Hi everyone, I'm back from Turkey!

I just wanted to take the opportunity to once more thank everyone who helped me compete in Ankara last month. I could not have done it without the support of friends and family like you!

Turkey was beautiful, the people were very friendly (I met a Turkish Alec Baldwin look-alike!), and the food was great (with the exception of our hotel food- yikes!). I was able to arrive a few days before the competition so I could adjust to the time change and recover from the very long flight and within those few days I walked all over Ankara, visited the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, and even flew to Istanbul for a day. When I got back, my teammates had finally arrived and we prepared for the competition over the next two days.

Everyone on Team USA did an awesome job, this includes all the USA coaches and parents who came to support not only their own kids, but the whole team. There were 663 competitors from 86 countries. Team USA came home with four medals, three from men’s Taolu and one from men’s Sanshou. This is a great accomplishment for our team, especially since China and Hong Kong dominated the whole competition!

I’m sure everyone wants to know the details of how I performed. Well, to be frank I didn’t place, but boy did I try hard! Unfortunately, I was hit with strep throat while I was there and was not feeling my best. I’m not deterred though, my competitors were amazing and deserved the medals they earned. It just gives me that much more determination to train harder and to show what I can do next time at the world games in Malaysia.

I updated my photos page with pictures of the trip. Check it out!

Thank you thank you thank you to all of you who helped me achieve a life-long dream. It is an experience I will never forget.