Jade Carey setting the gold standard for Oregon State gymnastics

Published 12:00 am Monday, January 31, 2022

Jade Carey was a household name before she ever stepped foot inside a packed Gill Coliseum.

And as far as households go, the first-year Oregon State gymnast and 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, prefers her new home to the strange global stage she graced this past summer.

Feeling the hometown love

“It’s definitely different,” said Carey of the collegiate atmosphere, comparing it to what she experienced in Tokyo. “I had a lot more fun competing in Gill. We had a pretty packed house in our last meet (on Jan. 23), so that was pretty exciting to see everybody come out to support everyone doing gymnastics.”

As romantic as some folks in the Willamette Valley are about Gill Coliseum, it is still something of a surprise to hear the charming little arena praised so highly over an Olympic venue. Then again, it makes more sense when you consider the circumstances of Carey’s day in the spotlight at Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo.

“You were only allowed to go watch your sport,” Carey explained, referring to the International Olympic Committee’s restrictions on athletes at the Games due to the pandemic. Those restrictions also extended to spectators. “There were barely any people in the stands, so it was very different from what we’re used to.

“I was really fortunate I had my dad there with me,” she added. Her father, Brian, has been her longtime coach as head of the Phoenix-based Arizona Sunrays gymnastics club. “That was really special, and I’m glad that we were able to go through that together.”

Still, for as special as the Olympics were, Carey is happy be performing in front of her new, adoring fan base.

“It was just very exciting to be in front of a crowd again,” Carey said.

A record-setting start at OSU

That excitement has been on full display even in the infancy of Carey’s career at Oregon State, with the first-year standout picking up right where she left off in Tokyo. In the season-opening meet in Corvallis, she reeled off an all-around score of 39.650, tying the season-high mark in the NCAA to that point.

The following weekend, on Sunday, Jan. 23, Carey set a new season-high nationally — and a new Oregon State school record —by scoring a 39.800 in the all-around. That score broke a 29-year old record of 39.750, which was set by Chari Knight in 1993. For her efforts, Carey was named both the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week and the Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Week on Jan. 25.

Incredibly, Carey scored no lower than 9.900 in any of the four events at the Dam Worth It tri-meet, which also featured UCLA and UC Davis. She registered a score of 9.975 in both the balance beam and the floor exercise — but the latter should come as no surprise. Carey won her gold on the floor in Tokyo.

“I just really love tumbling,” said the Arizona native, explaining why the floor exercise is her favorite event. “It’s something that I’ve always loved since I was little, ever since learning all my gymnastics on a trampoline. I just always remember saying that it felt like I was flying. That’s what I love most about it.”

‘Everything I ever dreamed of’

When the biggest day of her gymnastics career came around, Carey flew all the way to cloud nine.

“Winning floor was just everything I ever dreamed of,” said Carey of that special afternoon back in August. “I’d had a really rough day before, so to be able to turn it around and get the gold medal was just something that I will always hold close to my heart.”

Even before the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, which were held in the summer of 2021 due to COVID-19 but retained the “2020” moniker to preserve tradition, Carey was all set to come to Oregon State.

“I went on a recruiting trip in my freshman year of high school,” Carey explained of her decision to come to Corvallis. “Ever since I stepped on this campus, I just loved everything about it. I really love the coaching staff, and they are a reason why I came here. I love the girls, and the campus is so pretty, and I just knew it was the perfect fit for me.”

When the Games were postponed, though, so was the beginning of her career as a Beaver.

“I had a little bit of a crazy start,” said Carey, who originally signed with Oregon State all the way back in 2017 after a strong showing at the World Championships that year. “I got here and then went on tour so quickly. It was crazy just juggling school online and trying to keep up with my gymnastics while being on tour. But now that I’ve been back, it’s been really great to get back into the gym with all of my teammates. We’re working really hard for this season, and we’ve had a great start so far.”

It’s true, Carey is certainly not alone in delivering strong performances for Oregon State this season.

The Beavers were ranked No. 14 in the country in the Jan. 24 release of the College Gymnastics Association poll, with a record that sits at 4-1 overall and 1-1 against Pac-12 competition following Saturday’s loss to No. 11 California (3-0, 2-0) on the road. While the Beavers could not pull off the win as a team, Carey nearly tied her new school record by scoring a 39.775 to place first in the all-around and scoring at least 9.925 in all four events.

Helping the OSU cause are veterans such as Kaitlyn Yanish and Madi Dagen, both of whom have put in solid work on the floor and vault and could be all-conference selections this season alongside Carey. Jenna Domingo has also been excellent on the beam, while Kayla Bird has been the best on the bars outside of you-know-who.

Trading gold for orange and black

The OSU gymnastics team is full of shining stars, to be sure, but the Beavers’ golden superstar is the one that shines the brightest. Though she is far from the first gold medalist in school history, Carey is a unique one.

Oregon State has seen a grand total of 12 Olympic gold medalists grace its halls, with Carey bringing the number to an even dozen. She is the only gymnast on the list and just the third woman. Unlike Carey, the other two women — Carol Menken-Schaudt (1984, women’s basketball) and Jill Bakken (2002, bobsled) — won their gold medals years after they left the school. Perhaps in time, the first-year Beaver will join Gary Payton as the only OSU athlete to win gold twice.

But those international dreams can wait. For now, Jade Carey is trading in gold for orange and black.

“Honestly, I’m just taking it one day at a time,” explained Carey. “I really just want what’s best for this team. We’re working really hard to be successful in postseason, so that is my main focus right now.”