Senior Feature: Danielle Guider
4/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
April 5, 2010
As she looks back on her Tiger career and prepares to graduate from Mizzou, senior all-around gymnast Danielle Guider (Nutley, N.J.) says that she is thankful for the relationships she has formed with teammates and coaches, both in Columbia and before college at the U.S. Gymnastics Development Center in her home state.
Guider said she was part of a close team at her training center, and that many others do not offer such positive relationships between athletes away from competition. During her college search, she said that Mizzou offered a better combination of academics, athletes and coaches than any of the other schools she considered.
"In gymnastics, we compete individually, but our scores are judged as a team," Guider said. "I always know that my teammates have my back, and I want to always give that same commitment to them. The way we change spots in the rotation makes each of us work harder to hold ours."
Her final year at Mizzou has provided the best moment of her career, which has been competing on bars this season for her first time as a Tiger. Guider explained that she had trained for bars on the side throughout her first three years on the team, but had never seen action during a meet on that event until this year.
Away from competition, Guider's favorite moment in gymnastics involved collaborating with teammates to wear a large giraffe mask on a road trip to Louisiana during her sophomore year.
She thanks her coaches for their advice to forget shortcomings and allow her skills to shine.
"The biggest tip my coaches have given me is, `Let yourself be good,' " Guider said. "I tend to hold back on myself, and they told me not to worry about mistakes and to let my abilities come through."
Finishing her degree in hotel and restaurant management, Guider said that her inspiration came from two of her uncles who are chefs. After graduation, she would like to work as an event planner for a gymnastics team.
To calm down and focus her emotions before meets, Guider listens to music, which helps her to relax. Her favorite competition event is the floor exercise, because she describes that it provides the opportunity to perform and show a different side of a gymnast's personality.
While gymnasts who train constantly to earn spots on the U.S. national team receive the most attention in the media, Guider feels fortunate to be able to balance academics with athletics.
"I know gymnastics has to come to an end at some point," she said. "I'm lucky to be able to do gymnastics while being in school."
Players Mentioned
