Mikulak three-peats as national champ
Sam Mikulak’s sensational gymnastics career began innocent enough, at a “Mommy and me” class in Huntington Beach when he was 2.
Mikulak learned about what would become his favorite sport at the same gym his mother trained at when she was a kid, at the Southern California Acrobatic Team (SCATs) facility.
“He had a lot of energy,” Tina Mikulak said of her son back then.
Twenty years later, Sam Mikulak still has a lot of energy, and a whole lot of talent.
Mikulak, who graduated from Corona del Mar High in 2010, won the all-around national title at the P&G Championships for the third straight year on Sunday in Indianapolis. The 2012 U.S. Olympian set a record for largest winning margin, which was 4.35 points.
“Three straight national championships is always a good thing,” Mikulak said Wednesday during a phone interview while at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. “The preparation is what pays off. I always seem to do better in competition. I always like to rise to the occasion. It’s the adrenaline. I think the combination of preparation and adrenaline seems to be the key to my success.”
Tina says her son’s reason for success is also due to his love for the sport. He’s carried a positive attitude and a strong love through intense gymnastics training since he was 7. He never really showed signs of burning out or acting as if he was pushed into the sport, even though his parents both competed in gymnastics at UC Berkeley. His father, Steven, also earned a spot on the U.S. senior men’s national team.
Even now, Mikulak shows a deep passion for gymnastics. After winning the third-straight national title, he seemed eager to return to training to prepare for the world championships in Glasgow, Scotland in October and the Rio Olympics next summer.
He recently graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in psychology. He won three NCAA all-around titles and two NCAA team titles with the Wolverines. He says he feels better about his training because he can solely focus on gymnastics.
He basically eats, sleeps and lives the sport. His training now consists of two practices each day.
“I’m just trying to make every day count,” said Mikulak, who noted he enjoys training and progressing in the sport. “You have ups and downs and you have injuries. Overall, it’s been positive for me. It’s always increasing. The longer I’m in the sport the more I love it. Now that I’m done with college and we’re getting closer to the Olympics I feel like I can take advantage of all the aspects of the sport. It seems like there’s always something new to learn.”
Mikulak said he also gains motivation from a big and highly supportive fan base. He’s usually seen spending a little extra time to provide his autograph. His U.S. teammates like to call him, “Hollywood,” as a nickname, but mainly because he’s from California.
However his movie-star good looks also cause the fans to refer to him by that same nickname.
“I’m the kind of guy who feeds off the fan support,” he said. “I feel that I am more inclined to put on a good show for them. I just really appreciate their support and I want them to know how far that goes for me.”
In addition to fans, Mikulak also has other gymnasts who look up to him, especially the youth in America. He leads them by example, but he also provided a message for those who aspire to be great in gymnastics.
“You need to be fearless,” he advised. “You have to make sure you’re comfortable with your own performance and when it comes to competition time you’re ready to put on a show. You can practice as much as you can, but it doesn’t matter until you can compete at a very high level. I learned that from talking to people. They get up there and they might get scared when they’re trying to get off the equipment. My mentality is to enjoy every time you are up there. Make that time about you and you in the spotlight. Soak it up. Be appreciative. You have to love what you’re doing.”
Tina said her son has maintained that strong love for gymnastics throughout his life. He was saddened when his parents divorced eight years ago. But he adjusted, she said, and eventually was fine living in two different households. He remained determined to reach greatness in gymnastics.
Tina saw how her son could excel in other sports, like baseball and hockey. But gymnastics was always her son’s favorite and his first love.
She saw him excel and dominate, yet struggle during his performances at the P&G Championships this past weekend. It wasn’t all perfect, as he made a mistake by falling during his high bar routine.
He scored 138.65 points overall to outpace second-place Donnell Whittenburg. Mikulak became the first gymnast to win three consecutive U.S. all-around titles since Paul Hamm achieved the feat from 2002-04.
Mikulak finished top-three in three events to reach the criteria for automatic qualification to the world championships.
“Right now, I just want to keep on doing what I’m doing,” Mikulak said. “I feel like I’m getting better and better. I just want to stay focused on training and recovery. I’m excited to see how much more I can improve in the short time that we have until the Olympics.”