From champion to coach: The inspiring legacy of Courtney Kupets Carter

Courtney Kupets Carter is hungry for more gymnastics records and opportunities for female athletes. 

Her own accomplishments are numerous. She is a two-time 2004 Olympic medalist, 2002 world champion and record-tying three-time NCAA national all-around champion. She helped the Georgia women's gymnastics team — of which she is now the head coach — win four straight NCAA national championships from 2006-09. 

Her secret to success? Kupets Carter loves the sport and embraces all the difficulty that comes with it.

"I love gymnastics because it is a challenge. I love not knowing how to do a skill and then progressing through it," Carter said. "When I start learning a release skill on bars, I might not be able to catch the bar. Then, after working through it, I suddenly can."

Kupets Carter began gymnastics at age 3. She recalls eagerly peering through the glass window in the waiting area of her home gym, watching her older sister Ashley's new beam series. Not long after, Courtney started practicing her skills on her family's home-installed beam and bars.

Kupets Carter did not grow up planning to join the Olympic team; she just enjoyed the sport and wanted to keep improving. Successful gymnasts such as Jaycie Phelps, Amanda Borden, Dominque Dawes and her older sister fueled her passion.

A pivotal moment occurred at the 2002 World Cup, Kupets Carter's first year as a senior competitor. With low expectations, the U.S. sent her and three other gymnasts to compete in Hungary. Given that the Olympics fell two years later, the women just hoped to gain competition experience on a world stage.

Following a fall on the beam, her best event, Kupets Carter's gold medal on uneven bars took everyone by surprise. Teammates Ashley Postell and Samantha Sheehan followed suit with a win on the balance beam and a silver medal on the floor, respectively.

"It was pretty special for us as a little group of nobodies to come away with a medal at a world competition,"  Kupets Carter said. "I think it changed my trajectory as an athlete, because it really set me up to enjoy my gymnastics and be confident in what I was doing."

She carried this confidence to the 2004 Athens Olympics and the University of Georgia. During her four years as a Gymdog, Kupets Carter was the first and only gymnast to score eight perfect 10s. Nothing, not even a season-ending Achilles injury, could stop her.

Kupets Carter loved what her time as a Gymdog provided her — a chance to complete her degree while playing the sport she loves, unforgettable competitions and lifelong friendships. Above all, she values the ways gymnastics can impact a community.

"For me, it is not just about winning," Kupets Carter said. "How do we impact people around us, like the Athens community, through the talent we have as student-athletes? When competing, we can show people what resilience from a young woman looks like."

In 2017, six years after graduation, her love for the sport drew Kupets Carter down an exciting new path. She returned to Athens as the women's gymnastics head coach, wanting to give back the opportunities she received to the next generation of athletes. The holder of nine individual NCAA titles now aims to coach the gymnast that will break this still-standing record. 

Kupets Carter owes her opportunities as a student-athlete and now as a coach to Title IX. The coaches before her were the ones driving the buses, she says, the only ones sharing news of gymnastics meets at the fairgrounds, and now Kupets Carter has a community to support her. However, she wonders why there should not be even more opportunities.

"I want to make sure we never forget and continue teaching our athletes of the hard work that led to Title IX, but then we need also to push it further and further," Kupets Carter said. "We cannot get complacent; we must bring Title IX to the forefront of our actions."