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‘This can be me’: Black participation rising in gymnastics

Girls participate in a gymnastics camp, Thursday, July 22, 2021, at Power Moves Gymnastics and Fitness in Cedarhurst, N.Y. The face of gymnastics in the United States is changing. There are more athletes of color starting — and sticking — in a sport long dominated by white athletes at the highest levels. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) Candice Walker, left, and her sister Delissa, co-owners of Power Moves Gymnastics and Fitness, pose in their facility, Thursday, July 22, 2021, in Cedarhurst, N.Y. The business they started in 2012 was in a space so small it's now a barber shop. They moved to a warehouse in 2015 before opening at their current location last August in Cedarhurst, just east of New York City. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) A young athlete flips off the balance beam at Power Moves Gymnastics and Fitness, Thursday, July 22, 2021, in Cedarhurst, N.Y. There's a phenomenon that happens every time Simone Biles appears on a screen inside Power Moves Gymnastics & Fitness. As if flipping a switch, the young women of color on the gym's competitive team spring to life, fueled by the jolt of adrenaline that comes watching the reigning Olympic champion test the limits of their sport. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) Alema Roberts, 13, center, trains on the balance beam, Thursday, July 22, 2021, at Power Moves Gymnastics and Fitness in Cedarhurst, N.Y. The face of gymnastics in the United States is changing. There are more athletes of color starting — and sticking — in a sport long dominated by white athletes at the highest levels. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) Girls participate in dance moves, Thursday, July 22, 2021, at Power Moves Gymnastics and Fitness in Cedarhurst, N.Y. The face of gymnastics in the United States is changing. There are more athletes of color starting — and sticking — in a sport long dominated by white athletes at the highest levels. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) FILE - In this Aug. 9, 2016, file photo, U.S. gymnasts and gold medallists, Simone Biles, left and Gabrielle Douglas celebrate on the podium during the medal ceremony for the artistic gymnastics women's team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The success of Olympic gymnastics champions Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles has created a spike in interest in the sport in Black communities. Representation among Black girls at the upper reaches of women's gymnastics is rising. Half of the U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo are women of color. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)