Chat with the Defending Champ

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David Durante is not supposed to be here. The 27-year-old Stanford grad—he has a degree in human biology—was all set to say goodbye to the sport and move on to medical school. Durante headed to the 2003 Winter Cup thinking it was likely his last competition, the cap on his collegiate career.

But a funny thing happened at that competition. David Durante made the U.S. National Team, for the very first time. So, at the age of 22, when most gymnasts are well on their way to their peak performances (or at least on U.S. team radar), Durante began his unexpected climb to the top. That ascension peaked at last year’s U.S. National Championships, where Durante earned the title and the right to be called the best gymnast in the USA. Not too shabby for a guy who was, by his own description, a “little known college gymnast,” ready to call it quits four years earlier.

Far from unknown now, Durante has emerged as a favorite for the 2008 Olympic U.S. team and has become a vocal leader of Team USA.

Recently, Durante sat down with Inside Gymnastics to talk about his Olympic ambitions and what comes after Beijing for one of the most articulate members of Team USA …

INSIDE GYMNASTICS: We’re just months away from the Games now, how is your Olympic preparation going?

DAVID DURANTE: Things are going well. I had a little bit of a setback with my knee [at] Winter Cup and after that I kind of hurt it again, so that took me back a little bit.

I tore [my] knee when I was in college—my very first day at Stanford. That was just about 10 years ago now that I had surgery so, basically, the doctor said my knee looks like someone who tore his knee 10 years ago and continued to do gymnastics on it (chuckles). It’s nothing unexpected. It’s just something I have to deal with.

It’s not going to be an issue for me. I’ve just had to lay off floor and vault a little bit. Fortunately for me, floor and vault aren’t two events where I’d really contribute anyway.

Everything right now [has been] leading up to [Nationals and Trials].

INSIDE GYMNASTICS: You’ve been living this Olympic dream for more than four years now. You attended Athens as a spectator in 2004 and have been pushing hard towards Beijing ever since. What’s it like for you, now that your ultimate goal is so close?

DAVID DURANTE: It’s great! Twenty-two years in the sport and I’m finally coming to the culmination of what I’ve been training for. There are a lot of mixed emotions. I’ll be sad to leave the sport when it’s all over, but right now my complete focus is on training to make the U.S. team, and make the team stronger because I’m a part of it.

INSIDE GYMNASTICS: What do you think you need to do to make the Olympic team?

DAVID DURANTE: Obviously I have to capitalize on the events I’m strong on. Pommel horse is key for me. I have to make sure I’m consistent on pommel horse. It’s an event where I have a pretty high start value and if I can show that I am consistent on that event, I think that could definitely help out the team, considering that is one of our weakest events as a team.

Then, rings. I definitely think I can be a top five guy, even higher than that if I hit pretty cleanly.

Then, parallel bars, I’m right up there with the top guys. And on high bar I can be very consistent and that’s an event they need consistency on.

I am an all-arounder. I am a guy they can use for any event if they ever need a guy, but, definitely, I’m trying to capitalize on my strengths of pommel horse, rings and parallel bars.

INSIDE GYMNASTICS: It’s a little hard to believe, but 2007 was your first Worlds experience as a competing team member, after being the alternate in 2006. What did you get out of your experience in Stuttgart?

DAVID DURANTE: It was a great experience. I really felt like I belonged there and it was a sense of relief to finally make it and show not only the U.S. team and the selection committee that I did belong [on] that stage, but also the rest of the world. I think it’s important, going into an Olympic Games, that you are recognized by the other teams and the judges, just so that they know what you bring to the table.

Stepping into that arena, with the three-up, three-count format, there’s nothing like it. Having not experienced that in the past, I can tell you right now that it’s a huge advantage for someone to have been in that situation and know what it’s like to be counted on in that situation.

Three-up, three-count—it’s very hard to picture that scenario, or re-create that in the gym on an everyday basis. It’s something you can only get by competing there. It’s the best thing I will take from that World Championships.

INSIDE GYMNASTICS: The team was very successful, overall, moving from 13^th in 2006 to 4^th in 2007, but you didn’t have your best day in team finals. Was that nerves?

DAVID DURANTE: It wasn’t nerves. I was actually feeling great. Pommel horse was our first event for us and it was my first time [in World team finals]. I wasn’t really nervous, but I was anxious to get out there. I was feeling really pumped about it.

