Krysta Palmer will be the first to tell you that trampoline is a sport of many ups and downs. Aside from the obvious aesthetics, the apparatus has taken her on a wild ride over the past several years.
Suffice it to say, there have been a couple bumps and bruises along the way.
OK, that might be understating it a little. There's been a severed patellar tendon, a broken tibia, broken fibula, a broken toe, a torn ACL, a torn meniscus and two reconstructive knee surgeries.
But for the 17-year-old Minden resident, the last seven years have been much more than just a survey class in anatomy of the human leg.
Palmer's journey back from the latest and biggest setback of her career came full circle last month as she was selected to represent the United States at the World Age Group Games in St. Petersburg, Russia.
"I was so excited when I heard the news," Palmer said.
"I think my mom was more excited than I was. She was texting everyone to let them know. It was pretty funny."
The news came after she tied for third at the World Age Group trials in Las Vegas in late September. The top two athletes from each age group
automatically qualified while a committee sat down after the competition to make the final selections for the national team.
It marked the latest highlight for Palmer in her firstyear comeback tour since having knee surgery in June 2008.
Palmer has balanced an immense amount of success in gymnastics with a hefty list of varying injuires, with her first major knee surgery coming at age 11.
The 2008 surgery was to correct the torn ACL and meniscus she suffered during a competition in Texas in April of 2007. She had to wait over a year before having the surgery in order to let her growth plate finish growing so it wouldn't be damaged during surgery.
Less than seven months later, she was back in competition - equipped with a special brace to keep her knee from hyper-extending. She took first at the Bouncer Bowl in California.
In April, she won the Nevada State Championship, took second at the U.S.
Elite Challenge in Arkansas in May and won the gold medal at the National Trampoline Championships (17-above age group) in June.
That set up the World Age Group trials in September.
"The knee is all better now," she said with a laugh. "It was about a year and a half that I was off the trampoline. Even now, I still have to wear the brace. It just felt good to be back in it after all that time."
Palmer's ultimate goal has been to make the Olympic team, and she was on track to do so for the 2008 Games in Beijing before the injury setback.
The World Age Group Games will be her first major step toward acheiving that goal for 2012.
"World Age Groups is one step lower from the World Championships," she said. "At my current level, that's the highest I can go. I'm still in junior elite, and I need to jump up to senior elite to be a player in the World Championships and Olympics."
She said she felt a little bit of nervousness before the trials, but that it only made her focus in more on what she was trying to accomplish.
"The nerves get to me a bit more in big meets like that, but it makes me try harder," she said.
Palmer trains with Legacy T & T out of High Sierra Gymnastics in Reno and coaches in her spare time at Tumbleweeds Gymnastics in Minden and in Carson City.
She picked up gymnastics when she was 5 years old and made the transition to the trampoline when she was 11.
A trampoline routine consists of 10 skills strung together, with the average routine lasting between 15 and 20 seconds. Competitors typically get two routines during a competition.
She will leave on Nov. 13 but the short turnaround from the time she was selected to the national team to the world meet has left the family scrambling to raise funds for her to get there.
Anyone interested in helping the Palmer family out can contact her mom, Vicki Palmer, at (775) 450-7741.
The Palmers said they would also welcome anyone interested in watching Krysta work out at the High Sierra Gym off Fourth Street in Reno, just to see what she does. They can call Vicki Palmer to find out Krysta's workout schedule.
