Zanesville’s Wahl Speaks On All-American Honor at Georgia

ZANESVILLE, OH – After achieving the greatest accomplishment of her young career, Georgia Bulldogs sophomore star and Zanesville high school alum Ady Wahl sat down to discuss her recent All-American honor in NCAA gymnastics:

Steven: “So Ady, first of all, congratulations on all your success as of late. Have you really gotten the chance to sit back and relax yet, or do you not really get that opportunity?”

Ady: “I’ve gotten to relax this past week. Just, you know, after nationals, they give us a week off. So, I’ve just been able to kind of rest, and you know, take some downtime, which has been very nice.”

Steven: “Let’s kind of focus on what you’ve been doing and what you’ve been kind of going through as of late. So to reach All-American status obviously didn’t happen overnight. Can you kind of walk me through the build up and schedule of your season?”

Ady: “Well, you have to have the highest all around, the highest individual score going into nationals. So for me, I had the highest vault score at our regional. And it was just, you know, just a lot of hard work, a lot of mental and physical training. You know, just put a lot of prayer into it. And, you know, just really been focusing on my mental aspect of gymnastics because gymnastics is a lot more mental sometimes than it is physical.”

Steven: “As you’re standing there about to start your run up, what’s really going through your head in that moment?”

Ady: “I just remember being so excited and, you know, sometimes, you can get, kind of this anxious-like feeling, nervousness, which is normal. But I just remember when I was standing at the end of the runway at nationals, just being so excited. So it was just, I don’t know, it was like an out-of-body experience where I just felt like I was so calm and natural.”

Steven: “If it was an out-of-body experience, you should have done a couple more flips in the air, just to see if it really was, right?”

Ady: “Yeah, I know, right!”

Steven: “What was going through your mind when you finally landed it?

Ady: “I just remember feeling so much joy and, like, excitement, and I did it, like, all this hard work that I’ve been doing in the previous weeks had paid off. And I just remember, you know, being so excited and thrilled.”

Steven: “You knew you did well?”

Ady: “Yes, I knew and I was confident that I did what I needed to do, and just, like, watching the video back, it was like one of the best vaults I had all season.”

Steven: “Over-under ten times you’ve watched it back?”

Ady: “Over, probably, yeah”

Steven: “Obviously, you know, as I’m sure it’s in the back of your head, you’re representing everybody here from Zanesville and Muskingum County too. What does it mean to you to come from such a small area like this and then be on the national stage?” 

Ady: “Yeah, it just, it means a lot just because of how small our community is. But, you know, through this college experience, I’ve really seen how much the community has backed me and backed what I’m doing, and it’s just so cool to see all the support. When I see posts and stuff about it, it’s just really cool. Especially from my high school and like all that stuff. It’s just a reminder that they always have my back and that they’re proud. You know, I’m just trying to make our small town proud and I’m really honored that I get to do that and represent that.

Steven: “Ady, congratulations and thank you so much for taking the time.”

Ady: “Thank you so much!”