BY RIZWAN REHMAT
DOHA: For American artistic gymnast Jacob ‘Jake’ Dalton, finishing his career with an Olympic gold medal would be the ‘ultimate’ achievement.
The 23-year-old, nicknamed ‘Jake’, missed out on a gold medal with the American squad at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
“We were close on a medal in London but we had a few issues. I am definitely looking at a lot of redemption,” Jake said yesterday at Aspire Academy where he will be seen in action at the three-day World Challenge Cup FIG ART Gymnastics.
“I think we all (team members) are (eyeing a medal). We have the team to do it, to win a medal. But other countries are very strong. We have a lot of work to do. I’d love to finish my career with an Olympic medal,” the American said. “If we can reach the podium, that would be the way to go out (smiles). That would be the ultimate thing to do,” he added.
Excerpts from a chat with the Nevada-based gymnast:
Question: Tell us something about your form and fitness?
Answer: I feel pretty good. It’s not like preparations for world championships where you have months of preparation. I feel pretty good. The last event for me was in February which went pretty decent. Then I got sick so I went down a little bit. I am kinda on the upswing now. I feel okay. I am just ready to compete now.
Question: Are you looking at medals this week?
Answer: This week I am just trying to get into right rhythm. I am trying not to focus where I would like to place myself. I just want to know if I could do my sets. I will be happy if I can hit the sets that I want to hit. I think it will put me in the top but that’s my main focus: to hit clean and be consistent overall.
Question: What are your goals the rest of the season?
Answer: After this it goes down. I will take a break for a while. It will be nice to prepare for the US National Championships. Hopefully I can make the World Championships team again. I want to go to Glasgow with the team. Hopefully we can jump higher in the team competition. We were third last year and definitely we want to step up a little bit more this year. So that’s the goals for this season. But obviously the individual goals come after that. Right now we are focusing on the team events.
Question: When do the US Championships take place?
Answer: The US Championships take place mid-August. It’s a good break. I have been preparing from end of December (2014) and until now. It has been a while so I am definitely looking for bit of a break. I might take a couple of weeks vacation and then come back. The US Championships will be my main event. I won’t be competing anywhere else. I just got the Pan-Am Games before the US Championships. I don’t like to travel when I am getting ready to compete in major events. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I just want to eat well and train well before the US Championships.
Question: How did you get into gymnastics? Why not any other sport?
Answer: Actually I was doing other sports (smiles). I was doing soccer and baseball. Baseball was my main sport and I had a coach tell me ‘to do gymnastics because it would be good for my pitching arm’ (laughs). I started getting on gymnastics teams, started competing and I had to pick one over the other and I opted for gymnastics.
Question: How do you prepare yourself before competitions?
Answer: Lets’ say for this one (the event in Doha), I just wanted to come out and be consistent. I hate falling. I know every gymnast probably does. I just want to go out there and hit my sets clean. At least whenever I do preparation, everything goes well. Obviously it is very hard to do all this in the beginning but you start to do better and better. And once you get into world championships, you are really in good shape. You are consistent and you are ready to go. That’s what I really look at it and that’s the way I want to compete - the way I train. I just trust what I have done up to that point.
Question: What are you long-term goals?
Answer: We have the Olympics next year so that’s obviously is the big one. We were close on a medal in London but we had a few issues. I am definitely looking at a lot of redemption. I think we all (team members) are (eyeing a medal). We have the team to do it, to win a medal. But other countries are very strong. We have a lot of work to do. I’d love to finish my career with an Olympic medal. If we can reach the podium, that would be the way to go out (smiles). That would be the ultimate thing to do.
Question: Rio Games is a target but if you miss out on a medal there, then what will be your new goals like?
Answer: I would like to stretch (my career). I am just 23. I will be 25 or so in Rio. So definitely I’ll be getting older by 2020 Olympic Games. I hope my body can hold up, then I will keep going. It doesn’t hurt too bad at the moment. I haven’t had many surgeries. When I was younger I had a knee surgery. I was like 14 then. In 2013, I broke my thumb. That was just before worlds, so I was able to compete in floor and vault there.
Question: How’s the sport back home in the US in terms of popularity?
Answer: It is popular during the Olympics year. It’s not very popular other than that. I think people really enjoy the sport on television but they don’t get to see it often unless it’s the Olympics or something. I try to work on that - trying to help grow the audience on gymnastics. I show people how fun it is to watch this sport. Sometimes it is hard for them to understand the sport - things like the scores. Some of the people I talked to love it but it’s not on TV that much. It’s not like NFL or soccer back. It’s definitely on that level but I would love to see it at that level.
Question: What do you think about the Aspire Academy?
Answer: This is my first time. It is pretty amazing. I was talking about it as we were walking into this place. It reminds of world championships. Podiums and everything else is huge. It is spread out. There is plenty of space. It is really cool. The equipment was great. I am really looking forward to competing here. I feel ready.”
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