Age:
14
Club:
Georgia Elite Gymnastics
Level:
10
Coach:
Pete Arenas, Myia Hambrick
Choreographer:
Cassidy Bernstein
Floor Music:
Handel's Sarabande
Whitney Michelle Bjerken was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 4, 2005. She was a
speedy delivery and has not slowed down since. Whitney has two brothers and one sister,
Sterling (18), Braxton (13), and Blakely (11). She also has a dog named Houston. Whitney
played soccer and took ballet like everybody else when she was 3 and 4 years old,
and then her mom put her into cheerleading. Whitney loved cheerleading and found out
she was pretty good at doing cartwheels and the splits. As a result, Whitney decided
to try gymnastics after the cheerleading season was over...and she has never looked
back. Whitney is now a level 10 gymnast at Georgia Elite Gymnastics and is in the
gym 5 days a week. Whitney loves gymnastics and she has always been a hard worker.
These two facts combined with excellent coaching has led Whitney to great success
in the sport to date. Whitney has won the All-Around Georgia State Championship 4
times and has won the Region 8 All-Around Championship twice. When Whitney was just
5 years old, her family started uploading videos of her gymnastics meets on YouTube
so that her grandparents, who live in Minnesota, could watch her compete. Whitney’s
videos were discovered on the internet and some of her videos started to go viral.
Whitney continued to make videos and now her YouTube channel has more than 1.24 million
subscribers with over 465 million views. Whitney tries to make videos that will help
girls understand the world of gymnastics, or at least her experience in it. Whitney
is also a talented musician who plays the piano, guitar, and writes her own songs.
She released her debut album in December, 2019 entitled Disappear. Like almost every
competitive gymnast, Whitney has had her share of injuries through the years. Unfortunately,
she acquired osteochondritis dissecans of the capitellum in her right elbow in 2018
which eventually let to surgery. She missed the 2018 competition season and had to
endure a year long recovery from the surgery. She fought back and returned to form
just in time for the 2019 competition season. Whitney had an incredible year winning
the All-Around at The Gala, her first meet back. In fact, she hit every routine of
the entire season, until her final bar routine at JO Nationals where she overshot
her pak. Unfortunately, Whitney’s osteochondritis dissecans returned in her right
elbow and she had reconstructive surgery in December of 2019. Whitney was presented
with the option to retire from the sport, but laughed at the thought of it and plans
to be back and better than ever in 2020. "You may see me struggle, but, you will NEVER
see me QUIT."
Whitney Michelle Bjerken was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 4, 2005. She was a
speedy delivery and has not slowed down since. Whitney has two brothers and one sister,
Sterling (18), Braxton (13), and Blakely (11). She also has a dog named Houston. Whitney
played soccer and took ballet like everybody else when she was 3 and 4 years old,
and then her mom put her into cheerleading. Whitney loved cheerleading and found out
she was pretty good at doing cartwheels and the splits. As a result, Whitney decided
to try gymnastics after the cheerleading season was over...and she has never looked
back. Whitney is now a level 10 gymnast at Georgia Elite Gymnastics and is in the
gym 5 days a week. Whitney loves gymnastics and she has always been a hard worker.
These two facts combined with excellent coaching has led Whitney to great success
in the sport to date. Whitney has won the All-Around Georgia State Championship 4
times and has won the Region 8 All-Around Championship twice. When Whitney was just
5 years old, her family started uploading videos of her gymnastics meets on YouTube
so that her grandparents, who live in Minnesota, could watch her compete. Whitney’s
videos were discovered on the internet and some of her videos started to go viral.
Whitney continued to make videos and now her YouTube channel has more than 1.24 million
subscribers with over 465 million views. Whitney tries to make videos that will help
girls understand the world of gymnastics, or at least her experience in it. Whitney
is also a talented musician who plays the piano, guitar, and writes her own songs.
She released her debut album in December, 2019 entitled Disappear. Like almost every
competitive gymnast, Whitney has had her share of injuries through the years. Unfortunately,
she acquired osteochondritis dissecans of the capitellum in her right elbow in 2018
which eventually let to surgery. She missed the 2018 competition season and had to
endure a year long recovery from the surgery. She fought back and returned to form
just in time for the 2019 competition season. Whitney had an incredible year winning
the All-Around at The Gala, her first meet back. In fact, she hit every routine of
the entire season, until her final bar routine at JO Nationals where she overshot
her pak. Unfortunately, Whitney’s osteochondritis dissecans returned in her right
elbow and she had reconstructive surgery in December of 2019. Whitney was presented
with the option to retire from the sport, but laughed at the thought of it and plans
to be back and better than ever in 2020. "You may see me struggle, but, you will NEVER
see me QUIT."
- My current goal is to recover from elbow surgery and return to form.
- To compete NCAA Gymnastics
- 2015 International Gymnast Magazine Gymnast of the Year Nominee
- 2016 International Gymnast Magazine Gymnast of the Year Nominee
- 2017 International Gymnast Magazine Gymnast of the Year Nominee
- 2017 Georgia State Championships Level 9 bars & beam silver medalist; vault, floor
& AA champion
- 2017 Hopes 12-13 Elite Compulsory Qualifier
- 2016 International Gymnast Magazine Gymnast of the Year Award Gold Medal Award
- 2016 Region 8 Championships Level 8 bars silver medalist, floor & AA Champion
- 2016 Georgia State Championships Level 8 beam champion
- 2015 International Gymnast Magazine Gymnast of the Year Rising Star Award
- 2015 TOPs National Developmental Invite Team?
- 2015 Region 8 Championships Level 7 AA bronze medalist
- 2015 Region 8 Championships Georgia State Team Member
- 2015 Georgia State Championships Level 7 vault & beam silver medalist; bars, floor
& AA champion
- 2014 TOPs National B Team?
- 2013 Georgia State Championships Level 4 vault bronze medalist; bars, beam, floor
& AA champion
- 2013 National TOPs Testing Qualifier
- 2012 Georgia State Championships (old) Level 4 vault silver medalist; bars, beam,
floor & AA champion
- 2011 Georgia State Championships (old) Level 3 vault champion
- 2019 Georgia State Championships Level 10 AA silver medalist, bars & beam champion
- 2019 Region 8 Championships Level 10 beam, floor & AA silver medalist
- 2019 Womens JO National Championships 4th place beam
- 2018 International Gymnast Magazine Gymnast of the Year Nominee
- 2019 International Gymnast Magazine Gymnast of the Year Nominee
- Healing from repeated elbow surgery
- My friends and my pets
- Playing the piano
- I want a kitten!
- I just released my debut EP