Chellsie’s Challenges: Life Lessons Learned From an Olympic Gymnast
Chellsie Memmel
Gymnastics has been Chellsie’s passion for as long as she can remember and has given her so much. She was fortunate to set her goals high and reach them through hard work, determination, perseverance, and the help of some amazing people in her corner.
Follow along with Chellsie as she takes you on a journey through the highs and lows of her elite gymnastics career and the lessons she learned along the way.
We are all capable of doing amazing things if we are willing to put in the work. We just need to challenge ourselves and go for it.
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Chellsie Memmel
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Chellsie Memmel came into the gymnastics spotlight in 2003 when she won five medals, including the team and all-around gold, at the Pan American Games. That same year she competed in the World Championships and helped secure the team gold. For her outstanding 2003 season, she was named the TOPs Co-Athlete of the Year with Carly Patterson.
At the 2005 World Championships, she became the first U.S. woman since 1994 to win the all-around gold medal. That year she tied for USA Gymnastics Women’s Athlete of the Year.
During the 2006 World Championships, she incurred a shoulder injury, but was till able to help her team earn the silver medal. She became on of the 10 finalists for the Women’s Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year that year and was also nominated twice for for the prestigious AAU Sullivan Award in 2003 and 2005.
Chellsie competed on the U.S. Olympic Team in 2008 in Beijing, China, and took home a team silver medal.
She retired from the sport in 2012 and married her husband, Kory the following year. They have two children, Dashel and Audrielle.
In 2018 she started an online program called Chellsie Challenges to motivate people to keep moving, and in 2020, she announced she was going to begin competing again. She went on to compete in the US Classics and Championships in 2021 and participated in the Gold Over America Tour.
In 2022, she retired from the sport again and accepted the position of High performance Technical Lead at USA Gymnastics. She currently coaches gymnastics, works for USA Gymnastics, and lives with her family in Wisconsin.
