Ragan Smith

Ragan Elizabeth Smith (born August 8, 2000) is an American collegiate gymnast. She is a five-time member of the US National Team (2014–2019). She is the 2017 United States national all-around champion and was an alternate for the 2016 Olympic team.[3]

Ragan Smith
Smith at the 2014 City of Jesolo Trophy
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Ray Ray, Raygs, Rae
Country represented	United States
Born	August 8, 2000 Snellville, Georgia USA
Hometown	Dacula, Georgia USA
Residence	Norman, Oklahoma USA
Height	4 ft 11 in (150 cm)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Collegiate
Years on national team	2014–18 (USA)
Club	Texas Dreams Gymnastics
College team	Oklahoma Sooners
Head coach(es)	K.J Kindler
Former coach(es)	[1][2]
Choreographer	Kim Zmeskal Dominic Zito
Music	The Addams Family Theme (2016–2017) These Boots Are Made for Walkin' (2017–2018)
Medal record Representing the  United States World Championships 2018 Doha Team Pacific Rim Championships 2016 Everett Team 2016 Everett Balance Beam FIG World Cup 2017 Newark All Around

Personal life

Smith was born in Snellville, Georgia, to Michael and Kerry Smith. She has two younger brothers. Her mother was a gymnastics coach. Smith began gymnastics in 2004. Smith lived in Lewisville, Texas for six years, and now she currently lives in Norman, Oklahoma.[4]

Junior career

2013

Smith qualified for Junior International Elite status in 2013 and advanced to the 2013 Secret U.S. Classic in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. She placed 23rd in the all-around and advanced to U.S. Nationals later in the month, where she finished 17th all-around.[5]

2014

Smith attended her first international assignment in March 2014, after her addition to the U.S. National Team, at the 2014 City of Jesolo Trophy in Venice, Italy. She contributed an all-around score of 52.650.[6] In August 2014, Smith competed at the 2014 Secret U.S. Classic and scored 54.450, finishing thirteenth in the all-around and first on floor, advancing to the U.S. Nationals, where she placed seventh in the all-around with a two-day combined total of 110.750 and second on beam and floor with scores of 29.000 and 29.150, respectively.

2015

In March, Smith once again attended the City of Jesolo Trophy. In qualifications, which also served as an all-around/team final, Smith placed 5th with a score of 56.100 and made both the vault and floor finals. She scored a 14.350 on vault, earning a third-place finish, and 14.250 on floor, placing second.[7]

Smith competed in the Secret U.S. Classic, placing 1st on the floor exercise, as well as 2nd in the all-around and 3rd on vault.[8] In August, Smith attended the 2015 US Nationals. She came in 3rd all-around with a two-day combined score of 116.450 and won both balance beam and floor.[9] On December 19, 2015, Smith committed to the University of Oklahoma and the Sooners program.[10]

Senior career

2016

Smith's senior debut came at the 2016 City of Jesolo Trophy in March, where she finished second on beam, floor, and the all-around.[11] In April, she competed at the Pacific Rim Championships, winning balance beam with a score of 15.225. At the Secret U.S. Classic, Smith finished fifth on beam and tied for sixth on bars.[12] At the U.S. Olympic Trials in San Jose on July 10, 2016, she scored 15.3 on the balance beam and finished second on the event. On July 10, Smith was named as an alternate to the 2016 Olympic team, alongside Ashton Locklear and MyKayla Skinner.

2017

On March 4, Smith won the gold medal ahead of Japanese Olympian Asuka Teramoto at the American Cup in Newark, New Jersey. In July Smith competed at the U.S. Classic on uneven bars and balance beam only. She took first place on both events.[13]

On August 20, Smith won the 2017 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships all-around title with a two-day combined score of 115.250, over three points ahead of silver medalist Jordan Chiles. She also placed first on floor exercise ahead of Jade Carey and Trinity Thomas, first on balance beam ahead of Riley McCusker and Thomas, and third on uneven bars behind McCusker and Locklear.[14] She was named to the national team for the fourth consecutive year.

