Upcoming USA Gymnastics Sensation

By Andrew Thornton

Since we just brought up the topic of which gymnasts to watch for in next year’s U.S. Championships, I decided to take a closer look at a young sensation who has begun to make his mark at the senior level at possibly the youngest age in U.S. history – Danell Leyva. Many of you may have caught a glimpse of this gymnast when NBC televised him at the 2007 U.S. Championships – in part due to his obvious talent, but also in part due to the theatrical emotional reactions of his coach and father – Yin Alvarez. Yin trains his son along with many other talented junior gymnasts at Universal Gymnastics in Miami, Florida. While many of his gymnasts have enjoyed incredible success at the junior level over the past several years, it has perhaps been Yin’s antics on the competition floor that have actually drawn the most attention. Yin quickly became known amongst the southeast junior boys’ community as a coach with some curious rituals. He would give his gymnasts a kiss on the back of the head before their routines, make a unique sign with his hands (perhaps a religious “sign of the cross?”), and follow his gymnasts’ routines with a thunderous roar, fist pump into the air, and often a huge leap and run towards his gymnast. I remember first seeing him as I coached and judged at numerous boys’ gymnastics competitions, and I would notice how his behavior would often take center stage among all who were present at the competition, regardless of what else was going on at the time.

It looks like his son Danell may finally be ready to steal the spotlight from his father. After dominating the Junior Olympic National scene, Danell and his father decided to make a run at the senior division in 2007 when Danell was just 15 years old. His performance shocked many, as he finished an impressive 9^th in the all-around and found himself on national television alongside names like Paul and Morgan Hamm, David Durante, and Alexander Artemev. Danell made another appearance with the seniors at this year’s U.S. Championships, tying for 11^th in the all-around amongst a field of Olympic contenders. Though he wasn’t granted a spot at the Olympic Trials, it was becoming clear that this youngster’s time was quickly approaching.

Ironically, as I began writing this blog, I discovered by complete coincidence that today happens to be his 17^th birthday (October 30^th)! Should Danell make next year’s world championship team, he would match Jason Gatson’s unprecedented feat of making the U.S. world team at 17 years of age (which Jason did in 1997). Does Danell have what it takes to make next year’s world team? Only time will tell, but it wouldn’t surprise me one bit. Take a look at some of his gymnastics:

http://gymnast.com/articles/article/news/2008103 /danell_leyva___upcoming_usa_gymnastics_sensation-17485.html