Katherine O'Donnell Nelson (born 27 December 1977), known as Kate Nelson, is a retired American rhythmic gymnast. She was part of the national senior group.

Biography

Kate practiced ballet and tumbling getting her start in gymnastics at the YMCA, switching from artistic to rhythmic when she was 10–11 years old. Later she was on the US national rhythmic gymnastics team from 1994 to 1996, being part of the national senior group along

Aliane Baquerot Aliane Mata-Baquerot (born 23 November 1978), known as Aliane Baquerot, is a retired American Rhythmic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnast. She was part of the national senior group. Biography She was on the US national rhythmic gymnastics team from ...

, Lori Fredreickson,

Mandy James Mandy Marie James-Morgan (born 9 December 1978) is a retired American rhythmic gymnast and stuntwoman. She was part of the national senior group. Biography She was on the US national rhythmic gymnastics team from 1995 to 1996, being part of th ...

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, Becky Turner,

Brandi Siegel Brandi Sue Siegel (born 4 August 1979) is a retired American rhythmic gymnast. She was part of the national senior group. Biography She was on the US national rhythmic gymnastics team from 1994 to 1997, being part of the national senior group ...

and

Challen Sievers Challen Kelly Sievers (born 19 April 1979) is a retired American rhythmic gymnast. She was part of the national senior group. Biography Challen began individual rhythmic gymnastics in 1987 and was a junior national champion in individual compe ...

. They all lived together in suburban Chicago largely due to Sievers' father, Ron, whose construction firm renovated the house where the gymnasts lived and converted a former racquetball complex into the gym where they trained. In 1994 the group was 19th at the World Championships in Paris. They won silver at the

1995 Pan American Games File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

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, and placed second in the group at the 1995 Four Continents Championships. In the summer of 1996 Kate,

, Becky Turner,

and

were selected to compete at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, the first edition to feature the group competition. They finished in 9th place and so did not advance to the final. In 2012 she opened the YMCA National Championships and Summer Fest in Milwaukee. Nelson married and later settled in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, with her husband and two sons Will and Tyler.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Kate American rhythmic gymnasts 1977 births Living people Olympic gymnasts for the United States Gymnasts at the 1996 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in gymnastics 20th-century American sportswomen