Silver Medal Olympic Women’s Gymnastics Team from the Today Show!

Pictures of 2008 Women’s Gymnastics Team with Silver Medals

Here are a couple of pictures of the 2008 Women’s Gymnastics Team with their Silver Medals.  Also pictured are the girls home coaches.

Kravitz: Will Peszek’s bad ankle put her on medal stand or sidelines?

By Bob Kravitz

Indianapolis Star

BEIJING – Over and over, she watched it, played the old VHS video of the 1996 “Magnificent Seven’’ Olympic gymnastics team, the one that is best remembered for Kerri Strug’s noble one-footed landing on her final vault.

“I watched it so much, the tape finally broke,’’ said Samantha Peszek, the McCordsville gymnast who was all of four years old when Strug was carried to the medal stand by then-head coach Bela Karolyi. “I can’t even tell you how often I watched it. I’d stand in front of the TV and do all the routines, even the foreign girls. I was totally obsessed.’’

For years, Peszek dreamed of a day like that one, sacrificing and fighting through all those workouts at DeVeau’s in Fishers, hoping her own movie would unfold with so much drama, ultimately yielding the storybook happy ending.

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Friends, gymnasts celebrate Peszek’s success

Richard Essex/Eyewitness News

Fishers – Supporters of Olympic gymnast Samantha Peszek watched the United States women’s gymnastics team take the world stage Sunday night.

For most of their lives, most of the girls watching the gymnastics competition at Buffalo Wild Wings in Fishers have had one goal in mind – the one the Peszek is living in Beijing.

“Sam has a lot of talent, she really does. She has a lot of natural talent and she practices a lot, but she’s definitely not obsessed with practicing,” said fellow gymnast Hanna Guzzi.

Peszek was injured during warm ups and had to sit out one of her strongest events, but nonetheless, she is in Beijing, competing in at least one event.

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Click the link below to view the video

http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=8819173#

Sam’s Teammates, families and coaches gather to watch preliminary competition!

DeVeau’s gymnasts, their families and coaches gathered tonight at Buffalo Wild Wings in Fishers to watch their teammate and friend Samantha Peszek compete in the Women’s Gymnastics Preliminary competition in Beijing!!

Watch NBC affiliate, WTHR, Channel 13 for coverage and interviews.

A bumpy prelims for the U.S. Women

By Alan Abrahamson

BEIJING – The goal, Bela Karolyi was saying Sunday morning, before the afternoon session at which the U.S. women gymnasts took to National Indoor Stadium for team qualifications, was to not finish first.

The better to lower expectations.

Mission, um, accomplished.

The U.S. team limped Sunday through a mistake- and injury-marred performance, doing plenty to qualify for team finals Tuesday – and an anticipated match-up with the Chinese team – but leaving ample room for improvement.

Most of it, apparently, mental.

“We like to have a lot of drama as a team, apparently,” said Alicia Sacramone the floor and vault specialist whose pep talk before the final event at last year’s world championships, the floor, rallied the U.S. women to the team gold.

Chellsie Memmel fell Sunday off the uneven bars.

In her bars routine, Nastia Liukin landed not on her feet but on her backside.

This after Samantha Peszek, in her very last warm-up tumbling pass before competition got underway Sunday, twisted her ankle. She would perform Sunday only on bars – meaning the U.S. women put forth only four athletes, not five, in three of the four events.

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