Silvia Colussi-Pelaez has been a Gator for fewer than two months, but she is already making world history.
Colussi-Pelaez, a Canadian and Spanish dual citizen, became the first gymnast to successfully execute a sideways side aerial during a balance beam routine at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastic Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.
For that, the skill will be named after her.
“We give her a tremendous amount of credit for just sticking with this skill, as difficult as it is,” coach Rhonda Faehn said. “It’s really exciting.”
In the sideways side aerial, gymnasts land within the four-inch width of the balance beam instead of the lengthwise landing that is traditionally associated with the balance beam jump.
To have a skill named after you, a gymnast must be the first to successfully complete it at World Championships or Olympics. From there, the Federation of International Gymnastics review the skill and the gymnast’s choice of name for it.
Faehn said Colussi-Pelaez, who was competing for Spain when she completed the sideways side aerial, has been practicing the skill for the past year.
Colussi-Pelaez returned to Gainesville Monday, but do not expect to see her signature skill in the O’Connell Center anytime soon.
“To be honest, I’m more conservative of a coach,” Faehn said.
“If I didn’t let Cory Hartung (a 2009 UF graduate who practiced the skill), I probably won’t let Silvia do it as well … in college, our code is different, so it’s a little too risky.”
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