Kerrville resident Chelsea Davis Grimes shares her story of growing up as an Elite gymnast and eventually becoming a judge. She also sheds light on her perception of gymnastics on the world stage this Olympic season.
Like many gymnasts, her introduction to the sport began incredibly early. At just three years old Chelsea participated in her school’s gymnastics program.
“My preschool had dance and gymnastics, and I started excelling at gymnastics. Which led to me starting on the competitive team when I was five. That’s kind of where it took off,” explains Chelsea.
She continued her training, progressing through the competitive levels and eventually seeking more advanced training.
“When I was about thirteen, my Mom and I moved from Austin to Dallas so that I could train at more serious gyms. We left my dad, the house, everything to pursue the ultimate dream of going to the 2008 Olympics,” says Chelsea.
The sacrifices and training began to pay off. Chelsea made the USA National Gymnastics Team in 2007 and 2008 where she continued to compete at the Elite level.
According to USA Gymnastics, the Development Program is leveled from 1-10 with varying difficulties of skills to differentiate the classes.The purpose of this program is to train gymnasts from no experience to pre-professionals. After mastering Level 10, gymnasts can join the Elite program, meant for gymnasts aspiring to compete on the National Team, where members are selected from Elite Champions.
Chelsea explains her personal experience trying to make it to the Olympic stage, “In 2008 I qualified for the Olympic Trials. Back then, you didn’t pick the team from the Olympic Trials, but instead from what was called the Olympic Training Team.”
The Olympic Training Team would have two competitions at the National Team training center to select the U.S. Olympic team. I competed those two days and ended up being one spot shy of the alternate position for 2008.”
Since she spent most of her life dedicated to chasing this dream, life after the 2008 Olympics was something Chelsea didn’t have a plan for yet.
“After that I debated whether I was going to continue Elite Gymnastics or just prepare for a college scholarship and drop back down to Level 10. I ended up deciding with my coach to keep training Elite and ended up making the 2010 World Team and winning silver. Definitely a huge highlight of my career.” says Chelsea.
In 2011 Chelsea attended and competed at the University of Georgia while pursuing a degree in psychology. She earned the All-American title, awarded to the top gymnasts of a category, during college before retiring from gymnastics in 2015.
Despite retiring, she continued her characteristic hard work throughout a masters degree in strength and conditioning to prepare for studying physical therapy. While completing her master’s program, the gym was calling her back.
Chelsea explains her delve back into gymnastics, “I kind of missed being involved in gymnastics. My brother’s a full-time coach, and I knew that wasn’t for me. So I contacted my club coach, Kim Zmeskal, who had been a judge back when I was an athlete. She got me involved and expressed my interest to some important people, which got me an invite to take the judging test in 2017.”
Brevet Judging, the invite-only judging panel Chelsea serves on, follows specific guidelines created by the International Federation of Gymnastics to determine what level of gymnastics a person is qualified to judge for, with Brevet being the highest rank.
Not every judge is required to have personal experience as a gymnast, but for Elite Gymnastics, judges are required to become Brevet judges.
“Brevet Judging is reserved for either World or Olympic Team members and their coaches. Our pool of judges are very experienced because Elite Gymnastics is a different kind of animal.”
Being a judge requires different skills from being a gymnast, but having a history with the sport certainly helps.
Chelsea explains, “You have to have an attention to detail. Especially on the quicker skills like vault and floor, you have to be able to take a mental picture of a gymnast’s entire routine, from head to toe. Since I know what skills are supposed to feel like, I can take in every aspect of it because of my technical background.”
Being a judge also requires evolving alongside the sport. With boundary-pushers like Simone Biles, adjustments to the rules and judging regulations are consistently being made, requiring judges to retest to judge under new criteria.
Chelsea comments on the ever-evolving nature of gymnastics, “It’s unprecedented times. I think hugely driven by Simone, but we’re seeing even those placing second through fifth place doing skills that weren’t done even five to ten years ago when I competed.”
Showcasing just how fast-paced this sport is, Chelsea explains, “A new code of points just came out three months ago with rules to go in effect after the 2024 Olympics. So all the Olympic judges are still using the previous code of points, but for the rest of us, we’ve already started studying to test over the new rules.”
It isn’t only the rules that are evolving in gymnastics, but also the culture. Chelsea explains, “I think the NCAA for women has done a great job at promoting gymnastics. Now I find people watching SEC gymnastics on Friday nights on ESPN. Whereas, back when I was competing in Georgia it wasn’t nearly as televised or as popular.”
What a healthy career in gymnastics looks like has also begun to change this year. “We’ve seen the growth of injury prevention and strengthening and conditioning programs as well as the average age of gymnasts increasing, which gives an athlete more longevity in the sport,” says Chelsea.
To aspiring gymnasts, Chelsea urges them to, “Remember the little girl who begged to do gymnastics. Obviously there’s going to be big dreams and goals, sometimes they work out and sometimes they don’t. Just always keep that little girl who truly loves the sport in mind.”
Now Chelsea works at Peterson Health as a physical therapist while continuing to judge gymnastics at the Elite Level.