April 5, 2004
Courtesy of Inside Gymnastics
As he finishes his senior year at Stanford, Dan Gill's season is just beginning.
The only active NCAA gymnast on the U.S. National Team, Gill (pictured at right with trampoline inventor George Nissen) is making a run at Athens while working to finish his bachelor's degree in biology-finishing school in only four years, a relative rarity for busy student-athletes. "It's been busy," Gill admits. "I've had one weekend off since January 10th, otherwise I've been competing for the U.S., at a training camp or competing for Stanford."
Instead of being overwhelmed, Gill considers his hectic schedule an asset. "I feel like I'm more ready than a lot of guys," he says of his upcoming Olympic push. "I've done my routines so many times now, it just makes competition a lot less intimidating. Every weekend of competition I look at it and think, 'I've done this the weekend before, and the weekend before that.' And I've been pretty consistent week to week, so that gives me a lot of confidence."
Gill credits his coach, Thom Glielmi, who started at Stanford during Gill's sophomore season, with making his gymnastics Olympic-caliber. "I couldn't have done it without [previous Stanford coach] Sadao Hamada either, but since Thom has come in, he's taught me-forced me really-to be consistent with my training," Gill says. "Even when I don't feel good, or I'm having a bad day, he makes sure I still pound out my numbers and it's paid off.
"He's incredibly motivating," Gill adds, describing Glielmi. "He's a great technician and I can't say enough good things about him. Between him and [teammate] Dave Durante, it's the difference between where I was and where I am."
Read the complete Inside Gymnastics article on Dan Gill here.