Inside Interview: Kevin Tan

It’s a bit of a cliché to call rings star Kevin Tan the strong, silent type, but it’s also true.

There is no doubt that Tan is Team USA’s strongman. With a rings Start Value (7.3) sixth tenths higher than any other American gymnast, many consider Tan a lock for the 2008 Games, based on his rings score alone. Heading towards Trials, Tan leads the way on his signature event by a whopping 1.5 over second-place Jonathan Horton. The Championships win was Tan’s third-straight U.S. rings crown.

A member of every World Championships team since Athens, Tan just missed a medal on his best event last year in Stuttgart, finishing two-and-a-half tenths behind perennial World medalist Jordan Jovtchev. Quite an accomplishment on what is considered the most political, and reputation-based, event in gymnastics. And, with silver-medalist Yuri Van Gelder not qualified for the Games, who knows what Tan could accomplish in Beijing. (He’s already medaled at multiple World Cup events.)

An NCAA star for Penn State—Tan lead his team to the title as a senior in 2004, and earned back-to-back rings titles in ’03 and ’04—this Nittany Lion alum now works as an assistant coach at his alma mater, where he also works out with head coach Randy Jepson.

"Kevin has had an incredible run the last couple of years as a competitor and that makes him a better coach," Jepson said of his athlete-assistant. "He is able to see things from both sides. Having one of the world's elite competitors in our gym every day is a tremendous benefit. He brings a lot of wisdom, competitive experience, and thought process into his coaching and that, in turn, has helped him become a better gymnast. It's a win-win."

Tan has worked hard to make sure he is not just a one-event wonder. He also competes on pommel horse, one of the USA’s weakest apparatus and an event Tan re-added to his repertoire after college; p-bars, where he has an impressive 6.3 “A” score; and high bar. At USAs, Tan was sixth on horse, fourth on p’s and 24^th on high bar due to a disastrous routine in prelims. (The 14.75 he earned for a hit routine in finals would have put him amongst the top group on pipe, too.)

In short, barring a Trials disaster, Tan, whose family is ethnically Chinese, is almost certainly bound for Beijing.

Inside Gymnastics sat down with this soft-spoken, 26-year-old California-native shortly after USAs for something he’s not quite as comfortable with as strength-training: talking about himself …

INSIDE: Looking back on USAs, what do you think of your performance?

TAN: It went just as I’d hoped, I’d say. We came in here with the game plan of just staying on, being consistent, just getting through the routines and being safe; staying healthy, and I thought I did a good job of that.

INSIDE: Is there any doubt in your mind that you’ll make this Olympic team, even just based on your massive rings score alone?

TAN: Well, you never know. It really depends on what other guys fit into the team. It’s a very tough thing they (the Selection Committee) have to decide: who is going to be on that Olympic team.

(laughs) To tell you the truth, I’d hate to be in their spot. I respect them for doing what they’re doing, but it’s going to be tough.

INSIDE: What do you think you have to do to make sure you’re selected?

TAN: I think I just need to keep going on with what I’m doing, showing a strong four events and trying to distance myself on rings, which I’ve done. I also think pommel horse is going to play an important role, and high bar is going to play an important role, too.

INSIDE: You’re a bit more of a grown-up than some of the other athletes. You have a full-time job at Penn State but also a degree in finance you’re not really using right now. What have you given up to stay in gymnastics these past four years?

TAN: Well, basically, going out into the real world (laughs).

I’m doing this for the passion and love of the sport, and trying to make ends meet so that I can fulfill this dream.

INSIDE: Has that been a struggle?

TAN: I’ve had at least a little cushion, thanks to Penn State. And I’ve been able to definitely get by but, by all means, I’m doing this just because I have this small window of opportunity to get it done. I’m just trying to get this, make this [Olympic] dream come true.

INSIDE: Any time at all for a personal life?

TAN: I’m focused 100 percent on training.

My personal life comes second, [but] I do live with my girlfriend. We’ve been together for four years now. [Jessica and I] met at Penn State and we’re doing really well. We definitely have a great time, but I’m more of a homebody now and just focus on my training.

INSIDE: What’s a typical date night for you guys like now that the Olympic Games are so close?

TAN: (laughs) Oh, that’s not a nice question. Did she tell you to ask me that?

We don’t have much time but, for a date night, we just like to go out to a nice dinner, watch a movie, talk, something like that. Haven’t done that too much lately, but we have just as much fun staying home and playing with our dog, Gizmo.

INSIDE: So, if you don’t have time for evenings out, what’s the most romantic thing you’ve done for Jessica lately?

TAN: (laughs) Gee, now that’s really putting me on the spot …

INSIDE: … But if you say something good, you’ll win points with her

TAN: (laughs again) This is true.

OK, I’m trying to think back. I guess the most recent is she had to get up for a—well, no, I can’t say that, that’s just expected.

INSIDE: What?

TAN: She had to wake up to catch a six o’clock flight [home from Championships] and she was kind of nervous about waking up, so I stayed awake until 3:15 [AM] to knock on the door and wake her up and make sure she got off in a taxi and safely on her way to the airport. I wanted to make sure she was OK.

Is that romantic?

Other than that, I’m probably not as good as I should be.

INSIDE: What does she do for you?

TAN: She does everything for me. She’s just great.

She lets me go out and golf on the weekends, because she knows it’s my release from gymnastics. She lets me come back from a hard day of workout and just veg on the couch and do nothing. She even [lets me] play some video games. She pretty much lets me get away with anything (laughs).

INSIDE: Have you guys decided whether she’ll go to Beijing, assuming you make the team?

TAN: I try to stay out of that and just focus on what’s present, but she has talked it over with my family. They’ve been trying to work out a situation where a few of them can go to Beijing if I do make it and [Jessica] would be included in that trip and, hopefully, my father, my brother and my brother’s wife.

INSIDE: Your given name is Kai-Wen, but you’ve always gone by Kevin in gymnastics, though your Penn State teammates called you Kai-Wen. Do you have a personal preference?

TAN: I couldn’t really tell you, one over the other, honestly. My family calls me Kevin, because my brother’s name is Kai-Yuan, which is very similar to Kai-Wen. And all the way through school a lot of my teachers had a hard time pronouncing my name, which is why I switched over to Kevin. When I got to college everyone wanted to call me by my real name, so all my college friends call me Kai-Wen.

But, it’s like, nationally I compete as Kevin and internationally I compete as Kai-Wen, [because that’s what is on my passport]. (laughs) So, really, if you can say either one of them right I’m pretty happy.

I’ve gone by Kevin as long as I can remember, because my brother is five years older than me so I’ve been [Kevin] basically since the beginning. My brother goes by just Kai, that’s his nickname.