On September 20, Smith was selected to represent the United States at the 2017 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Montreal alongside Carey, Locklear, and Morgan Hurd.[15][16] During qualifications Smith qualified to the all-around final in second place behind Mai Murakami of Japan despite an uncharacteristic fall on the balance beam. Smith also qualified to the floor exercise final in first with a score of 14.433, ahead of Murakami and teammate Carey.[17] She was arguably the favorite to win the all-around title, but minutes before her first rotation on vault she injured her ankle during warmups and withdrew from the all-around final.[18] This was only one of many injuries sustained by major contenders over the course of the championships, with Kohei Uchimura of Japan, Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and Larisa Iordache of Romania all withdrawing from the competition due to injury. Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan, the athlete representative, mentioned that the new podium training format only allowed the gymnasts a few minutes on each piece, not giving the gymnasts a sufficient amount of time to get used to the equipment, and suggested this as a reason for a much larger number of mistakes and injuries than usual. Smith's injury also forced her to withdraw from the floor exercise event final. Smith's recovery included extensive physical therapy and rehab as she chose to avoid the risks of surgery.[19]

2018

In her comeback meet, Smith competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy in April. The US did not field a team, but Smith and club teammate Emma Malabuyo competed as individuals.[20] Smith won silver in the all-around, balance beam, and uneven bars.[21][22] She competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic in late July.[23] She only competed on vault, balance beam, and uneven bars. She finished third on balance beam.[24]

Marred by lingering torn ligaments in her ankle, broken toes, and mental struggles at the 2018 U.S Championships in August, Smith finished 10th in the all-around, 8th on vault, 8th on beam, tied for 11th on bars, and 11th on floor over the cumulative two day competition. She was not selected for the eight member national team for 2018.

In October Smith participated in the Worlds Team Selection Camp. During the competition she placed fifth in the all-around, third on balance beam behind Kara Eaker and Riley McCusker, fourth on vault and floor exercise, and eighth on uneven bars.[25] The following day she was named to the team to compete at the 2018 World Championships alongside Biles, Morgan Hurd, McCusker, Grace McCallum, and Eaker.[26] As a result of making the World Championship team, Smith was added back onto the National Team. While in Doha she was chosen as the alternate.[27] Although she did not compete at the World Championships, she still earned a gold medal alongside her teammates.[28]

In December Smith officially signed with the Oklahoma Sooners women's gymnastics program, starting in the 2020–21 season.[29]

2019

In 2019, Smith attended the U.S. Women’s National Team camps in January,[30] February,[31] and May[32] but was noticeably absent from the June camp, despite all other National Team members being in attendance,[33] sparking rumors that she was going to attend the University of Oklahoma in the fall. In July, Smith confirmed on Instagram that she had decided to join the Oklahoma Sooners for the 2019–2020 season,[34] presumably ending her elite career as she was not on the roster to compete at the upcoming U.S. Classic.[35]

NCAA career

2019–20

In July, Smith announced that she would be joining the Oklahoma Sooners women's gymnastics team for the 2019–2020 season, instead of deferring for a year like she had originally planned.[34] She made her NCAA debut at the Collegiate Challenge where she competed the all-around and helped Oklahoma finish first, recording the highest score on balance beam for her team. Smith is much happier in the college environment rather than elite. She said in an interview with ESPN "Right when I got there, I noticed all the girls were smiling in the gym, and it doesn't happen like that in a club. I was like 'Wow, this looks super fun. I want to be a part of this.'"[36]

Selected competitive skills

Apparatus	Name	Description	Difficulty[lower-alpha 1]	Performed
Vault	Baitova	Yurchenko entry, laid out salto backwards with two twists	5.4	2016–18
Uneven Bars	Inbar 1/1	Inbar Stalder to full (1/1) pirouette	E	2016–18
	Ricna	Stalder to counter reversed straddled hecht over high bar	E	2016–18
	Downie	Stalder backward on high bar with counter-pike reverse hecht over bar	F	2017–18
Balance Beam	Double Pike	Dismount: Double piked salto backwards	E	2016–18
	Front Pike	Piked Salto Forwards	E	2017
	Layout	Laid out salto backwards with legs together (to two feet)	E	2016–18
	Mitchell	1080° (3/1) turn in tuck stand on one leg	E	2018
	Shishova	Full-twisting (1/1) tucked salto backwards	F	2016–18
	Patterson	Dismount: Tucked Arabian double front dismount	G	2016
Floor Exercise	Andreasen	Tucked Arabian double salto forward	E	2016–18
	Triple Twist	Triple-twisting (3/1) laid-out salto backward	E	2016–18
	Double Layout	Double laid out salto backwards	F	2016–18

1. Valid for the 2017–2020 Code of Points

Competitive history

Junior

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2012	U.S. Classic (HOPEs)				7
2013	U.S. Classic					6
	U.S. National Championships		17			10	8
2014	City of Jesolo Trophy		8
	U.S. Classic		13		12
	U.S. National Championships		7	8	29
2015	City of Jesolo Trophy		5
	U.S. Classic				7	4
	U.S. National Championships			6	7

