Willow Glen Resident

Cover Story

Photograph by Vicki Thompson

Josh Dixon took home the gold for his performance on the vault as well as the floor event at the USA VISA Gymnastics Championships at the HP Pavilion held Aug. 15-18.

Bar None

Willow Glen grad has his sights on the 2008 Olympics

By Mayra Flores De Marcotte

Josh Dixon's arms are to his sides. His hands open and close, as he calmly looks ahead. A moment later he sprints forward, hits the springboard with arms straight ahead and launches himself off the vault and into the air. His body gracefully twists, turns and tucks through a double back flip with a twist and then lands for a solid finish.

The 17-year-old Willow Glen High School graduate took home the gold for his performance on the vault as well as the floor event at the USA VISA Gymnastics Championships held Aug. 15-18 at the HP Pavilion.

"He improved on all his scores," says Josh's mother, Kathy. "Josh is passionate about gymnastics."

Josh participated in all six events at the junior men's competition including floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar.

He placed first overall, which qualified him to move forward and compete in the senior men's competition, where he placed 17th overall.

Placing in the top seven in the junior men's competitions also allows Josh to be part of the USA Gymnastics men's junior national team, something he has been a part of for the last seven years.

"You get to meet with teammates and train with the best of the best," says Josh, who will attend Stanford University this fall.

As one of the top seven gymnasts, Josh will attend camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., which happens three times a year, a week at a time. This also includes an Adidas sponsorship.

"You get some cool Adidas stuff," Josh says.

The food isn't bad either. The other perks are priceless, he says.

"If you make it on the team in an Olympic year, you also get to see the top of the top practice," he says.

Josh has been attending the camp since he was 9 years old and has learned how to balance his absences from school due to competitions and practices with his schoolwork.

"He has to stay extremely focused," his mother says. "He has to either get the homework done before he leaves or catch up after he comes back."

This adds up, considering those three weeks of the school year when he is at training camp, she says.

These challenges don't faze Josh.

"I've been doing gymnastics for 11 years," he says. "I started because my sisters did it, but I began getting more and more into it. I like how it challenges you. You get a lot out of it."

This positive attitude worked for the gymnast. Josh graduated from high school an All American student athlete, maintaining his 4.5 grade point average while training at the gym four hours a day, five days a week.

After the applause and the cheers subside, however, it is time to go back to work, and Josh's next big project brings him closer to his ultimate goal--competing in the Olympics.

"I admire people who achieve what they set their mind to," he says.

Josh's gymnastics coach Jin Jing Zhang has been working with the teen for the last five years. Zhang has been where Josh is trying to get to.

Zhang won the gold at the 1996 Olympics for all-around performance and a silver medal with the entire Chinese team the same year.

Josh wants to reach those same goals.

"From the time he was 6 and walked into that gym, Josh has never said, 'I don't want to go to the gym today,' " Kathy Dixon says. "Even when he is ill, he just works through it."

Getting there has meant Josh's days started at 6:30 a.m. when he was in school. After school, Josh would come home, complete his homework and prepare for practice.

He hits the gym at 4 p.m. and works out until 8 p.m.

"Then I do the same thing over again the next day," he says.

His summer regiment is more taxing.

"During the summer, I practice two times a day," Josh says.

He goes in to the gym from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and then rests for about two hours. He comes back to the chalk again from 3 to 7 p.m.

"Time management is crucial," Josh says. "You need to go in and get it done as efficiently as possible."

Raising the bar

For athletes who decide to take their sport to the next level, a time commitment and the physical demands on their bodies can take their toll.

"It's a year-round sport," Josh says. "There are no seasons. There's a lot of wear and tear to your body, and you just have to work through it."

In gymnastics the focus is individual, with the individual continually working toward a new level of skills.

"It's a set of skills that just get harder and harder to improve on," Kathy Dixon says.

Although training and competing can be physically exhausting, the benefits outweigh the bruises, broken bones and sprained wrists.

"I've received recognition and sponsorships throughout the country," Josh says.

The chance to compete on a top national team such as that of Stanford University has left the gymnast speechless.

Stanford offered Josh an athletic scholarship.

"At first, I wanted to go to any gymnastics college," Josh says. "Then I decided to stay in California, so it came down to either Stanford or UC-Berkeley, both of which have top gymnastics teams in the country."

It was after a recruitment trip, however, that the gymnast's decision was made, and he enrolled as a pre-med student.

"On one of my recruiting trips, I observed a hip-replacement surgery and got to see an autopsy being performed," Josh says. "It sparked my interest."

The man giving the tour of the Palo Alto medical facility was also a gymnast-turned-doctor.

"In gymnastics, there are a lot of trips to the doctors," Josh says.

Common injuries in gymnastics include wrist fractures and sprained ankles, Dixon says.

His interest in medicine grows out of watching his teammates on the sidelines, his mother says.

"The boys begin to analyze each other's injuries," Dixon says. "They start questioning why things happen, how the healing process works and so on. Medicine is a natural choice."

Until school starts, though, Josh will continue his training regimen and planning toward the ultimate challenge, making the cut for the 2008 Olympics.

But even if 2008 isn't his year, Josh says, "My coach is taking us to China to watch the Olympics. We're going to get to see the best of the best perform."