Madison Kocian

Personal life

Kocian was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. Her parents, Thomas and Cindy Kocian, put her in gymnastics at a young age. At age five her parents began taking Kocian to World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) in Plano, Texas for her gymnastics training. WOGA is owned by Valeri Liukin and was the gym where Olympic All Around champions Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin trained. Patterson and Liukin served as early inspirations for Kocian, particularly Liukin who Kocian has likened to an older sister. Kocian has one younger brother. Kocian was raised Catholic.

Kocian attended Spring Creek Academy in Plano, Texas, the same school that Patterson and Liukin attended. Kocian graduated from high school in 2015. She committed to attend UCLA in fall of 2016 and competed for UCLA women's gymnastics.

2009–2010

Kocian made the U.S. Junior National Team in 2009, when she was 12. At the National Championships, she placed sixth in the all-around. Later that year, Kocian was selected to compete for Team USA at the Top Gym Junior competition in Charleroi, Belgium. She won a bronze medal in the all-around competition, a gold on the uneven bars, and a silver on the balance beam.

In 2010, at the age of 13, Kocian placed fifth at the U.S. Classic in Chicago and qualified to compete at the U.S. National Championships in Hartford, Connecticut, where she won a bronze medal on the uneven bars.

2011–2012

2011 was a quiet year for Kocian; she competed in only 2 meets, the WOGA Classic and City of Jesolo Trophy, an international meet held in Venice, Italy. In Italy, she won the gold in the Junior Division, scoring 57.750. The year after, 2012, Kocian missed out the season due to an injury but managed a silver at the WOGA Classic.

2013

Kocian's senior career started in 2013, at the Secret U.S Classic, held in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, where she placed 7th all-around but managed a silver on the bars, scoring 14.450. Qualifying to the U.S Nationals, Kocian started off well on the uneven bars and balance beam but on her third pass on the floor exercise, she twisted her ankle and was taken out of the competition, missing the vault rotation as well as Day Two. She was not selected for the World Championship team but she still was named to the National Team.

2014

She started off her 2014 season competing at the WOGA Classic, an International meet hosted by her club.

Kocian competed on two events at the 2014 Secret U.S. Classic, finishing 12th.

At nationals, she competed on balance beam and uneven bars. On bars, she won the silver. She placed 5th on beam.

In August and September, Kocian competed at the Pan American Championships in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. She helped the American team place first in the team competition. In the event finals, she placed second on the uneven bars, scoring 14.825.

On September 17, Kocian was selected to compete at the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, China. In qualifications, she competed in the all-around and qualified in 14th place with a score of 55.966, but did not make it into the all-around final due to the two-per-country rule and Simone Biles, Kyla Ross and Mykayla Skinner having higher scores. She competed in the team final on the bars, and contributed a bars score of 14.900 to the U.S. team's gold-medal finish.

2015

On July 25, Kocian competed at the Secret U.S. Classic and finished first on uneven bars with a score of 15.600, ahead of 2012 Olympic all-around champion and uneven bars finalist Gabby Douglas and Bailie Key. She also placed ninth on balance beam with a shaky routine with several wobbles. She scored a 13.850 there.

On August 13 and 15, Kocian competed at the 2015 P&G Championships, where she competed in the all-around for the first time since 2013 where she severely injured her ankle. She placed 6th in the all-around with a two-night total of 115.950, placing behind Simone Biles, Maggie Nichols, Aly Raisman, Bailie Key, and Gabby Douglas. She placed ahead of her WOGA teammate Alyssa Baumann and 2014 Worlds teammate Mykayla Skinner by 0.250.

Kocian started on beam where she fell on her Arabian and had a shaky routine and scored a 13.100. On floor, she had a low landing on her double Arabian but stuck her double pike. She scored a 13.800 with a 5.6 start value. On vault, she landed her double-twisting Yurchenko and scored a 14.650. On bars, her best event, she had beautiful lines and execution that included a Komova II-Pak Salto-Chow 1/2 connections and landed her tucked full-in for a score of 15.500, the highest bar score of the night. She ended the night in 11th place with a total all-around score of 57.050.

