Hollie Vise - 2003 Worlds

2003 Worlds

Vise is best remembered for her gold medals at the 2003 World Championships in the team and uneven bars events.

Vise competed on uneven bars and balance beam in the team competition. Immediately prior to her routine, it was discovered that her number was not attached to the back of her leotard, a violation that automatically incurs a 0.2 deduction. Coaches quickly scribbled her number on a spare sheet of paper, safety pinned it to her back, and sent her out. This was controversial however because she had already been signaled to start her routine when her coaches realized her number was missing and spent over the allowed time before a routine is required to start (30 seconds) putting her number back on. The pressure got to her, and Vise mis-timed her ono pirouette (a 360 degree turn on one arm) and fell on the piked jaegar that was immediately after the skill, scoring an 8.875, a big disappointment for team USA, as the two athletes who went before her on the apparatus had scored in the 9.6 range, and being last up, she was expected to bring in the highest score of the three. Nevertheless, she regrouped to put out a respectable performance on balance beam (9.512) that helped the U.S. team to its first team world gold. In the event finals, Vise completed a near-perfect routine in the uneven bars final, scoring a 9.612 to tie Chellsie Memmel for the title (Vise and Memmel were the only members of the American team to take home an individual gold medal from the World Championships, along with the team gold).