Olympic champion Carey on her first year as a Beaver: ‘It’s been so much fun for me’
Olympic champion Jade Carey hopes to compete in gymnastics for four years and eventually earn a degree at Oregon State (courtesy OSU sports communications)
Updated 2/9/2022 11:50 PM
CORVALLIS — Happy is as happy does, and Jade Carey did it to perfection last Saturday at Gill Coliseum.
Carey achieved her first collegiate Perfect 10 score — it coming on the uneven bars — as 13th-ranked Oregon State beat 21st-ranked Arizona State in a Pac-12 gymnastics meet.
The flawless routine set off a flush of emotion from Carey’s teammates, who swarmed her as the crowd rose for a standing ovation.
Jade Carey gets congratulations from Oregon State teammates and assistant coach Michael Chaplin after recording a perfect 10 score on the uneven bars in last Saturday’s victory over Arizona State at Gill Coliseum (courtesy OSU sports communications)
“I was really excited,” Carey said in the media room afterward. “Interesting that it happened on bars. That’s supposed to be my weakest event — but it’s not.”
Carey has no “weak” events, at least at the college level. The 5-1 freshman — gold medalist in floor exercise at the Tokyo Olympic Games last August — is now 20 for 20 in individual titles with five straight all-around victories in her maiden voyage through the college ranks. Against the Sun Devils, she also ruled the vault (9.925), the balance beam (9.925) and the floor ex (9.975). There was plenty of talent on display with both teams, but Carey was in a class by herself.
If she feels a pressure to perform well every time out because of her Olympic credentials, the Phoenix, Ariz., native isn’t showing it.
“I definitely have felt the pressure, just because I have started out so well,” Carey said as she sat down for a conversation. “I’m a perfectionist, as most gymnasts are. I always want to keep getting better and better and am striving to be perfect. But I honestly feel most of the pressure comes from myself.
“Tonight, I really wanted to just go out there and have fun and not put that pressure on myself. That’s exactly what I did, and it paid off.”
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From the moment she stepped onto campus in September, Carey was a member of the women’s branch of Oregon State’s athletic Mount Rushmore.
The others? I’ll offer two of my contemporaries at OSU — Mary Budke, national collegiate and U.S. Amateur golf champion, and Joni Huntley, American record-holder and Olympic bronze medalist in the high jump, both competitors for the Beavers in the early 1970s. Also, basketball’s Carol Menken-Schaudt, who won Olympic gold with the U.S. team in the ’84 Games at Los Angeles.
It’s been a long time since then, and perhaps I’m missing somebody important. Maybe current OSU senior Ellie Slama, the school’s greatest female golfer not named Mary Budke. Or basketball’s Felicia Ragland, Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2001.
For sure, Carey belongs. Oregon State hasn’t had a reigning Olympic champion on campus since the great Dick Fosbury returned after re-inventing the high jump at Mexico City in 1968.
Carey’s legend was made in the weeks before she arrived in Corvallis with her thrilling victory in Tokyo. I asked Tanya Chaplin, Oregon State’s head coach for a quarter-century, if coaching a Jade Carey is a once-in-a-career opportunity.
“If you’re lucky, right?” Chaplin quipped.
Carey verbally committed to Oregon State during a visit to Corvallis with her father, Brian Carey, as a high school freshman back in the summer of 2015. Before she left town, she committed to Tanya and her husband/assistant coach Michael Chaplin.
“I visited the Arizona schools and had some interest in other programs, but as soon as I came here I knew this was the place for me,” Jade said. “I knew it was going to be perfect fit. I was like, ‘Done.’ ”
“We showed them around campus,” Tanya recalls. “We talked about our philosophy of helping them achieve all their goals academically, athletically and professionally after, and not trying to compromise one for another. We said, ‘We’re going to work with you on all those fronts.’ It’s looking at the holistic person and athlete, not being here just for athletics. That’s always been our biggest focus. We’re here to help them to develop as people.”
