Mattea Dolan, Mia Curry return to defend gymnastics all-around titles
There have been plenty of past seasons when the state gymnastics titles appeared to be up for grabs, but it doesn’t look like that will be the case in 2021.
Both classifications’ reigning champions – Overland’s Mattea Dolan and Niwot’s Mia Curry – are back after winning the Class 5A and 4A all-around titles, respectively, during Season C this past spring. And neither gymnast seems like she is willing to relinquish her crown.
“It was definitely an experience but there was no way we could have done it without the team that we had,” Dolan said. “The team we have this year has a bunch of potential and it’s all about the team. I don’t really worry about other teams that much because I’m kind of focused on the traditions and the relationships that we’ve built on our team and how that carries us.
“It’s really all about the team traditions that we have and we uphold them through the leaders that we had before. We just lost a bunch of seniors but they showed us the ropes and how we do everything so that we can pass down all those traditions and share that experience with the incoming freshman and the everybody else on the team.”
With teammate Mabry Robinson placing second in the all-around, Dolan’s Trailblazers are coming off their first team championship since 2014. Behind Curry’s all-around performance, the Niwot Cougars placed third for the second straight season since winning the 4A team championship in 2018. Elizabeth has won the 4A team title in each of the past two seasons, and has won three of the last four.
For Curry, who has won the last two 4A all-around titles, this past summer has been filled with training and learning important lessons while watching one of her idols struggle at the highest level. Watching Simone Biles withdraw from the all-around competition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games after developing a case of the ‘twisties’ left a lasting impression on Curry and her own perspective on a sport that is exceedingly demanding on its competitors, not just physically but also mentally.
“I think that is a huge part of what got our gymnasts to success: that they still had everybody supporting them and they were also having fun as much as they missed Simone,” Curry said. “It’s also something that heavily applies to gymnastics. There’s a lot of pressure to it and there’s always that fear of, ‘Well, what if this one thing happens that doesn’t normally happen? What if I fall? What if I accidentally mess up a skill?’
“That’s always there, so I think that’s really important that Simone raised awareness for that.”
After winning the all-around titles in Season C, both Dolan and Curry are entering the 2021 fall seasons with newfound motivations to power their individual title defenses. That’s good news for their respective teams, and bad news for any contenders with hopes of unseating either one.
