Hollie Diane Vise was born in Dallas, Texas on December 6th, 1987. She is the daughter of Eddie and LeeAnn. Her mom was once a gymnast. She has three brothers. Hollie's first gymnastics center was Metroplex. She was not at Metroplex long. She then switched to World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA).
After being the 4th best level 6 in the state, Hollie moved up to level 8. The next season she advanced to level 9. She won states, regionals and westerns. Hollie then went straight to elite, skipping level 10. In 1999, she finished tenth in the National Championships and made the national team. She also took home a bronze on the beam. After nationals Hollie traveled to Belgium to compete at the Top Gym Tournament. She placed fourth all-around and won bronze medals on bars and beam.
After competing at three meets early in the 2000 season Hollie was chosen to go to the Monteforte and Como Cups. Hollie finished first and third all-around. At US Nationals Hollie won silver on the bars and a bronze on the beam. She also improved to seventh all-around. Hollie's next meet was the International Team Challenge. She finished second all-around and won bars.
2001 got much better near the end of the season. At the WOGA Classic she fell on floor but managed to finish in second all-around. She traveled to Hawaii to compete at the American Team Cup. Hollie fell twice on beam but won a bronze for her bar routine. Things started to go better after she placed fourth in the all-around at US Classic and won bars. At nationals she became the National Bars Champion and finished second all-around. Hollie picked up two bronze medals at the Goodwill Games in Australia before traveling to China to compete in the Pule Cup. She left China with a silver medal on the beam.
Hollie's medal collection kept building up. She won bars at the 2002 WOGA Classic and Pikes Peak Cup. Hollie then traveled to the east coast and competed at the National Podium Meet. She won a silver on beam and finished seventh in the all-around. Team USA and Hollie then went to Canada to compete at the Gymnix International and Jurassic Classic. Hollie won three medals at Gymnix. At Jurassic she did well winning four medals including a team and bars gold. Hollie also placed strongly on the vault and floor, which are usually weak events for her. Team USA returned to the USA to compete at a national qualifying meet, American Classic. Hollie won bars, beam and the all-around title. That performance earned her another trip to our northern neighbors, Canada for the Pacific Alliance Championships. Hollie won the all-around, bars and helped the team to a gold medal.
Her winning streak continued at the 2002 US Classic where she won bars and beam and finished second in the all-around to WOGA teammate, Carly Patterson. Her gold streak continued as she won the bars and beam at US Nationals. She finished second all-around once again. Hollie was invited to a fun meet, TJ Maxx International, held in the arena the World Championships would be held. Hollie won the beam and helped the US Team win first place against the world team. 2002 would be her last year as a junior international elite. She would move up to senior for 2003.
Her first meet in 2003 would be the WOGA Classic. She won a silver on bars at there. She picked up a silver on bars and a bronze in the all-around at the National Podium Meet. Hollie surprisingly won a bronze on floor at the American Classic. Hollie had a few months off before competing at the US Classic. US Classic, held in Texas, was a great meet for Hollie. Competing against former world champions, Hollie won beam and finished second on bars. She also finished sixth in the all-around. The 2003 US Nationals would be an important event, the top three in the all-around automatically qualified to the World Championships Team. Hollie had a great performance in preliminaries and won the beam and finished second on bars. She continued her great performances in the finals and finished second in the all-around.
At the World Championships, team USA had a tough time. They lost Annia Hatch and Courtney Kupets to injuries. Ashley Postell caught the flu. USA called in their two alternates, Chellsie Memmel and Terin Humphrey. After mistakes in preliminaries the USA was ready to win in the finals. On the team's second event, the uneven bars, someone pointed out that Hollie did not have her number on. After frantically looking through Hollie's bag someone from the staff wrote her number on a piece of paper and pinned it to her back. Hollie was rushed onto the apparatus and fell shortly later on her Jaeger. The USA kept its lead after the fall though. Hollie's next event was the beam. She had fallen in the preliminary competition and wanted to redeem herself. She hit a great routine. Hollie only competed in her two strongest events. The USA kept their lead. They became the first team to win the World Championships from USA.
She was not done competing yet. She had qualified to the bars event final. Hollie hit a great routine! She tied with Chellsie Memmel for first! She ended her season in France at the Trophee Massilia. She won a silver on bars and finished ninth all-around.
Hollie's main goal has always been to be an Olympian. 2004 was the year. She started off by winning three individual gold medals at the WOGA Classic. She then traveled to California and won bars at the American Classic. Her next meet was the US Classic. She won bars and beam and finished fourth all-around. Hollie sat out nationals with a bad back but was able to petition to the Olympic Trials. Hollie did two events at the trials (bars and beam) and qualified to the Olympic Selection Camp. Unfortunately, she did not make the Olympic Team. After the camp she went on tour with the Rock and Roll group.
After a long break from gymnastics, Hollie began comepting balance beam during her freshman season. She had the second-best beam score for her team at the Big 12 Championships. She finished second on beam at Iowa. As a sophomore, she added bars. She tied for eleventh on beam at the NCAA Championships. She placed third on bars at the NCAA Regional Meet. She earned All-Big 12 honors after winning bars at the Big-12 Championships. She earned a second All-Big 12 honor with a third place finish on beam. She tied for second on bars against both Minnesota and Arkansas. After winning bars and beam against TWU, she was named Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week. This was her third honor of the season as she earned this after winning bars and beam against Iowa Stat and in January. Her first event win was against West Virginia on beam. Hollie was also inducted into the USAG Hall of Fame for being a member of the 2003 World Team.
Hollie continued to compete on bars and beam as a junior. She won beam against TWU. She won bars against Denver. She added her double front uneven bars dismount against Arkansas. She won bars against Minnesota. She won beam at the OU quad meet.
 |
Fast Facts
Name: Hollie Vise
Birthday: December 6, 1987
Club: WOGA
College: Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Official Website
|
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
Full Scholarship to Oklahoma
Six Time National Team Member
2003: World Champion
2003: US Nationals- 2nd AA, 1st BB
2003: Podium Meet- 3rd AA
2002: US Nationals- 2nd AA, 1st BB, UB
2002: Pacific Alliance Champion
2002: American Classic Champion
2001: Goodwill Games- 3rd UB, BB
2001: US Nationals- 2nd AA
2000: Monteforte Cup Champion
1999: Top Gym- 3rd UB, BB
|
Click Here to View Hollie's Videos
|
Photos © Nelse Hansen, Lloyd Smith & OU