Plano was first put on the map of the gymnastics world when hometown hero Nastia Liukin became “America’s sweetheart” by bringing home the women’s all-around gold medal in Artistic Gymnastics at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games. Eight years later, junior Nicky Wojtania has emerged as one of the sport’s next young talents, gracefully representing the nation as an elite rhythmic gymnast. There are few sports that combine the elite athleticism and elegance needed to be a successful rhythmic gymnast. However, similar to other competitive disciplines, training for rhythmic gymnastics requires self-discipline and dedication.

“I usually go to the gym after school four to five times a week,” Wojtania said. “Each training session is four hours long.”

While uncoordinated teenagers struggle with cartwheels and forward rolls, Wojtania fuses advanced acrobatic moves with music and different apparatus, including hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and rope.

“The first hour and a half is stretching, then we practice for half an hour on skills such as turns and jumps,” Wojtania said. “For the last two hours, we practice our competition routines.”

Wojtania’s work paid off during her freshman year, when she was invited to the Junior Group national team.

“In ninth grade, I had to miss a month and a half of school to train in Chicago,” Wojtania said. “Seven girls from across the country were chosen: three from Chicago, two from New York, one from Minnesota and me, from Texas.”

Wojtania and her six teammates on the national team attempted to qualify for the Youth Olympic Games held in Nanjing, China during the summer of 2014.

“We did not qualify for team although we won both individual events,” Wojtania said. “Unfortunately it didn’t factor into the Youth Olympic qualification.”

With a rigorous schedule filled with numerous training sessions, Wojtania attributes her success in the sport for more than 10 years to the constant support of her parents.

“When I was around 5 or 6, my parents signed me up for artistic gymnastics but in the first few months I broke my arm,” Wojtania said. “So they tried to find another sport, and pushed me into rhythmic gymnastics.”

One of  Wojtania’s closest friends since second grade is junior Irene Chen, who also competed  in rhythmic gymnastics with Wojtania before pursuing other interests.

“It’s really funny because when we were little, Nicky had the worst hand-eye coordination and she wasn’t exactly the most talented one in the group,” Chen said. “But she has such a great work ethic so she essentially became the golden girl of the team by the time we hit the higher levels.”

Senior Donna Quedens is also one of Wojtania’s former teammates and now serves as her rhythmic gymnastics gym’s assistant coach.

“Nicky is the hardest worker I have ever met by far,” Quedens said. “ I have seen her get really frustrated multiple times but she will not leave until she gets the skill she’s working on.”

Aside from gymnastics, Wojtania’s interests include taking all her Advanced Placement (AP) classes, participating in multiple science fair events and researching at University of Texas at Dallas (UTD).

“With such a strenuous workload, plus the really rigorous practice you have to do for rhythmic gymnastics,” Chen said, “if you did not have the work ethic that Nicky does, it would not be possible to accomplish anything.”

Despite her various achievements across an array of disciplines, Wojtania has maintained her down-to-earth attitude and meek personality.

“Because she is so humble, she does not realize the immense impact that she has on the people around her, including me,” Chen said. “That is why I’m really thankful of her.”

Wojtania hopes to use rhythmic gymnastics to apply for colleges, and hopefully pursue dance because of her ballet background.

“There is not really time to get bored,” Wojtania said. “I have a drive and I know what I want to do.”