Obviously, being the first time you’re up in three-up, three-count format, it’s different. I was doing a great routine and my hand just slipped on my last Russian. I didn’t come off the horse, but I kind of laid down on it a little bit, [then] I finished up strong. It was disappointing. I felt I deserved to put forth a better routine for my teammates.

High bar was crazy. I was probably more pumped up than I should have been.  I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to nail that routine. When I picture it in my head, I feel like I hit it, if that makes any sense. I still can’t believe I missed it. I hadn’t missed a high bar routine in, maybe, five months. I was just trying to do too much. That’s just a learning experience.

You’re always learning. I’m coming up to the last few meets of my career and I’m still learning how to compete, learning how to deal with certain situations. It’s always a learning experience, and what I learned at last year’s Worlds is going to help me tremendously this summer.

INSIDE GYMNASTICS: You’re not an Olympic veteran, but you are one of the elder statesmen, age-wise, on the men’s team. Do you feel like you fill a leadership role for Team USA?

DAVID DURANTE: Yeah, for sure. I definitely feel like a leader. I definitely felt like that leading into last year’s Worlds. Over the last few years I’ve been lucky enough to be captain of the teams I’ve been a part of. I think the guys understand I am one of the older guys and I have been around a while.

I have to say that I’m definitely not the most talented guy. These guys are unreal. But there are a lot of factors that play into being a great gymnast and it’s not just talent. I feel like I bring other things to a team, and leadership is one of those things.

That’s one of things I learned when I was at Stanford: How to lead a team. I was a captain when I was there. The college experience was probably the best few years of my life, in terms of competing. The bonds that you make on a team and how to compete at a competition like NCAA Championships; that’s very hard to duplicate if you don’t go through college gymnastics. I learned how to be a leader in college. I learned how to be part of a team, and it was a great experience. I was very lucky to be a part of the team [at Stanford] and I try to take what I learned here and translate that to the U.S. team now.

INSIDE GYMNASTICS: You talked about the talent level on the U.S. squad now. How hard is it going to be, for you or anyone, to make this Olympic team?

DAVID DURANTE: Oh, very hard; incredibly difficult. I wasn’t around for the ’84 team, which most people compare the depth that we have to that squad, but it’s going to be incredibly difficult [to make the ‘08 team].

Whoever does make this team—the six guys who get to go—are going to be incredibly strong. I’m figuring out what I need to do. You have to have some strategy, to play to your strengths and make sure you’re filling in the spots that are needed on the team.

Everybody is going to be fighting for those spots. This is what we do. This is our life. We’re fighting so hard to make this Olympic team, because it means the world to us. I can guarantee to you every one of the guys on the National Team are giving it everything they have to make sure they’re a part of it.

INSIDE GYMNASTICS: Do you see Team USA as medal contenders in Beijing?

DAVID DURANTE: Without a doubt. I said that last year leading up to Worlds and I got a lot of flack for believing in the strength of our team, but finishing fourth, and finishing very close to the medals, people are beginning to see that we are medal contenders.

People are going to be surprised at how strong we are. I believe in this team probably more than I can describe in words. We’re very, very strong. One of those strengths, besides our talent and our depth, is how close we are. A lot of us of grew up together. Most of us went through a college system and we really understand what it means to be a team.

We all come from different backgrounds and different college programs but when we put that USA on our chest we all compete for the same team. We’re all the same family. I’m sure that’s something that other teams feel, but I don’t notice it as much as I do when I’m out on the floor with the U.S. team. We compete for each other harder than everyone else. We believe in each other and we fight tooth and nail to leave it all out there for each other. We don’t want to be the reason we’re not on the podium, each on of us [feels that] as individuals. We all try to make sure we leave it all out there.

INSIDE GYMNASTICS: You’ve spoken repeatedly about the end of your career. Are you done no matter what happens this summer?

DAVID DURANTE: (no hesitation) Yes. No doubt. I’m done.

INSIDE GYMNASTICS: After the 2004 Trials you moved to the Olympic Training Center and have, in many ways, put your life on hold to train. Do you feel you’ve made a sacrifice for the sport?

DAVID DURANTE: I’ve put my life on hold but, again, the experiences I’ve had the last few years, the places I’ve gotten to go to, the competitions I’ve been to—I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. It’s been more than I ever could have imagined. Coming out of a college program where I was a pretty good college gymnast, to be where I am today is a huge leap for me. I always pictured it in my head, but to make it reality is more than I can describe.

I have one more dream to fulfill and, over the next few months, I feel like I’m on my way to doing that.

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Photo by Grace Chiu