A six-time National Team member and two-time World Champion, Chellsie Memmel started doing gymnastics when most tots are learning how to walk. Her parents, former All-American gymnasts and careered coaches, encouraged her to play around in the gym and taught her the basic skills. When she revealed her undeniable potential at the age of eight, they hired Coach Jim Chudy of Salto Gymnastics, hoping to take advantage of the best in the field. Their strategy worked and Hemmel burst onto the national scene as an elite gymnast three years later with a win in almost every event at the American and U.S. Challenges.
At the 2005 World Championships, Memmel became the first U.S. female to win the all-around gold medal since Shannon Miller’s second straight title win in 1994. At the World Championships, she also finished second in both the uneven bars (her favorite) and balance beam. In 2003, she was named to the Pan American Games team and won five medals, including team and all-around gold. An alternate to the 2003 World Championships Team, she was cast into the lineup after injuries sidelined three team members. Memmel ended up playing a vital role in securing the team gold, earning the highest all-around marks of any team member during Team Finals. She went on to tie with teammate Hollie Vise as the World Uneven Bars Co-Champion.
Memmel is best known for two difficult skills that bear her name: the piked barani on the balance beam and a tumbling series consisting of several whips followed by a double Arabian and double turn with the legs extended above the head in a “Y” position. Memmel is also recognized as the third woman in the world to complete the extremely difficult Dos Santos, an Arabian double front in the piked position. Born in Milwaukee, Memmel now resides in West Allis, Wisconsin where she trains with her father at his training center, M&M Gymnastics. The oldest of three siblings, Memmel has two sisters who are also involved in gymnastics at the competitive level. She likes to shop and read when not in the gym and has plans to turn to coaching when she retires from competition.
