29 Facts About Carly Patterson

Carly Rae Patterson was born on February 4,1988 and is an American singer, songwriter and former artistic gymnast.

Carly Patterson was the all-around champion at the 2004 Olympics, the first all-around champion for the United States at a non-boycotted Olympics, and is a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Carly Patterson began gymnastics after attending a cousin's birthday party at a Baton Rouge gymnastics club in 1994.

Carly Patterson was coached there by former Israeli Olympian Yohanan Moyal.

Carly Patterson started competing internationally in 2000, when she was 12 years old.

In 2000, Carly Patterson participated in the Top Gym Tournament in Belgium and won the silver medal in the all-around and the bronze on balance beam.

Carly Patterson became the US junior national all-around champion in 2002.

Carly Patterson then began her senior career by winning the 2003 American Cup, where she was the youngest competitor, having just turned 15.

Carly Patterson helped the United States earn the team gold medal, a first for the American women.

Carly Patterson again won the all-around at the American Cup in 2004, a performance she dedicated to her coach Evgeny Marchenko's mother, who had died just days before the competition.

Carly Patterson won the floor exercise at the National Championships and placed second on balance beam.

At the Olympic Trials, Carly Patterson fell off the balance beam on both days of competition, dropping her to third place.

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Carly Patterson finished first overall in the preliminary round and qualified for the all-around and balance beam finals.

The United States, including Carly Patterson, struggled in the team final: She under-rotated her vault, stubbed the low bar with her foot on the uneven bars, and had several wobbles on balance beam and a lunge forward on her dismount.

Carly Patterson became only the second American woman to win an Olympic all-around gold medal, and the first to do so in a non-boycotted Olympic Games.

Carly Patterson announced her intention to take time off from the sport to rehabilitate her back, but she officially retired in 2006 without ever participating in another major competition.

Carly Patterson continues to stay occupied with event appearances, gymnastics-related and otherwise.

Carly Patterson has a number of high-profile corporate sponsorships; she appeared in a Mobile ESPN commercial aired during Super Bowl XL in 2006.

Carly Patterson finished her authorized biography, which was released in April 2006.

Carly Patterson has one eponymous skill listed in the Code of Points.

Carly Patterson first expressed interest in becoming a professional singer in a March 2005 interview.

Carly Patterson sang a small segment of "Damaged" and said that she went to New York City to record the demo.

On September 15,2006, during the results show, Carly Patterson was eliminated from the competition.

Carly Patterson encouraged the audience to continue voting for the remaining celebrities because each vote raised money for charity.

On February 4,2008, Carly Patterson signed a recording contract with MusicMind Records, a Chicago-based label.

However, the CD was not released until more than a year later, on August 25,2009, and in the interim, Carly Patterson released another single, "Time to Wake Up", on iTunes on February 19,2009.

On January 21,2012, Carly Patterson became engaged to strategy consultant Mark Caldwell.

Carly Patterson was chosen for the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2009.

Carly Patterson was inducted to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2024.