Eight-year-old Bailee Iorg is a power tumbler in West Knoxville, Tennessee. She also has a prosthetic leg. Rock climbers, snow skiers, runners, scuba divers, swimmers, basketball players and discus throwers have all come before her to inspire her but Bailee inspires those around her – especially her parents and the owner of the gym she calls home, Mike Tataru.
Bailee started gymnastics at the age of seven. She approaches gymnastics like there is nothing different about her. She goes full force – as you can see in the video of her bouncing around the mats in the gym.
Now that she has proved she can perform, she wants to compete in USA Gymnastics. This became Bailee’s second hurdle. Because there were no provisions in the USA Gymnastics for participants with prosthetics, no one could figure out if Bailee could compete.
After the original story about Bailee aired on June 7th, 2013, USA Gymnastics issued a statement that sounds like they will allow her to compete as long as she qualifies along with other competitors. After all, they have nothing that precludes her participation – but also nothing that includes participants with prosthetics.
I suppose we will have to watch Bailee’s progress and see how her story unfolds. Good luck, Bailee!
Read the full story on WBIR.com.
