Short Biography

Carly Rae Patterson (born February 4, 1988 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is a former American gymnast (the 2004 Olympic All-Around Champion) and is currently an aspiring professional singer. She currently lives in Allen, Texas.

Patterson was at a cousin`s birthday party at a gymnastics club in 1994 when a coach at the gym saw her and asked her mother if she was taking lessons. When her mother said no the coach was amazed at her natural talent. Carly then began taking lessons. In 2000, Patterson participated in the Top Gym Tournament in Belgium; she won the silver medal in the all-around and the bronze medal for balance beam, which she has said is her favorite event.

At the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia, she was ranked second in the all-around before the final rotation. She was suffering from a stomach illness, however, and she missed three landings on the floor exercise and finished seventh overall. Nevertheless, her balance beam routine was particularly spectacular, featuring what would become her signature double Arabian dismount (later to be named "the Patterson").

Patterson was named the U.S. Junior National All-Around champion in 2002. She had previously received fourth place in 2000 and third place in 2001. By this time, she was largely considered the future of American gymnasts and a viable candidate for the 2004 Olympic All-Around title. From 2002 onward, she would continue to win nearly every All-Around event she entered. She was forced to sit out the 2003 U.S. National Championships because of a broken elbow (a big disappointment for Patterson, as this was to be her first senior nationals). At the 2003 World Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim, California, she earned the all-around silver medal —the first time an American woman had won an all-around medal at that competition since 1994. She also helped her team to earn the team gold medal. It appeared Patterson would once again fight it out with Russia`s Svetlana Khorkina in Athens.

Patterson won the all around at the prestigious American Cup competition in both 2003 and 2004. (This event helped to launch Nadia Comaneci`s career before the Olympics in 1976.[citation needed]) In 2003, Patterson was the youngest competitor, having just turned 15, and it was her first major senior competition. In 2004, she swept the meet, winning all four events and the all around, collecting a total of $14,000 for her wins ($10,000 for the all around, $1,000 per event).

In 2004, she became a co-champion with Courtney Kupets in the all-around event at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. She also won the floor exercise and placed second on balance beam.

At the 2004 Olympic trials, Patterson had two uncharacteristic falls on balance beam over the course of two days, dropping her to third place. Although she did not earn an automatic Olympic berth at this competition, her successful performances at the training camp following trials were more than enough to place her on the team. Few doubted that she was a huge contender for the Olympic All-Around title.

First announced in a March 2005 interview, Patterson has expressed interest in becoming a professional singer. On August 21, 2005, she gave an interview on FOX Sports Net`s Sports Sunday in which she gave more details on her future career. She sang a small segment of "Damaged" and said that she went to New York City to record the demo. On December 18, 2005, she announced that she signed a dem

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