A rising high school freshman, Jamie Patel, July 7 won a national championship in a gymnastics national meet in Greensboro, N.C.

Patel was happy to see her name flash on the monitor as the national champion, saying in a Marshall (Texas) News Messenger report that she worked very hard and had a goal of winning the title.

“When I walked off the floor, I said, ‘Miss Kathy (her coach, Kathy Gani) helped me a lot and she made me look so good,’” Patel said in the report.

Gymnastics have been part of Patel’s life since she was 3 years old and she has vivid memories of her early days as a young gymnast, the publication said.

She experienced some tough times along the way, specifically four years ago when she broke her arm, the report said. She remained determined to not allow that to keep her down, it added.

“I flew off the trampoline,” she told the publication. “When I broke my arm, I still went to the gym. I don’t like sitting around for long periods of time. Now it’s kind of built into me to move. I never really stopped. I still went to the gym. I still found ways around not using my arms.”

Patel, who competes in the double mini and the floor, had been to nationals before but this was the first time she finished on top.

Her determination to finish first motivated her to add to her workouts and she began training at D-Rocks Gym in Marshall, the report said.

Patel, an upcoming freshman at Marshall High School, said she started training about five days a week with Gani adding in the report that the Indian American champion ramped up her strength training over the past 18 months, which made a huge difference.

Adding the strength training was an idea they came up with from watching Simone Biles, Patel’s favorite Olympic gymnast, the report said.

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