Congratulations, Viking family, on a successful visit by U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist, Laurie Hernandez! Laurie stopped by Viking Gymnastics and Dance on Saturday, May 5, as part of a fundraiser for our new(ish) Special Olympics gymnastics, Rising Stars. She spent the day visiting with Viking students and staff, signing autographs, posing for pictures, and helping lead some mini-clinics for the students! To win these opportunities, students and their families raised money through an online fundraising program, through Lucas Sports Inc., unlocking various prizes based on amount raised.
The day was filled with fun and excitement, from Laurie’s arrival and entrance into the gym to the final dinner held with Laurie and the ten top fundraisers. In between, hundreds of autographs were signed, and even more pictures were taken. Viking’s own amateur photographers took hundreds of pictures and videotaped the entirety of the event for posterity. The photobooth was a big hit, as those who had already snapped a pic with Laurie could continue to have fun posing with friends and family. Viking staff also got in on the fun posing for some humorous photoshoots!
Charlie, Barbara, Jackie, Lucia, and baby Cayden take a fun photobooth picture.
One extra special event was a roundtable with a few of the highest fundraisers where Laurie talked about her experiences in Rio for the 2016 Olympics and even drew diagrams of the Olympic Village and the gymnastics arena to illustrate her stories. We learned what it was like living with the athletes from other sports and how exciting it was to simply see Jamaican sprinter and world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, walking across the village. Laurie also told us about the gymnastics events and how there was a moving camera that would glide along the vault runway keeping time with the gymnasts’ vault runs. Apparently this was very stressful for Laurie, as she tried unsuccessfully to outrun the camera!
Another special event was the Q&A held with Laurie and all of the guests. Certain guests’ questions were chosen in advance, and these guests got to ask Laurie questions about anything they wanted. Laurie’s answers were characteristically funny and wise, ranging from advice about specific skills to dealing with the pressure of representing America at the Olympic Games. Laurie’s mom, Wanda, also got to answer some questions directed at her (mostly by other mothers in the crowd) about what it was like raising a child who became a national icon in her sport at such a young age (Laurie is only 17!).
Laurie and her mom answer questions from members of the audience.
The day concluded with some short clinics, where groups of about fifteen or so children rotated between events and, on floor, got to be coached by Laurie herself. At the end of each floor rotation, Laurie also saved a couple minutes to address questions from the group and just chat a bit before they rotated to the next event. After the clinics, the top ten fundraisers gathered in one of our party rooms for a catered dinner with Laurie.
All told, the day was an incredible success, and everyone involved had a great time and learned a lot. Simply being in the presence of such greatness as Laurie Hernandez was truly inspiring. It was also encouraging to see hundreds of children elated to meet a hero and to see their hero be as excited to meet them. Hosting this event was a delight, and Viking is honored to have had the opportunity, especially to benefit such a wonderful cause! Our Rising Stars adaptive team will certainly be able to grow and develop from the efforts of the fundraisers and from Laurie.
Laurie has a group hug with our Rising Stars team after their clinic.
We’d like to thank Lucas Sports Inc. for helping us run this event successfully, from providing the fundraising platform to being present at the event to assist us in making sure everything went smoothly. We’d like to thank our own staff for their help setting up for, running, and cleaning up after Laurie’s visit. We’d also like to thank all those who supported our fundraising efforts (and their families and friends who got to come to the event with them); your generous contributions are truly appreciated, and we hope you had as much fun meeting Laurie as we did! Lastly, we’d like to thank Laurie Hernandez and her mom Wanda Hernandez, from the bottom of our hearts, for taking the time to visit us, raising awareness of our new Special Olympics team, and for being absolutely delightful guests at Viking Gymnastics & Dance. Go Team U.S.A.!
Viking staff poses with Laurie.
