Incredible Journey
by Stacy Nishihara
Having a father who was a gymnastics coach gave senior gymnast Klara Kudilkova access to one of the world's finest playgrounds - the gym.
At age five she would tag along with her dad to the gym and play around on all of the equipment. She had a great deal of fun swinging on the bars, walking on the balance beam and dancing across the floor mat. But soon the gym became more than just a playground to Kudilkova.
In first grade Kudilkova started to take the gym more seriously. It was still fun, but she was starting to really train. It was her first step towards the incredible journey on which the sport of gymnastics would take her.
Kudilkova was born in Ostrava, a city in the Czech Republic which sits on the Polish border. Her strong gymnastics abilities enabled her to become a member of the Czech National Team for four years, and she competed around the world. She participated in competitions as far away as Belgium, Canada, England, France, Japan, Spain and the United States.
Among her accomplishments while competing for the Czech National Team were a sixth-place finish on vault at the 1993 World Championships and a first-place finish in all-around at the 1992 Friendship Cup in Paris.
