Bridget Sloan

Bridget Elizabeth Sloan (born June 23, 1992) is an American gymnast and a member of the silver medal-winning American gymnastics team at the 2008 Olympics.

In her first year as a senior, 2007, Sloan placed 5th all-around and 3rd on Bars at the U.S. National Championships. She served as the alternate on the American team for the 2007 World Championships. Sloan also represented the United States at the Good Luck Beijing Olympic test event in December 2007, where she won the bronze medal in the all-around and a silver on floor exercise.

In March 2008, Sloan suffered a torn meniscus while warming up at a meet in Italy. She was forced to sit out the competition and returned home for surgery and rehabilitation, but recovered in time to compete at the 2008 U.S. National Championships, where she competed only on beam, bars and floor; and the U.S. Olympic Trials. Sloan was named to the U.S. team after the final selection camp in Houston in July 2008. In February 2009, Sloan competed in the Tyson American Cup and placed second to 13-year-old Jordyn Wieber.

Bridget Sloan was born on June 23, 1992, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She began gymnastics in 1996 when she was 4. She currently lives in Pittsboro, Indiana, and is a junior at Tri-West Hendricks High School.

2007

In her first year as a senior, 2007, Sloan placed 5th all-around and 3rd on Bars at the U.S. National Championships. She served as the alternate on the American team for the 2007 World Championships. Sloan also represented the United States at the Good Luck Beijing Olympic test event in December 2007, where she won the bronze medal in the all-around and a silver on floor exercise.


2008 Olympics

At the Olympics, Sloan competed in both the qualifying and team final rounds of competition. Her contributions to the team became critical in the qualifying round, where the Americans were forced to put up only four athletes on three events, and count all four scores, due to injuries to Chellsie Memmel and Samantha Peszek. Sloan made small errors on floor and uneven bars but performed well under pressure. Her all-around scores placed her 11th overall among all competitors. In the team finals, Sloan competed on vault, contributing a 15.200 score to the American team's silver medal win.


2009

In February 2009, Sloan competed in the Tyson American Cup and placed second to 13-year-old Jordyn Wieber. In August, Sloan competed in the US Nationals and had a shaky preliminary competition. However, her consistency in the finals won her the gold medal in the All-Around, Floor and Uneven Bars.

In October at the 2009 London World Championships, after a shaky preliminary round, Sloan qualified 6th for the all-around and 7th for the uneven bars final. She competed like a champion in the all-around final and won the gold medal over teammate Rebecca Bross by only 0.050. Sloan earned her place in gymnastics history as the fifth American woman to win the World all-around title. In the bars final, she performed a solid routine and placed 6th.