When gymnastics worlds collide: Penn State’s Matt Cormier is in it for the long haul
Artistic gymnastics can be divided into two worlds: elite and college, but now, more than ever, gymnasts are choosing to do both simultaneously. In this series, Gymnastics Now talks with athletes who are straddling the line between worlds to highlight the nuances of representing college and country.
After coming off of what he called a rough year in 2022, Penn State’s Matt Cormier has his expectations and goals set high in both the NCAA and elite worlds.
It’s always been the goal
“I’m feeling pretty ready to finally show, on that stage, what I can do, and especially with how last season went, I’m feeling a lot more confident because we managed to get through the year and come out with some pretty big performances at the end, even with a really small roster size,” Cormier recently told Gymnastics Now.
Some of the challenges Cormier has had to face include a partial tear in his patellar tendon, which prevented him from being a true contender in the all-around, something he is looking to change this season.
“So for a long time, I was kind of like a floor/vault guy, and I’ve really had to take the time to, you know, those are still two of my strongest events, but I’ve really come into working really hard on bringing up those other events to be more of a true all-arounder than just a floor and vault kind of guy,” Cormier said.
While Cormier wasn’t pleased with his performance at the 2023 Core Hydration Classic, he went into it knowing that the competition was just a building block for the rest of the year.
“I’d say I’m not 100% confident with the routines I’m doing right now, but that’s kind of what Classic is for and then downgrade as needed. And then I just want to show off my best gymnastics, stuff that I can really perform well at championships,” Cormier said.
His elite dreams don’t stop at this week’s Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships, which he prequalified for at the 2023 Winter Cup back in February. Cormier is hoping to make a run for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
“That’s been the goal since I was seven years old. And, you know, over the last couple of years, it’s gotten a little bit more realistic every year, and I’m going to push as hard as I can for 2024,” Cormier said. “And if that’s not going to happen, then I’m gonna go to 2028, as long as the body can handle it. This is what I love to do. I’m gonna keep doing it as long as I can handle [it].”
Why not us?
Cormier’s Olympic dreams aren’t impeding his NCAA dreams, though, as he heads into his senior season at Penn State.
“I want to carry that momentum into my senior year and then we want to win [the] Big Ten. So we want to challenge for NCAAs,” Cormier said. “I know Stanford’s kind of a powerhouse, but we’ve got a lot of really talented guys, and we all work very hard. And we got a great atmosphere in the gym. So why not us?”
Cormier said NCAA season is a great warmup for the elite season. It makes sense: men’s NCAA uses the same open-scoring system as elite vs. the more challenging transition between the “perfect 10” system that women’s NCAA uses.
“In the NCAA, you need to have a certain level of confidence in order to be put into a lineup and have a good routine. If you can get that confidence at a USA/world championship level that’s [when] you’re really able to contend,” Cormier said. “I feel like at this past NCAAs I was able to put together my best performances that I possibly could, and [that] kind of is a warmup, in a way, for the elite season.”
Furthering this point, Cormier said he uses NCAAs and the way the sport and athletes continue to raise the bar as motivation to keep pushing toward his Olympic dream.
“At the same time, you want to just keep pushing to continue to make the progress towards an Olympic cycle, because me, personally, I was a good junior gymnast, but I was never like that top, upper echelon national team guy,” Cormier said.
“I’ve really had to grind my way to get up into that position in the [senior ranks] – we’re just getting a lot better now. So you see what everyone else is doing, and you just got to try to keep one upping that. It really creates a healthy cycle of competition. So I think the level is really rising, and I think that the NCAA is helping that rise and leap.”
Staving off senioritis
Cormier might be heading into his senior season with the Nittany Lions, but he said he can still find himself getting behind in classes or having a hard time balancing both gymnastics worlds and his education.
The best trick he’s learned so far on how to manage it all isn’t really a trick at all… it’s just being a good communicator.
“I find that the most important piece of all that is just being able to communicate with whoever you need to. So whether it’s your professors, you know, getting maybe an extension here and there, just having them be aware of what’s going on, what level of training you’re at,” Cormier said. “And then also communicating with your coaches to make sure that they know what your path is and where you’re trying to head, and they can create a different training plan for you based on what you need, instead of just doing whatever everyone else is doing [who’s] not trying to be on that track.”
