ST. LOUIS — Kansas City area gymnasts Kara Eaker and Leanne Wong will go to Tokyo as replacement gymnasts after US Olympic Trials in St. Louis over the weekend.
The announcement came Sunday night to a cheering audience of more than 20,000, an electric atmosphere and a crowd record for the event.
Eaker finished seventh overall and second in balance beam.
Wong finished eighth overall and second for her floor routine full of graceful moves and powerful tumbling passes.
Both athletes talked about what an honor it is to be a part of the team going to Tokyo and to get to do it together.
“I'm so honored to be able to go with these girls they're so amazing. And just what was going through my brain just being so incredibly proud of myself and also Leanne for being able to come with me, and knowing how much we how much work we put into this and knowing that it's, it's all worth it,” Eaker said.
“Yeah, just really happy to make that beam routine after falling twice on the first day,” Wong said. “But I just had to focus, and I was just really happy to finish off strong. And I'm also really happy to be going to Tokyo with Kara, since we've been training together for a really long time now.”
The women train together at GAGE Center in Blue Springs.
