Completed Event: Gymnastics at #10 Iowa (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series) on January 10, 2026 , Loss , 193.425, to, 196.000
Final
Gymnastics
193.425
#10 Iowa (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series)
196.000
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Iowa State University Athletics
Olympics Special to ISU Canadian Gymnastics Duo
02.19.2010 | Gymnastics
AMES, Iowa—While gymnastics is a summer sport in the Olympics Games, Iowa State senior gymnasts Jody McKellar and Ashley Kent have a true connection to this year's winter games.
Living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Kent and McKellar grew up in the shadow of the mountain that staged the 1988 Winter Olympics. The club gym they both trained in currently resides in the Canada Olympic Park and is across the street from the infamous bobsled course that was the setting for the Jamaican bobsled team that was chronicled in the movie “Cool Runnings.”
“I have even gotten to sit in the Jamaican bobsled,” McKellar said. “They have the bobsled there in the ice house where they practice. It is just like a basic luge track that they go on and they have the monument set up right there.”
Kent and McKellar also had the opportunity to interact with athletes training for the Olympics and seeing the work ethic required to succeed at the highest level.
“Training in that kind atmosphere and knowing other athletes makes you feel like your training is important and that you are elite caliber,” McKellar said.
“We have a lot of Olympic-caliber athletes who train there so you get to see a bunch of winter athletes that are the best in the world,” Kent said.
Just because Kent and McKellar currently live in the United States does not mean they are short on Canadian pride or have followed the Olympics any less.
“When Vancouver first got the Olympics it was this huge deal and everyone was so excited,” Kent said. “I wish I was there, but I can't imagine the atmosphere around our whole gym and facility. Since the Olympics started I have been watching it every day Every time I am home the TV is on to the Olympics. I try looking for the Canadians and how well they are doing and going online and checking that out. It's three weeks that Canadians in the U.S. unite to support our country.”
“Seeing the crowd in the background and seeing how much support they have is exciting,” McKellar said. “It is exciting because a lot of people don't really know much about Canada, and I am excited for them to see how beautiful it is.”
Kent and McKellar admit that even though gymnastics is staged in the summer games, they have stronger connection to the winter Olympics.
“I like the winter Olympics because Calgary is such a winter-based city,” Kent said. “We have grown up around luge, skiing and ski jumping and have seen all of that while growing up. You get a mental image about how long the different courses are and how fast it goes instead of just seeing it on TV.
“I think Canada is just so much of a stronger winter Olympic country. It is really exciting to see people you have heard of and people you have been around winning medals.”
“A lot of people I know don't even really know what bobsledding and luge are,” McKellar said. “I feel like I have more knowledge about what each sport entails, so it is more exciting to watch.”
Kent and McKellar have not allowed their excitement for the Olympics to distract them from their work on the ISU gymnastics squad. Kent is currently the ninth-best beam performer in the country and McKellar has been one of the Cyclones' top all-arounders this season.
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