Simply put, Kate Richardson is a stud.
All five feet of her.
The freshman gymnast from Coquitlam, British Columbia, was
almost exactly 10 years old when former Bruin and fellow Canadian
Stella Umeh won gold at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. Then and
there, Richardson decided that she, too, would win gold at the
Commonwealth Games.
Her resoluteness was so strong that not even major back surgery
in Jan. 2002, seven months before she was to compete in the games,
could deter her.
Richardson had two vertebrae fused together using bone taken
from her hip. After four months in a back brace, the doctors gave
her permission to start training at the end of April. During this
time the doctors said she might be able to compete on bars at the
event, but it sounded doubtful.
With less than three months of training, Richardson not only
competed on bars, but won balance beam and the all-around.
“(Her recovery) is unheard of,” head coach Valorie
Kondos Field said. “It’s like she’s Super
Athlete. It’s that inner strength and determination that you
don’t get just from talking to her, because she’s so
sweet.”
Richardson is talkative, friendly, and fast to make friends. At
a junior competition in France in 1998, Richardson befriended a
young Irish gymnast by the name of Holly Murdock.
The two have been friends ever since, and now call each other
teammates.
Ironically, the two never discussed attending UCLA.
“Back then we weren’t thinking about the university
at all,” Richardson said. “It’s awesome because
she’s from so far away and they don’t have this kind of
thing in Northern Ireland.”
Murdock speaks of her teammate with an admiration developed over
years of friendship.
“She’s in a way an inspiration for me, because she
was able to come back from such a big operation and I’m
trying to come back from knee surgery,” Murdock said.
“Whether she realizes it or not she helps me a
lot.”
Besides being a Harry Potter freak, Richardson is as quirky an
athlete as you will find in the gym.
“I have so many superstitions it is ridiculous,”
Richardson said. “My whole routine before I start a meet is a
giant superstition.”
This includes lying down while listening to the same songs,
getting dressed in the same order, then putting on her competition
leotard to make sure it fits, even though she already knows it
does.
“When we travel it’s good because if we go shopping
before a meet I can’t buy anything, or it’s bad
luck,” she said. “I also have to touch the outside of
the plane before we board.”
Richardson even used to wear the same T-shirt before each meet,
but was forced to abandon that superstition because it was a
Canadian T-shirt.
Whatever it is seems to be working.
Richardson was named Pac-10 gymnast of the week this past week
for winning on beam (9.975), winning on floor with a perfect 10,
and winning the all-around in the Bruins’ last home meet with
a UCLA freshman record 39.750.
“Kate is a dream. She is extremely talented, and has a lot
of confidence with no ego,” Kondos Field said.
“She’s like a little puppy dog on this team;
she’s got a big smile on her face all the time.”
Perhaps the only thing that makes her happier than being at UCLA
is Harry Potter.
Richardson is so crazy for the childhood wizard that Kondos
Field read the story while pursuing her top recruit because
Richardson likes the books so much.
“She makes fun of me because I like (the books) so
much,” Richardson said. “It was fun.”
Kondos Field goes so far as to credit the series of books by J.K
Rowling with Richardson’s presence in Westwood.
“I think what got her to come to UCLA is that she is a
huge Harry Potter fan,” Kondos Field said. “So I
promised her a Nimbus 2000.”
Thus far, the experience has been a magical one for
Richardson.