On Night 2, Kocian started on floor where she had better landings on her tumbling passes for a score of 14.250, totaling her score to 28.050, placing 8th on the event. On vault, she performed a well-executed double-twisting Yurchenko and scored a 14.800. On bars, she repeated her difficult routine with excellent connections and stuck her tucked-full in dismount for a score of 15.600. With her total of 31.100, she took first on the event ahead of 2014 national uneven bars champion and 2014 Worlds teammate Ashton Locklear and Key. On beam, she took out her Arabian because she fell on the skill on Night 1 and tweaked her ankle. She added a few connections to keep her start value consistent. She scored a 14.250. She placed 12th on the event with a total of 27.350.

2015 World Championships

Kocian was named to the Senior National Team once again and was selected to compete at the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. At these World Championships she anchored the USA on uneven bars toward its third consecutive team title, and qualified third to the uneven bars final.

In the uneven bars final, she scored a 15.366, placing her in a historic four-way tie for the gold medal with Russians Viktoria Komova and Daria Spiridonova, and China's Fan Yilin. Kocian joined Marcia Frederick (1978), Shannon Miller (1993), Courtney Kupets (2002), Chellsie Memmel and Hollie Vise (2003), and Nastia Liukin (2005) as the American world champions on uneven bars. She also became the third uneven bars world champion from her gym, WOGA, joining Vise and Liuki.

2016

In February, Kocian competed on the balance beam and the uneven bars at the WOGA Classic and placed first on both events, with scores of 15.550 and 15.700, respectively. She also placed first as part of the WOGA team.

In March, Kocian, along with fellow National Team members Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Maggie Nichols, and Aly Raisman, attended the Team USA Media Summit in Los Angeles, an event for the media to interview and interact with athletes who will compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Kocian attended the event on crutches and wearing a boot, and confirmed to reporters that she had a minor ankle injury that would likely take her out of contention for the 2016 City of Jesolo Trophy and 2016 Pacific Rim Championships teams. She recovered in time to compete in the U.S. Classic, the P&G Gymnastics Championships, and the 2016 Olympic Team Trials.

On July 10, 2016, Kocian was named to the U.S. team for the 2016 Olympics alongside Biles, Douglas, Raisman, and Laurie Hernandez.

2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics

On August 7, Kocian competed in the women's qualification round at the 2016 Summer Olympics. After showing all events in podium training, she competed only on the uneven bars, scoring a 15.866. Her score was the highest on that event and qualified her in first place to the individual uneven bars event final. The team total also qualified USA into first for the team final. In the team final on August 9, Kocian again competed on the uneven bars, anchoring team USA on the event. She contributed a 15.933 to help the team to its second consecutive team gold at an Olympic games. This was the first time any US team won two consecutive team golds.

On August 14, Kocian won a silver medal in the uneven bars event final, scoring 15.833 and placing second behind Aliya Mustafina of Russia and ahead of bronze medalist Sophie Scheder of Germany. This is the first American Olympic medal on the uneven bars since Nastia Liukin in 2008. Additionally, she is the third gymnast from WOGA to become an Olympic champion following 2004 and 2008 Olympic all around championships Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin.

College career

Kocian began attending the University of California, Los Angeles in the fall of 2016, thus joining the UCLA Bruins gymnastics program. Her collegiate debut came on January 7, 2017 in a home dual meet against the University of Arkansas where she tallied an all-around score of 39.425 to win the all-around title, as well as three individual event titles. She recently scored a perfect 10.0 on the uneven bars. At the same meet, Kocian and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Kyla Ross made history by becoming the first Olympic gold medalists to compete as NCAA gymnasts.

