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Horton reflects on Olympic experience
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| Jonathan Horton, a 2004 Cy-Fair High graduate, earned silver and bronze medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Now, he’s focused on winning a gold medal in the 2012 London Olympic Games. |
By Salvador Rodriguez
A year removed from the Beijing Olympics, only now has Jonathan Horton’s life started to settle down again.
Horton, a 2004 Cy-Fair High graduate, earned a bronze medal with the U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Team last summer and a silver medal in high bar. Horton said it was a great experience from top to bottom.
“Everything about it, the food, the people, the accommodations, it was great,” Horton said. “I was there for a month, yeah, I was ready to come home, but I could have stayed there comfortably for a long time.”
Horton qualified for the Olympics winning the All-Around at the 2008 trials. However, the team was immediately hit with adversity when two of the team’s leaders, brothers Paul and Morgan Hamm, were injured.
“It was tough because we’re sitting there thinking in the back of our heads, ‘Without them, can we do anything at all? Are we going to be able to medal?’” Horton said.
The Hamm brothers led the U.S. to the silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics, with Paul winning gold in All-Around.
“It was really discouraging, but at the same time, the six of us that were on the team we really kind of came together,” Horton said. “We’re still the Olympic team. We have to represent the United States to the best of our ability.”
Horton said the situation motivated the team to prove the world wrong after being projected by some to not finish within the top eight.
“It was really exciting when we went out there and had such an incredible performance and walked away with a bronze medal,” Horton said. “Bronze felt like gold because we competed so well.”
Horton also returned with a silver medal, albeit unexpectedly, after qualifying for the final in high bar.
“I knew that with the routine that I normally did I probably couldn’t have gotten better than sixth again,” Horton said. “So I actually changed up my routine and threw some extra hard skills that I hadn’t done in a really long time in spite of all of my coaches telling me it was a bad idea.”
Horton said he got a lot of support and feedback from his alma mater after the Olympic games.
“I always talked about making the Olympics in high school and how it was my goal,” Horton said. “So many people called me and Facebook-ed me and stuff like that. They were like “Wow, I can’t believe we went to high school with you, and you finally made the Olympics.’”
Cypress Academy of Gymnastics coach Tom Meadows said it was very special to see Horton accomplish his dream after coaching him since he was 9 years old.
“For him to fulfill his dream of being an Olympian when we’d talked about it forever, it really was one of those special feelings that to this day I still get goose bumps thinking about it,” Meadows said.
Meadows also said he was fortunate to see his pupil become a leader for his teammates.
“His work ethic just permeated everybody else,” Horton said. “Everybody else wanted to work that hard to get there, and when they got put into that situation, hard work pays off.”
Having returned, it didn’t take long for Horton to begin thinking about the next Olympics.
“I’ve got four more years to be better than those guys this time because my greatest goal is to be an Olympic gold medalist, and I haven’t accomplished that yet,” Horton said. “I didn’t celebrate for too long without having those thoughts in the back of my head about how hard I needed to train some more.”
In the past year, Horton has toured with the U.S. gymnastics team across the country, earned his degree from the University of Oklahoma, got married last month and moved into a new home.
Now he and Meadows will work together for the next four to eight years to earn Horton a gold medal, and though they haven’t worked together since 2004, Meadows said everything has been the same since Horton’s return.
“He walked right back in the gym and we were right back into the swing of things as if we never even parted ways,” Meadows said.
Horton’s immediate future includes a competition in Tokyo later this month. The competition will use the same rules and format as the Olympic finals, but it won’t feature the same U.S. Men’s team.
“I’m the only guy that’s going to Japan that was on the Olympic team,” Horton said “It’s a different mix of guys. It should be cool to see what the dynamic’s like of the team.”
Beyond that, Horton’s eyes are set on the 2012 London Olympic Games and accomplishing the peak of his sport.
“The ultimate thing that you can do is win a gold medal,” Horton said. “I got a bronze and a silver now, so it’s my goal. I’ll do whatever it takes; I’ll work out however hard I need to reach that goal.”
Horton, a 2004 Cy-Fair High graduate, earned a bronze medal with the U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Team last summer and a silver medal in high bar. Horton said it was a great experience from top to bottom.
“Everything about it, the food, the people, the accommodations, it was great,” Horton said. “I was there for a month, yeah, I was ready to come home, but I could have stayed there comfortably for a long time.”
Horton qualified for the Olympics winning the All-Around at the 2008 trials. However, the team was immediately hit with adversity when two of the team’s leaders, brothers Paul and Morgan Hamm, were injured.
“It was tough because we’re sitting there thinking in the back of our heads, ‘Without them, can we do anything at all? Are we going to be able to medal?’” Horton said.
The Hamm brothers led the U.S. to the silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics, with Paul winning gold in All-Around.
“It was really discouraging, but at the same time, the six of us that were on the team we really kind of came together,” Horton said. “We’re still the Olympic team. We have to represent the United States to the best of our ability.”
Horton said the situation motivated the team to prove the world wrong after being projected by some to not finish within the top eight.
“It was really exciting when we went out there and had such an incredible performance and walked away with a bronze medal,” Horton said. “Bronze felt like gold because we competed so well.”
Horton also returned with a silver medal, albeit unexpectedly, after qualifying for the final in high bar.
“I knew that with the routine that I normally did I probably couldn’t have gotten better than sixth again,” Horton said. “So I actually changed up my routine and threw some extra hard skills that I hadn’t done in a really long time in spite of all of my coaches telling me it was a bad idea.”
Horton said he got a lot of support and feedback from his alma mater after the Olympic games.
“I always talked about making the Olympics in high school and how it was my goal,” Horton said. “So many people called me and Facebook-ed me and stuff like that. They were like “Wow, I can’t believe we went to high school with you, and you finally made the Olympics.’”
Cypress Academy of Gymnastics coach Tom Meadows said it was very special to see Horton accomplish his dream after coaching him since he was 9 years old.
“For him to fulfill his dream of being an Olympian when we’d talked about it forever, it really was one of those special feelings that to this day I still get goose bumps thinking about it,” Meadows said.
Meadows also said he was fortunate to see his pupil become a leader for his teammates.
“His work ethic just permeated everybody else,” Horton said. “Everybody else wanted to work that hard to get there, and when they got put into that situation, hard work pays off.”
Having returned, it didn’t take long for Horton to begin thinking about the next Olympics.
“I’ve got four more years to be better than those guys this time because my greatest goal is to be an Olympic gold medalist, and I haven’t accomplished that yet,” Horton said. “I didn’t celebrate for too long without having those thoughts in the back of my head about how hard I needed to train some more.”
In the past year, Horton has toured with the U.S. gymnastics team across the country, earned his degree from the University of Oklahoma, got married last month and moved into a new home.
Now he and Meadows will work together for the next four to eight years to earn Horton a gold medal, and though they haven’t worked together since 2004, Meadows said everything has been the same since Horton’s return.
“He walked right back in the gym and we were right back into the swing of things as if we never even parted ways,” Meadows said.
Horton’s immediate future includes a competition in Tokyo later this month. The competition will use the same rules and format as the Olympic finals, but it won’t feature the same U.S. Men’s team.
“I’m the only guy that’s going to Japan that was on the Olympic team,” Horton said “It’s a different mix of guys. It should be cool to see what the dynamic’s like of the team.”
Beyond that, Horton’s eyes are set on the 2012 London Olympic Games and accomplishing the peak of his sport.
“The ultimate thing that you can do is win a gold medal,” Horton said. “I got a bronze and a silver now, so it’s my goal. I’ll do whatever it takes; I’ll work out however hard I need to reach that goal.”
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