‘That would mean my whole world’: KC area gymnast to compete at Olympic trials

At first glance, 16-year-old Eveylynn Lowe is your typical teenage girl. She loves listening to Drake, hanging out with her friends and shopping at Lululemon.

But, by next week, she could be an Olympian.

Lowe, a Blue Springs native, will compete in the 2024 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials in Minneapolis this weekend to fight for a spot on Team USA. Lowe will compete against 15 other gymnasts from the senior national team, including Olympic veterans Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles.

“I’m not very intimidated by them,” Lowe said. “I just think it’s cool that I’m joining them as the same level.”

Lowe trains at the Great American Gymnastics Express Center in Blue Springs, which has trained previous Olympians such as Terin Humphrey, according to its website. Two athletes from the GAGE Center, Leanne Wong and Kara Eaker, were alternates for the Olympic Team in 2021. Wong, 20, will compete again in the Olympic Trials this weekend.

“So, at my home gym, they are super supportive of me,” Lowe said. “My whole gym watches my routine. They just cheer me on. That really helps me get through my practices, because I was the only one doing routines, which is a little bit harder to be the only one doing it.”

Lowe’s gymnastics journey began when she was just a toddler, when her mom put her in gymnastics and dance classes because of her high energy.

“My parents tell me all the time I was a super jittery kid, couldn’t stop moving, and so they put me in both [dance and gymnastics], and I really liked gymnastics,” Lowe said. “So when I was five, I decided to pick gymnastics and stay with that.”

Lowe began competitive gymnastics when she was “really little,” and developed a love for competition. To get to the Olympics, Lowe said, has always been her goal.

“Well I think it’s like all young gymnasts, that’s obviously like, you grow up watching it on TV and obviously that’s your goal when you become older, to go there,” Lowe said. “But I think I grew up watching Kara and Leanne and so many of those girls in my own home gym, so I just think that that was something that I always wanted to do and go to that high level.”

Throughout her journey, Lowe said she’s been supported by her teammates, family and coaches.

“I just think that this is a really good experience for me and I think that I have really good people surrounding me and supporting me, and I’m really grateful for all my friends and family and really grateful for my coaches,” Lowe said.

When asked why she loves gymnastics, Lowe didn’t hesitate in her response.

“I think you already said it, I really like competing,” Lowe said with a small laugh. “At the end of the day, like, obviously competing is nerve-wracking and hard to do but it’s really a good experience.”

To get ready for a competition, Lowe visualizes doing her routines to the best of her ability, while wearing her big headphones and doing her makeup to ease her nerves.

“I really compete well with big crowds, so I always like to see all the people there because they don’t just cheer for the people they like, they cheer for everyone,” Lowe said.

Although Lowe is competitive, she described having a great bond between herself, her teammates and her fellow competitors. In the days leading up to the Olympic trials, Lowe traveled to Minneapolis to train before the event.

“I think we’re all pretty close, we all go to training and then we come back and eat as a team. We have all of our meals as a team. It’s kind of like one team USA,” Lowe said. “We all do things together, we’re all really good friends.”

Lowe will be one of the youngest female competitors at the gymnastics trials this year, only slightly older than teammates Zoey Molomo, Hezley Rivera and Simone Rose, according to the USA Gymnastics roster.

But despite her age, Lowe said she feels up to the challenge.

“[Earning a spot on Team USA] would mean my whole world. I’ve been working for this, like, my whole entire life,” Lowe said. “Obviously I know people come back for the Olympics, so that could definitely be something that I do. I know I have a really tough field of gymnasts that I’m competing against. I definitely think there’s a chance, but it’s definitely going to be something hard to do.”

The 2024 U.S. Women’s Olympic Gymnastics Trials will be broadcast on NBC starting Friday night at 7 p.m.