12 Days of Gymnastics - 20/12/2011
4:40 PM
On the Eighth Day of Christmas, Gymnastics Brought to Me: Puerto Rican Up-And-Comer Paula Andrea Mejias Rodriguez!
Above image of Paula competing in the 2011 World Championships - image by Thomas Schreyer and sourced on his official website. Seventeen year-old Paula trains at Universal Gymnastics in Miami, Florida under the tutelage of Head Coach Maria Gonzalez, and competes for both Universal Gymnastics and Puerto Rico. Earlier this year, she came 8th in the All Around at the Puerto Rico Cup with 47.465 and was third on the Vault (13.862 average), and second on the Floor Exercise (13.575). At her first World Championships, this year in Tokyo, Mejias placed 121st All Around (46.465), 19th on Vault (with an average of 13.499), 171st on the Uneven Bars (9.566), 157th on Beam (11.300) and 145th on Floor Exercise with a 11.933. This earned Puerto Rico a berth at the Olympic Test Event, where the country will be represented by compatriot Lorena Quinones Moreno. From Tokyo, Paula then travelled to Guadalajara to compete in the Pan American Games, where she finished 17th in the All Around, with a four event total of 48.900, and was 6th in the Vault final (13.725, 13.950) for an average of 13.837. And more recently, Paula was recognised by the Puerto Rican Olympic Committee (El Comite Olimpico de Puerto Rico/COPUR) alongside Luis Tingui Vargas as the gymnasts who were the standout performers for each sporting discipline this year.
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