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11-year-old gymnast sets a gold standardBy ALEX SCHELLDORF © St. Petersburg Times published July 24, 2003
SPRING HILL - Austin Sievers is small in stature, but he has Olympic-sized dreams. The Spring Hill resident, 11, has a lot of ambition packed inside a 4-foot-5, 70-pound body and a lot of heart and perseverance. Sievers is a gold medal-winning gymnast. "He's a hard-working little boy," his mother, Deanna, said. Sievers began the sport at 5. Even at an early age, people began noticing his enhanced skills. Christian Agudelo, 42, has been Sievers' coach six years, guiding him since his first beginner's class. Agudelo remembers a birthday party when Sievers was 5. The coach says he noticed Sievers' fearlessness in jumping, running and tumbling. "He was very strong," Agudelo said. "The kind of person for gymnastics." Recalling their first experience at a gym, Sievers' mother said he was scared. "He was crying when we got there because he didn't want to go," she said. "Then he was crying because he didn't want to leave." It's that same motivation that keeps Sievers going. "He never wants to give up," Deanna said. "I don't have to motivate him. He loves it so much." Agudelo said: "He wants to be the best all the time." Beth Strazzullo, owner of Top Contenders Gymnastics Academy in Hudson, where Sievers trains, has noticed his dedication."For a young boy, he's one of the most dedicated students I've had in a long time," Strazzullo said. Sievers' passion extends from the gym to his home, where he has a set of parallel bars and rings on his patio. His mother says when he is not working on the bars or rings at the gym, he's on them at home. Sievers' zeal has produced many accomplishments. His time at the 2002 AAU Junior Olympics in Knoxville, Tenn., was highly eventful. He won a gold medal for all-around competition, gold on the parallel bars with a perfect 10, gold in the vault, a silver on the rings, a bronze medal on the high bar and another bronze on the pommel horse. Sievers is qualified to compete in this year's AAU Junior Olympics, Wednesday-Aug. 1 in Detroit. He dreams of one day reaching the Olympics. "It would be a dream come true for our whole family," said his father, John. Diego Estrada, 23, has been training Sievers for 11/2 years. He says the Olympics may be reachable. "The way he's training, he can make it to a high level," Estrada said. For now, Sievers has simple goals. "I just want to do good," Sievers said.
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