Oakton Student Goes for Olympic Gold
(Aug. 2, 2016) Oakton Community College student and Glencoe resident Alisa Kano is headed to Rio de Janiero, Brazil, as part of a five-person rhythmic gymnastics group. The team is just the second U.S. group squad to compete in the Olympics and the first in 20 years, when the U.S. obtained a spot as host of the 1996 Atlanta games.
“At first, when we qualified, I couldn't believe it. We all couldn't believe it,” Kano told Metro International. “I mean, it was just a dream come true.”
Born in Tokyo and raised in New York City, Kano moved to Glencoe at age 17 to train with the U.S. national group team at the North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center. The 21-year-old has taken courses at Oakton since 2013 when not training or competing internationally.
Kano is the oldest member of her rhythmic group and is the only one of her teammates that was born when the U.S. last competed in 1996. She has been competing in the sport since the age of nine.
“I met a girl who was a rhythmic gymnast,” she explained in her USA Gymnastics biography. “As we became friends, she invited me to one of her competitions. She inspired me to start rhythmic gymnastics.”
Rhythmic gymnasts perform spins, jumps, and other moves to music as part of an artistic routine that incorporates ropes, hoops, balls, clubs and ribbons. In the Rio 2016 Games, rope will not be included.
Since joining the team, she and her teammates have consistently finished among the top 15 in the world championship group all-around event: 14th place in both 2013 and 2014, then 13th in 2015. They were the highest-placed nation from the Americas at 2015 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, earning the U.S. a team spot in the 2016 Olympics.
Her U.S. team career highlights also include a triple-medal performance at the 2015 Pan American Games, where she and her teammates won a gold and two silver medals. She said her performance at the Pan-Am Games last year provided valuable international experience for her and her teammates.
“[It] was an incredible experience that is most likely just a glimpse of what the actual Olympics will be,” she said. “Our goal is to execute clean routines and show our best work.”
The U.S. Olympic rhythmic gymnastics team was determined at the conclusion of the 2016 USA Gymnastics Championships, which were held June 8-13 in Providence, R.I. The group includes Kiana Eide, Natalie McGiffert, Monica Rokhman and Kristen Shaldybin. Jennifer Rokhman is the alternate.
The 2016 Olympics take place Aug. 5-21 in Rio. Rhythmic gymnastics events take place Aug. 19-21 at Rio Olympic Arena at Barra Olympic Park.
