Julie Ashley Zetlin (born June 30, 1990) is a retired elite rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2010 U.S. Senior National Champion in

Rhythmic Gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop (rhythmic gymnastics), hoop, ball (rhythmic gymnastics), ball, Clubs (rhythmic gymnastics), clubs, ribbon (rhythmic gymnastics), ...

, and represented the United States at the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Personal life

Zetlin is Jewish, and her mother Zsuzsi is a former Hungarian national champion in the sport.

Career

Zetlin began rhythmic gymnastics instruction at the age of four. She has been a member of the U.S. junior and senior national

rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop (rhythmic gymnastics), hoop, ball (rhythmic gymnastics), ball, Clubs (rhythmic gymnastics), clubs, ribbon (rhythmic gymnastics), ...

teams since 2004. She trained with longtime coach Olga Kutuzova at Capital Rhythmics in Darnestown,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Junior career

In her final year as a junior competitor, Zetlin placed second all-around at 2005 Junior U.S. National Championships in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, and she won the junior titles on rope, hoop, clubs and ribbon. In 2002, she competed in her first Junior Nationals in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, where she placed 12th all-around. At 2004 Junior Nationals in

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, she placed second in the all-around, rope, clubs and ribbon, as well as third in ball.

Senior career

In 2006, her first year in senior competition, she finished fourth all-around at 2006 Nationals in

St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

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, and she placed first in rope and clubs. She also placed fifth all-around and fourth in rope at the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships in

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, Hawaii, where the U.S. captured the team

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

medal. She notched a third-place finish in the all-around at 2007 Nationals in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, where she won ribbon, placed second in hoop and placed third in ribbon and clubs. Zetlin placed fourth all-around at 2008 Nationals in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas, where she earned third-place finishes in rope, clubs, and ribbon. At 2009 Nationals in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

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, Zetlin placed third in the all-around, rope, ribbon and ball, and she earned a fourth-place finish in hoop. Zetlin placed 23rd all-around (99.025) at the

2010 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships The XXX World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were held in Moscow, Russia from 20 to 26 September 2010 at the Olympiysky Sports Complex. The events were all-around, ball, ribbon, hoop, rope and the group all around, group 5 hoops and group 3 r ...

in Moscow, Russia, where she became the first U.S gymnast to advance to the world all-around finals since

Mary Sanders Mary Sanders (born 26 August 1985 in Toronto, Ontario) is an American individual Rhythmic Gymnast. Mary holds dual citizenship of both the United States and Canada, as her father was American and her mother is Canadian. She began her career repre ...

in 2003. At the 2010

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

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, Mexico, Zetlin won the all-around,

rope A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...

and ball, and she placed third in ribbon. The U.S. also earned the team

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

medal in rhythmic gymnastics. She captured the all-around title at the 2010 U.S. National Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, along with first-place finishes in hoop, ball and ribbon. She earned a second-place finish in rope. In September 2011, Zetlin was named to the U.S. team for the 2011 Rhythmic World Championships, which took place during September in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, France. She was the top finisher from the continent, and therefore she was in top contention for the wildcard for the 2012 Olympic Games. At the 2011

Pan-American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

, Mexico during October, Zetlin captured gold medals in the all-around, ball and ribbon. She was awarded a wildcard for the 2012 Olympic Games as the highest ranked gymnast from the Americas. At the Olympic Games, she placed 21st in the qualifications and did not advance into the finals.

Legacy

On December 15, 2015, it was announced that Zetlin had been inducted as a 2016 class of the

USA Gymnastics United States of America Gymnastics (USA Gymnastics or USAG) is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. It sets the domestic rules and policies that govern the sport, promotes and develops gymnastics on the grassroots ...

Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zetlin, Julie 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Bethesda, Maryland American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American rhythmic gymnasts Jewish American sportspeople Gymnasts at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for the United States Sportspeople from Maryland Gymnasts at the 2007 Pan American Games Gymnasts at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in gymnastics Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in gymnastics 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American sportswomen Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics Pan American Championships