Port Jeff Gymnast Heads to Olympics as Alternate on Men’s Team

Steven Legendre has secured a spot as an alternate on the U.S. Men’s Gymnastics team heading to London for the 2012 Olympics this summer but he didn’t start out as a gymnast.

According to his profile on the NBC Olympics webpage, Legendre was a wrestler in . He only got into gymnastics because his sisters, Jaime and Jessica, were into the sport.

Legendre went on to graduate from the University of Oklahoma in 2011.

In an interview on usagym.org, Legendre said that he’s ready to step in if called upon.

“It definitely it won’t be the same experience as the five guys on the team but it’s going to be an awesome experience nonetheless,” Legendre said to usagym.org about going to London for this year’s Olympics.

Legendre told NBC that his role as an alternate is important. He said that in the last Olympic games the alternates ended up competing so he’s practicing as if he will be.

“The alternates have come into play in the past, and you never know what's going to happen in gymnastics,” he said. “I'm just going in with the mindset as if I'm competing and that's how I'll approach the next few weeks of training. It's a great honor. Obviously, I would have loved to have been selected to the team – who wouldn't? But it's still an awesome position to be in, and I'm just proud of the guys and the team. I'm happy to be here."

You can watch Legendre’s routines from the last day of the men's competition at the U.S. Olympic Game trials on NBC’s website here, including vault and floor, two of his strengths.