Jana Bieger was born on November 12, 1989 in Kiel, Germany. If you follow gymnastics much at all, you've probably heard of her mother, Andrea Bieger, the legendary West German gymnast who competed in three Olympics (1972, 1976 and 1980.) As the daughter of a famous Olympic gymnast, needless to say, Jana has grown up in the gym. She began learning gymnastics almost as soon as she could walk - she took her first lessons when she was just two years old! At age eight, she began training at the American Twisters Gymnastics Academy in Florida, where she began to climb through the competitive ranks. As a Level 9 in 2000, Jana first earned national-level recognition by winning the all-around at the Level 9 Nationals. The next year, as a Level 10, Jana placed fourth in the all-around at the Level 10 Junior Olympic Nationals and made the Junior Olympic National team. Throughout most of 2002, Jana continued to perform well at Level 10, winning almost every title at her level.

In early 2003, Jana finally reached the highest competitive level in gymnastics - Elite. Her first major national meet at the Elite level was the 2003 U.S. Classic, where she placed fourth in the all-around. Her performance at the 2003 US Classic turned a lot of heads in the gymnastics community. Although she only finished 15th at her first elite National Championships, she came back strong this past season to clinch the all-around bronze medal at the 2004 National Championships.

2004 has been Jana's best season yet - she competed at her first two international competitions, the Olymiada in Mexico and the Pacific Alliance Cup in Hawaii. At the 2004 U.S. Classic, Jana won the all-around at the Team Cup, beating many gymnasts who were much older and more experienced than she. She has placed first on vault at every meet she's competed in this past year, as well!

2005 is Jana's first year as a senior. She was part of the team when the USA went on an European Tour and had two friendly meets against Great Britain and Switzerland. Jana placed 2nd and 3rd all-around respectively. Jana also earned another trip to US National Championships and placed 3rd all-around behind Nastia Liukin and Chellsie Memmel. Jana hoped to be part of the World Championships Team. She reached this goal. Jana competed on uneven bars only.

Jana has earned two new international assignments at the beginning of 2006. She earned three medals at Cottbus Cup in Germany; gold on vault, bronze on bars, and silver on beam. She then travelled to Hawaii with her USA team for the Pacific Alliance Championships. Her team won the meet easily over Australia and China. Jana qualified to two even finals - vault and floor where she won gold medals on both events. Jana made the US National Team for third time after winning bronze medal in all-around. She also placed 2nd on vault, 4th on bars, 3rd on beam, and 5th on floor. After the US National Championships, she was selected for USA Worlds Team for the second time. At the World Championships in Denmark, Jana and her USA Team led the team standings on the first day of competition. During the team finals, they won silver medal right behind China. Jana was determined to do well during the all-around and event finals. Jana made a few errors on uneven bars and earned another silver medal in all-around final behind Vanessa Ferrari of Italy. In event finals, Jana finished second on floor. She also competed in the uneven bars final where she finished fifth. Immediately following Worlds, Jana competed at the World Cup in Stuggart, Germany. She won bars and floor. She placed sixth on beam.

In 2007, Jana was slated to compete at the American Cup. Unfortunately a last minute injury left her out of the meet. She struggled the rest of the season working her way back. In July, she competed at the US Classic. She won uneven bars and finished second on vault. Her next meet was the US National Championships. She fell several times throughout the meet but still managed to finish eighth all-around, making the US National Team. Jana opened 2008 with the Pacific Rim Championships. She helped the United States Team win. In addition, Jana finished second all-around and third on balance beam. She won uneven bars. She then went to Italy where she competed at a quad competition. She again assisted the USA team to first place. At Nationals, Jana finished sixth all-around. Her highest event finish was fourth on uneven bars. She had a similar performance at Olympic Trials but moved up to third on bars. Jana was named an alternate to the Olympic Team following the Final Selection Camp.

Jana competed at the 2009 US Classic. She did not compete all four events. She placed sixth all-around at the US National Championships, making the national taem. She finished fourth on bars.

Fast Facts Name: Jana Bieger Birthday: Nov. 12, 1989 Club: Bieger Int'l Level: Sr. Int'l Elite

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS National Team Member (2004-2010) 2006 Worlds 2nd Team, AA 2006 US Nationals: 3rd AA/BB 2006 Pacific Alliance: 1st Team/VT/FX 2006 Cottbus Cup 3rd BB, 2nd UB, 1st VT 2005 World Championships Team Member 2005 US Nationals: 3rd AA/UB 2005 US vs Swiss: 1st Team, 2nd AA 2005 US vs GB: 3rd AA, 1st Team 2004 Olympiada: 2nd AA, 1st VT/UB/FX 2004 Jr. US Nationals: 3rd AA, 1st VT 2004 Pacific Alliance 2nd AA/BB, 1st T/VT 2003 Jr. US Nationals: 3rd VT

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