2013

Vault (Difficulty: 5.8)

Double-twisting Yurchenko (round-off–back-handspring entry, double-twisting layout)

2014

Vault (Difficulty: 5.0)

Full-twisting Yurchenko (round-off–back-handspring entry, full-twisting layout)

Uneven Bars (Difficulty: 6.3)

Glide kip; cast to handstand (KCH) on low bar (B); Inbar Stalder release back to high bar (Komova II) (E) + Pak Salto (D); KCH (B) + Stalder release back to high bar with 1/2 turn (Chow 1/2) (E); KCH (B) + Inbar Stalder (D) + Inbar Stalder 1/2 (D) + Straddled Jaeger (D); KCH 1/2 (B) + Stalder to handstand (C) + Stalder to handstand 1/1 (Frederick) (D) + tucked full-in dismount (D)

Balance Beam (Difficulty: 5.9)

Side split mount; Standing Arabian (F); Switch Split Ring Leap (E); Front Aerial Walkover (D); Sheep Jump (D); back handspring step-out (B) + layout step-out (C); aerial cartwheel (D); full turn (A); switch split leap (C); split jump (A) + sissone (A); round-off (B) + double pike dismount (E)

Floor Exercise (Difficulty: 5.4)

Music: "Pistolero" from Migration

Round-off + back handspring + tucked full-in (Mukhina) (E); round-off + back handspring + double pike (D); Switch Split Ring Leap (C) + Split Leap 1/1 (C); round-off + back layout 3/2 (C) + front layout 1/1 (C); full turn with leg at horizontal (B); switch split leap 1/1 (D); round-off + back handspring + double tuck dismount (D)

2015

Vault (Difficulty: 5.8)

Double-twisting Yurchenko (round-off–back-handspring entry, double-twisting layout)

Uneven Bars (Difficulty: 6.6)

Glide kip; cast to handstand (KCH) on low bar (B); Inbar Stalder 1/1 (E); KCH (B) + Inbar Stalder release back to high bar (Komova II) (E) + Pak Salto (D) + Stalder release back to high bar with 1/2 turn (Chow 1/2) (E); KCH (B) + Inbar Stalder 1/2 (D) + Straddled Jaeger (D); KCH 1/2 (B) + Stalder to handstand (C) + Stalder to handstand 1/1 (Frederick) (D) + tucked full-in dismount (D)

Balance Beam (Difficulty: 5.5)

Side split mount; Switch Split Ring Leap (E); Front Aerial Walkover (D) + Sissone (A) + Straddle Jump (A); back handspring step-out (B) + layout step-out (C); Sheep Jump (D); aerial cartwheel (D); full turn (A); switch split leap (C) + back tuck (C): round-off (B) + double pike dismount (E)

Floor Exercise (Difficulty: 5.8)

Music: "Pistolero" from Migration

Round-off + back handspring + tucked Arabian double front (E) + stag jump (A); round-off + back layout 3/2 (C) + front layout 2/1 (D); switch split ring leap (C) + switch split leap 1/1 (D) + split jump 1/2 (A); round-off + back handspring + double tuck (D); full turn with leg at horizontal (B); Johnson 1/2 (C); round-off + back handspring + double pike dismount (D)

2016

Vault (Difficulty: 5.0)

Full-twisting Yurchenko (round-off–back-handspring entry, full-twisting layout)

Uneven Bars (Difficulty: 6.7)

Glide kip; cast to handstand (KCH) on low bar (B); Inbar Stalder 1/1 (E) + Inbar Stalder release back to high bar (Komova II) (E) + Pak Salto (D) + Stalder release back to high bar with 1/2 turn (Chow 1/2) (E); KCH (B) + Inbar Stalder 1/2 (D) + Straddled Jaeger (D); KCH 1/2 (B) + Stalder to handstand (C) + Stalder to handstand 1/1 (Frederick) (D) + tucked full-in dismount (D)

Balance Beam (Difficulty: 6.1)

Side split mount; Standing Arabian (F); Switch Split Ring Leap (E); back handspring step-out (B) + layout step-out (C); Front Aerial Walkover (D) + Sheep Jump (D); aerial cartwheel (D); sissone (A) + split jump (A); full turn (A); switch split leap (C); round-off (B) + double pike dismount (E)

Floor Exercise (Difficulty: 5.9)

Music: "Entr'acte III" from the overture of Carmen

Round-off + back handspring + tucked Arabian double front (E) + stag jump (A); round-off + back layout 3/2 (C) + front layout 2/1 (D); double turn in tuckstand (D); switch split leap 1/1 (D); round-off + back handspring + double tuck (D); switch split ring leap (C) + switch split leap 1/2 (C); round-off + back handspring + double pike dismount (D)