Game On for Hagerty
June 21, 2008
quiet, consistent athlete.
Not anymore. Following a third-place all-around finish at USAs, Hagerty has put himself firmly into the Olympic mix. Although his success surprised some, it was no shock to Hagerty himself.
“My old coach Ed Burch has always said I’d be the Trojan horse,” Hagerty says, laughing. “He said I’m gonna be the quiet one, just sneak in there and, when the time comes, come out.”
And that’s exactly what Hagerty has continued to do in Philadelphia. After the first day of Trials, he’s in second place in the weighted totals, making him eligible for automatic Olympic selection if he also finishes in the top three on three events. So far, Hagerty is first on floor and high bar—the only gymnast leading on more than one event—and fifth on p-bars; well within striking distance of a locking up an Olympic spot.
Hands down, Hagerty has been the most consistent male gymnast in the competition, missing not a single set since the start of USAs. (The closest thing to an error Hagerty has had was a tiny day-one pommel horse gaffe that cost him two-tenths off his “A” score at USAs.)
That’s how Hagerty, a relative unknown who has spent much of the past three years recovering from serious shoulder surgery, has put himself in prime position to be an Olympian.
“Would I have dreamt that?” Hagerty says with a laugh. “No. I never thought it would happen.”
Hagerty actually only returned to the all-around eight months ago following his 2005 surgery, so he’s “not bitter or anything like that” if fans and the media have overlooked him heading into this year’s USAs.
Of course, no one is ignoring Hagerty anymore, and his success left many scribes scrambling for info on this shy star—an aspect of success Hagerty would gladly forego. “It’s not painful but it’s kinda hard,” he says of interacting with the press. “I’m not used to the media. I’d absolutely rather [be training].”
When told that we just want to learn more about him, Hagerty laughed and quipped: “Good luck with that,” noting there was no way he was going to help the media get to know him. “Absolutely not,” he says with a grin.
But there is one part of his life that Hagerty almost relishes talking about—and it’s not what he does in the gym.
A devoted gamer, Hagerty is an online expert at Final Fantasy XI, a massive multiplayer video universe that consumes most of Hagerty’s waking moments outside the gym. While he’s just beginning to be known by gymnastics fans, he’s already a Final Fantasy legend, a superstar in the game’s all-consuming virtual universe.
Although he claims to play for “only four or five hours a day,” friends and teammates say it’s a lot more, and even Hagerty admits he’s hooked. When pushed, Hagerty admits he’s spent “more than a year” of his life logged into the online world.
“I would say it’s very time-consuming,” Hagerty concedes. “I don’t get bored very often. I mean, being in your room all day, you could get bored, but I never do.
“The game is definitely a release for me,” he adds. “It’s my way out.”
In the past few months, Hagerty has desperately needed that release. His father, Mike, was in a serious car accident on April 20 and is currently in a halo stabilization device. His father had to get special permission from his physicians to fly to Philadelphia and attend the Trials.
Immediately after the accident, Hagerty drove back and forth from the USOTC in Colorado Springs, Colo., to his family’s home in Albuquerque every weekend so that he could continue training for Championships, yet remain by his dad’s side.
With his father’s health scare looming over Hagerty—the youngest of a close-knit family that includes three older sisters and nine nieces and nephews, all of whom live in New Mexico—it’s impressive Hagerty could compete at USAs at all, let alone with the calm control he’s exhibited throughout the Olympic selection 
process.
“I’m pretty mentally strong to begin with, so it didn’t bother me too bad,” he says, shrugging off concerns of stress. “I’m not sure [where it comes from], but I’m glad I have it.”
The support of his family has always been key to Hagerty’s success. “Yeah, I had it rough,” he jokes of his upbringing. “The baby. The only boy. I’m their favorite.”
It was that familial bond that kept Hagerty close to home and out of the NCAA. “I had such a good life in Albuquerque I didn’t want to leave there,” he explains. “UNM [the University of New Mexico] doesn’t have a men’s team and that’s where I was going for a while. It was just an easier transition for me to go to the Training Center than NCAAs.
“I was kind of training by myself at Gold Cup and my coaches, Randy Wood and Ed Burch, wanted me to have teammates,” he continues. “You need teammates to get better. The Training Center was the best option, due to it being so close to home, and so many of the best athletes in the country were there, like Yewki [Tomita] and Dave [Durante].”
The simple schedule and all-about-gymnastics lifestyle has also helped Hagerty excel. “It’s a pretty simple life,” he says, describing a typical Training Center day. “We just wake up, go to practice, take a nap, practice. Rinse and repeat.”
It wasn’t like everything just fell into place for Hagerty after he made the move in 2005. After never having even made the U.S. National Team as senior, he finished fourth at USAs shortly after his arrival in Colorado Springs, and seemed on his way, but his shoulder hampered him for “way too long,” by his own admission. “It was rough,” he says succinctly of his comeback.
One of the best things to come from being at the USOTC has been training with coach Vitaly Marinich, who describes Hagerty as “hardworking; one of the easiest athletes I’ve ever coached.”
“Vitaly has done a lot for my gymnastics,” Hagerty says. “[For example,] there are tours that go around the Training Center and Vitaly will bring them into the gym and put them around the equipment while we’re working out. That’s what gets a lot of people—they’re scared of the crowd. I’m starting to get used to stuff like that, thanks to Vitaly. When I was little, I’d get butterflies, but I’m over that now.”
Hopefully, Hagerty is also starting to get used to the fame that comes along with being at the top of the sport. Although he would someday like to be a “computer programmer, making video games,” for now he’s totally committed to gymnastics, and is in it for the long haul.
“I’m not going to retire anytime soon,” Hagerty insists. “I’m going to 2012, no matter what.”
And although he loves his nieces and nephews, this 26-year-old is comfortable being “the cool uncle” for the foreseeable future, and is in no rush to settle down, claiming he has no time for a girlfriend, let alone anything more serious.
Right now, Hagerty is focused solely on the Games, and, of course, that other game (Final Fantasy XI) that dominates his existence.
Asked how his friends would describe him, Hagerty pauses to think before answering. “They’d say I’m a shy gamer that needs to quit playing video games,” he responds with a laugh.
And is he better at gymnastics or video games? “Oh, the video game, definitely,” Hagerty answers quickly.
An answer this gamer, in every sense of the word, might have to revise after tonight’s competition.
