GGC adapts to how you do things.
Olympic medalists, Jonathan Horton and McKayla Maroney, were welcomed by a crowd of students, athletes, coaches, faculty and alumni in GGC’s Cisco Auditorium on Tuesday morning.
The gymnasts, with a combined four medals from the London and Beijing Summer Olympic games, held a question and answer session about their experiences at the Games, mingling with celebrities and meeting other world-class athletes.
“We are thrilled with this opportunity for our young men and women to get an up-close look at some of the best athletes in the world,” said Dr. Darin S. Wilson, GGC’s director of Athletics. “This is a great chance for our student-athletes to learn about personal dedication and the pursuit of team goals.”
Horton is a former USA Gymnastics Athlete of the Year who captured silver in the horizontal bar and a team bronze at the 2008 Olympics. The Houston, Texas, native is a six-time NCAA champion and appeared in the high bar final at the 2012 Games.
Maroney, a resident of Long Beach, California, is a World Champion on vault who helped lead her squad to the 2012 team gold at just 16 years of age. She also captured an individual silver medal on vault in London.
Both advised the audience on how to harness positive and negative aspects of a situation to help create the fuel that will motivate a passion for competition.
The pair are traveling the country with the Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions, which performs Saturday, Oct. 27, at The Arena at Gwinnett Center.
© 2013 Georgia Gwinnett College