Senior

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2016	City of Jesolo Trophy
	Pacific Rim Championships
	U.S. Classic				6	5
	U.S. National Championships		8		11	5	13
	U.S. Olympic Trials		5	11	10		6
	Olympic Games	[lower-alpha 1]
2017	American Cup
	U.S. Classic
	P&G National Championships
	World Championships[lower-alpha 2]		WD				WD
2018	City of Jesolo Trophy
	U.S. Classic				11
	U.S. National Championships		10		11	8	11
	Worlds Team Selection Camp		5	4	8		4
	World Championships	[lower-alpha 1]

1. Smith was the Team USA alternate.
2. Smith qualified to the All-Around and Floor Exercise finals in 2nd and 1st respectively but had to withdraw from both due to an injury sustained before the AA final.

NCAA

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2020	Big-12 Championships	Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA[37]
	NCAA Championships

References

1. Elena Piskun
2. Kim Zmeskal,
3. "Smith wins women's all-around crown at 2017 P&G Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 20, 2017.
4. "Ragan Smith". usagym.org. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
5. http://gym-style.com/ragan/results.htm
6. http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/2014/eu/ita/jesolo/junaa.pdf
7. http://thegymter.net/2015/03/28/2015-jesolo-live-results/
8. https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_15susc_jr.pdf
9. https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_15champs_jraa.pdf
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. http://thegymter.net/2016/03/19/2016-city-of-jesolo-trophy-results/
12. https://myusagym.com/meets/past/57553/results/5397/
13. "2017 U.S. Classic – Seniors". FloGymnastics.
14. "Smith grabs first U.S. all-around title on final night of P&G Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 20, 2017.
15. "Meet The 2017 U.S. Women's World Championships Team". FloGymnastics. September 20, 2017.
16. "USA Gymnastics names U.S. Women's Team for 2017 World Championships". USA Gymnastics. September 20, 2017.
17. "Pedigree shines through nerves as U.S. women poised for World Championships success". USA Gymnastics. October 4, 2017.
18. "Ragan Smith Injured, Out Of AA Final At 2017 Gymnastics World Championships". FloGymnastics. October 6, 2017.
19. "Pain, training and 73 medals: Inside the life of US gymnastics all-around champion Ragan Smith". SportsDay. 2018-08-15. Retrieved 2018-09-02.
20. "U.S. Gymnasts Set To Compete At 2018 City of Jesolo Trophy". FloGymnastics. February 19, 2018.
21. "U.S. Seniors Populate The Podium, Malabuyo Is AA Champ". FloGymnastics. April 14, 2018.
22. "Junior and Senior Event Finals: RESULS & RECAP". FloGymnastics. April 15, 2018.
23. "World, Olympic, U.S. champions expected to compete at 2018 GK U.S. Classic". USA Gymnastics. July 16, 2018.
24. "Biles, Wong win all-around titles at 2018 GK U.S. Classic". USA Gymnastics. July 28, 2018.
25. "Biles wins U.S. women's World Team Selection Camp competition". USA Gymnastics. October 11, 2018.
26. "USA Gymnastics announces 2018 U.S. Women's World Championships Team". USA Gymnastics. October 12, 2018.
27. "Qualification line-up for U.S. women is announced for 2018 World Championships". USA Gymnastics. October 25, 2018.
28. "U.S. women win team title at 2018 World Championships, qualify for 2020 Olympic Games". USA Gymnastics. October 30, 2018.
29. @ou_wgymnastics (December 21, 2018). "Our 2019 signing class: Vanessa Deniz, Ragan Smith & Brooke Weins!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
30. "Women's U.S. National Team kicks off 2019 with January camp". USA Gymnastics. January 20, 2019.
31. "U.S. women's February training camp begins today". USA Gymnastics. February 21, 2019.
32. "Women's national team meets for May camp". USA Gymnastics. May 1, 2019.
33. "Women's June national team camp will determine athletes for 2019 Junior World Championships Team, Pan American Games training squad". USA Gymnastics. June 12, 2019.
34. "Ragan Smith Oklahoma announcement". Instagram. July 7, 2019.
35. "Biles, 2018 World Championships team gold medalists headline field for 2019 GK U.S. Classic". USA Gymnastics. July 9, 2019.
36. "SOONERS OPEN 2020 WITH COLLEGIATE CHALLENGE WIN". Oklahoma Sooners. January 4, 2020.
37. "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships due to coronavirus concerns". NCAA. March 13, 2020.

External links

• Ragan Smith at USA Gymnastics
• Ragan Smith at the International Gymnastics Federation