Courtney Kupets female athlete of the year

Gymnast Courtney Kupets led her Georgia team to its fifth consecutive NCAA crown in April this year, amassing individual titles in the all-around, bars, beam and floor competition. She has been nominated for this year's ESPY awards in the "Best Female College Athlete" category. Below Courtney Kupets,gymnast from the University of Georgia, holds the Honda-Broderick Cup after she was named the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year during a ceremony at Columbia University in New York, Monday, June 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle):



A silver medal winner from the 2004 Olympics, Courtney missed taking part in the Beijing games because she needed surgery on her injured Achilles’ tendon. In university Courtney Kupets is majoring in housing and consumer economics. She comes from a sporting family; Courtney's father Mark played cornerback on the Indiana State football team. Her mother Patti was a high school gymnast and college cheerleader. Brother Mark, 21, was a high school track and field athlete, winning the Virginia state championship in pole vaulting and competing twice at the Penn Relays. Older sister Ashley, 19, was a former national team member and a leader of the University of Georgia gymnastics squad. Younger brother Chris, 16, plays varsity basketball.



Gymnastics is considered an "anaerobic" sport, one in which short, intense bursts of power are much more important than endurance. And because gymnasts have to be slim, eating disorders are common, specially among the female gymnasts. Courtney Kupets follows a sensible diet program: "I think it’s important for girls to concentrate on eating a wide variety of foods and a balanced diet. Even though I don’t like to eat vegetables, I eat them because they’re good for me. But I eat sweets too. I just make sure I balance it all out. Girls shouldn’t be too hard on themselves about the way they look—that’s not what matters."