Nina Song Yi Kim was born on November 3, 1986 in Houston, Teaxas. She is the daughter of Sanya and Jong Wook Kim. They are immigrants from South Korea. She trained for the majority of her early gymnastics days at Brown's Gymnastics in Houston. In March of 2002, Nina moved to WOGA in Plano. She signed with University of Utah in 2004. She began college in the fall of 2005. Her first competition season was in 2006. Nina began gymnastics in 1992.
In 1998, she competed at the JO National Championships. She saw her first elite competition in 1999 at the American Classic. This was her first time competing as a junior international elite.
In 2000, Nina competed at the American Classic again. She finished within the top fifteen competitors. Her next meet was the US National Championships. Nina placed 12th all-around! This qualified her for her first junior national team. She competed at the junior pan am games in the fall. In 2001, she placed third on beam at nationals. This was her second year on the junior national team.
Her first year as a senior international elite was in 2002. She placed fourth all-around at the American Classic! At the Podium Meet, she was third all-around. Her next meet was the US Classic. Nina placed just outside the top tean. The meet was a good warmup for the US National Championships. at Nationals, Nina placed sixth all-around! Some of her routines were also shown on NBC.
In the fall she competed at two dual meets. One was against Mexico. The second was in Brazil again Ukraine and Brazil. The USA won both of the meets. She also competed at the Crystal D'Arc in France. Nina won the all-around title at this meet.
2003 was a good year for Nina. She competed at the WOGA Classic and Parkette Invitational before the elite season began. She won the all-around title at the National Podium Meet! At the American Classic, she placed second all-around. These performances gave her a spot on the USA team at the Pacific Challenge. She did well at the competition. At the US Classic, Nina placed eighth all-around. At nationals, she placed third on beam. She also qualified for her second senior national team. In the fall, Nina travelled to Ukraine for the Golden Lily Tournament. She placed fifth all-around.
Her 2004 season started off at the WOGA Classic. She finished third all-around. Nina also competed at the Parkette Invite. At the American Classic, she placed seventh all-around. The highlight of the meet was winning beam. Nina went to Luxembourg for the FL Gym Open. She placed third all-around and first on bars. In May, she competed in New York at the US Classic. She finished 12th all-around. Nina ended Nationals in 16th place. This was her final elite meet.
Nina did not compete in 2005. She was a key player for the Utes in the 2006 season. She won bars against minnesota. Against BYU, she won beam. Nina finished fourth all-around at the NCAA Regionals. She posted great scores on both days of NCAA Nationals. In 2007, she hit her career high on balance beam during the final rotation of the Super Six to help Utah finish second at the NCAA Championships. She competed on vault, bars and beam at every meet. She made the Athletics Academic Honor Roll. Nina continued contributing to the Utah team as a junior. She missed nine meets due to foot and ankle injuries. She had an all-around spot before the injuries. She was a member of Utah's Athletics Academic Honor Roll.
Her final competitive season was in 2009. She was a three-time All-American (second team) in the all-around and on vault and bars. She had sixteen scores of a 9.90 or better. She had eleven event titles. She was named Utah's Most Inspirational Gymnast.
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Fast Facts
 Name: Nina Kim
Birthday: November 3, 1986
Club: WOGA
College: Utah
Utah
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MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
Full Scholarship to Utah
Four-Time US National Team Member
2004: US Nationals - 16th AA
2004: FL Gym Open- 3rd AA
2004: American Classic Beam Champion
2003: US Nationals - 16th AA
2003: US Classic- 8th AA
2003: American Classic- 2nd AA
2003: Pacific Challenge Team Member
2003: Elite Podium Meet All-Around Champion
2002: US Nationals- 6th AA
2002: American Classic- 4th AA
2001: Jr. US Nationals - 13th AA
2000: Jr. US Nationals- 12th AA
1999: American Classic Participant
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Photos © Lloyd Smith
