Giddy Humphrey Is A Champion

The Alabaman took home the individual bars title

April 29, 2007

By Lindsay Schnell

Special to CSTV.com

SALT LAKE CITY -- Terin Humphrey couldn't stop saying "I'm sorry." But the junior from Alabama kept giggling in the middle of her apology, so it was a little hard to take her seriously.

You can't really blame her though. Humphrey was on a high after beating her Olympic teammate, Courtney Kupets, for the individual bars title at the Women's Gymnastics Championships.

"I'm so excited," said Humphrey, who scored a 9.9500 to better Kupets' 9.9125. "I was kind of thinking I might tie them, but I wasn't sure."

"There were two others after her and I knew if they stuck their dismounts and got their handstands they could tie, but it would take a superb performance, with this many judges, to go above a 9.95. I was pretty sure she would at least share in the title."

Kupets also isn't just Humphrey's former teammate: She was last year's bars champion and has widely been considered the best in the country this year on that event.

"It's always nerve-wracking -- she's an intimidating gymnast," said Humphrey of Kupets.

Tasha Schwikert from UCLA also medaled, tying Kupets for second place.

It's the second time Humphrey has beat Kupets on a major stage: at the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, Humphrey took home the silver on bars while Kupets settled for bronze.

It was also a sweet victory from Humphrey when you consider all she's been through this season. On Halloween Humphrey was laying on an operating table, a doctor working on each elbow.

"When we started the season we had no idea - we thought it would be later in the season that she got going," Patterson said. "Before she had surgery ... she had lost pretty much all her range of motion. I'm so excited for her."

Her win also helped take some of the sting off Alabama's team performance at the championships. For the first time since 1997, the Tide did not qualify for a Super Six final.

"It does [help a little], but I already have an individual title," said Humphrey, who also won the bars title in 2005, her freshman year. "It would have been nice to have a team title."

Alabama had another individual champion in Morgan Dennis, a freshman who scored a 9.9625 to take home the floor championship. It is the sixth straight year the Tide have had at least one individual champion.

Humphrey said she wasn't sure how long she would be on an adrenaline high after winning.

"I don't know," she said between giggles. "Hopefully for a while."