There was a long wait for Beaver coaches for Carey’s arrival. She signed a letter-of-intent in 2017 and then became a fixture on the international gymnastics scene. In the vault, she was silver medalist at the 2017 and ’19 World Championships and gold medalist at the 2018 Pan Am Games. In floor exercise, Carey won silver at the ’17 World Championships and mined gold at the ’18 Pan Ams. She was also a member of the U.S. team that won gold in the 2018 Pan American Games and the 2019 World Championships.
Carey, a five-time member of the U.S. national team, ultimately deferred her college enrollment until fall term of 2021 in order to focus on her Olympic preparation.
After claiming gold at Tokyo and opening the door to endorsement opportunities, Carey might have had a difficult decision to make had not the NCAA implemented its NIL (name, image and likeness) rules last July, offering college athletes the opportunity to profit through endorsements and business arrangements. There are a number of U.S. Olympians competing in college programs across the country, including Jordan Chiles at UCLA and Grace McCallum at Utah.
“NIL allows them to live in both worlds, which is great for our sport,” Chaplin said.
One report estimated Carey’s endorsement deals for this year at $200,000, largest by far of any athlete at Oregon State. Carey declined to confirm that, or to talk about which products she is endorsing or how she is making money. The latter surprised me; shouldn’t she be glad to publicize the companies who are backing her? I do know she is affiliated with AthleteSpeakers.com, which offers her availability for “a keynote speech, virtual meeting, corporate appearance, grand opening, product announcement, moderated Q&A or for an exclusive meet-and-greet.”
Carey is grateful she can fulfill one of her dreams at Oregon State.
“I always wanted to be a part of a team,” she said. “Going through the JO (Junior Olympic) levels, I was like almost alone all the time. I always watched college gymnastics and it looked like so much fun. I’ve been looking forward to coming here and just being with the team.
“It has been so much fun for me. It was an adjustment. I was like, ‘Oh my God, there are 13 girls screaming for me.’ I’m just not used to that, but it’s so nice to have all that support. And I know they have my back.”
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What is happening now for Carey is the result of a lifelong commitment to her sport. When she was born, her parents — Brian Carey and Danielle Mitchell-Greenberg — owned a gym. Jade began taking gymnastics classes at age 2. Brian was her club coach with the Arizona Sunrays. Danielle coaches gymnastics at USA Youth Fitness Center in Gilbert, Ariz. “I grew up in the gym,” Jade said.
(Brian has attended two of Jade’s college meets thus far, including one in Corvallis. Danielle has attended one and will be on hand Sunday at Gill when the Beavers play host to Washington.)
The zenith of Jade’s career thus far came in Tokyo, one day after her biggest career disappointment. Expected to be a medal contender in the vault, she missed her steps, adjusted her routine in mid-air and finished eighth. She left the arena in the company of her father, an assistant coach on the U.S. team.
“It was a rough night for me,” Jade told me. “I felt like I couldn’t even talk to my dad. I just felt like I had let him down. I kept telling him I was sorry, but he said, ‘You have nothing to be sorry for. Stuff happens. I’d rather you be safe than get hurt.’
“It was really hard, but I knew I still had one more opportunity to do what I came in for. I just had to put it behind me. The next morning, my dad told me, ‘Yesterday may have felt like the worst day of your life, but we can make today the best.’ I thought about that all day long and then I just went out and did my normal floor routine.”
She came through with the “best floor routine I’ve done in my life,” becoming the third straight U.S. floor exercise American champion in the event, following Aly Raisman (2012) and Simone Biles (2016).
“That was a feeling like no other,” she said. “I can’t explain it. … it still feels like it hasn’t fully sunk in.”
When she returned to the States, Carey was an athletic hero and role model to aspiring gymnasts across the country.
“It has changed my life — pretty quickly, too,” she said. “It’s really cool to walk around and have people recognize who I am. It’s cool to see I have all those supporters and all the little gymnasts who I’ve inspired.”
On Aug. 16, Phoenix staged a “Jade Carey Day” in her honor.
“That was special,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting that. It was really cool to see the whole state of Arizona pull together for me and in support of me.”
In late August, Carey was asked to throw out the first pitch at an Arizona Diamondbacks game. She delivered the pitch after performing an aerial.
“I decided I wanted to incorporate gymnastics somehow, because that’s why I was there,” she said.
Since September, she has begun the adjustment to the different scoring system in college gymnastics.
“Internationally, you have to get as much difficulty in your routine as possible,” Chaplin said. “In college, it’s all about the execution and precision of the skills, trying to be as perfect as you can. It’s combining both of those worlds.
“Jade wants to continue to put as much difficulty in as possible, but it has to be executed flawlessly. That’s what we work on — picking out those skills that work best in college routines.”
“It has been an adjustment in some ways,” Carey said. “I’m trying to dial in on getting those handstands, sticking those landings and making everything have perfect form. I’m been used to making my routine as hard as I can.
“It’s a change, but a big part of the reason why I wanted to come here was because of these coaches. I knew they would take very good care of me, that they would care about me as a person as well as a gymnast. I’m thankful for everything they’ve done. They’re honestly a perfect fit for me.”
Carey’s transition to college gymnastics has been about as seamless as possible. She ranks second nationally in all-around (behind Minnesota’s Lexy Ramler), tied for first in bars, third on beam, fifth on vault and tied for seventh in floor exercise.
“Jade is incredible,” Chaplin said. “She has an amazing work ethic. She is going to push herself to make everything the best it can be. In addition to that, she has incredible talent. Putting those two things together creates the athlete that she is.
“She doesn’t take anything for granted. Watching her work after she finishes her assignment and works on upgrades enhances the atmosphere in the gym and pushes everyone to be that much better. She has been a great role model for her teammates.”
There has been a certain “awe” factor as Carey goes about her business in the Beavers’ state-of-the-art training facility, which opened last April. Sometimes during meets, teammates drop what they are doing to marvel at watching an Olympic-quality performance for the first time in person.
“It’s very inspiring to watch her perform,” Chaplin said. “She has such a repertoire of skills. But she has fit in well. (Teammates) have gotten more comfortable with her as they’ve gotten to know her. She gets along great with everyone.
“Jade is humble. She has a quiet confidence about her. If you don’t know her accomplishments, she’s not going to brag about everything she’s done. She is incredibly passionate about helping her team. She is definitely a team player — always encouraging.”
College gymnastics is a hug-fest, with obligatory clinches and squeezes at every turn. Carey willingly takes part — to a point. She drifts away from the group at times, ostensibly in search of a higher level of concentration as she prepares mentally for her next discipline.
Carey hasn’t yet decided on a major, though she is considering both kinesiology and business. She is taking her winter term courses on-line.
“I could have gone in-person this term, but with the classes I’m taking, it worked out better with my gym schedule to take them on-line,” she said.
Carey — who turns 22 in May — said she expects to earn a degree at Oregon State, and hopes to compete four seasons for the Beavers. The next Olympic Games are in Paris in 2024, staged the summer between what would be Jade’s junior and senior years at OSU. If there is an upcoming decision to make in terms of preparation for an Olympic title defense, Jade isn’t talking about it yet.
Chaplin has never had a national champion. Oregon State hasn’t had one since 1993, and has never had an all-around winner. Carey would surely love to fill that void at the NCAA meet in April in Fort Worth, Texas, though she eschews any conversation about it.
“I’m not going to get ahead of myself,” she said. “I’m focusing one meet at a time.”
For now, she is simply a member of the Oregon State Beavers, enjoying her first taste of college life.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” she said with a smile. “Competing in front of the crowds at Gill is really special. It’s cool to see all the supporters that we have.”
It’s been cool for the supporters to get to watch an Olympic champion. Cool for the coach, too. Chaplin has never had a cleanup hitter the likes of Jade Carey.
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