Olympic gymnast Sloan pays visit to Quad-Cities

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By Craig DeVrieze | Thursday, September 25, 2008 10:12 PM CDT | () comments

Bridget Sloan has spent much of her time of late reliving a week last month in Beijing.

Today and tonight, the silver-medal-winning Olympic gymnast will go back another 30 years in time.

On the eve of Mary Cosgrave Sloan’s reunion with her United Township High School Class of 1978 schoolmates, her newly famous daughter will serve as grand marshal of today’s UT Homecoming Parade in East Moline and then will sign autographs in advance of the Panthers’ football game against Quincy at the Soule Bowl.

“It is really cool to go back and relive my mom’s high school days,” Bridget Sloan said Thursday afternoon.

Just a few minutes earlier, the 16-year-old Sloan had collected her homework from her own high school in Pittsboro, Ind.

She said getting acclimated to being a celebrity sophomore at Tri-West High School has been among the highlights of whirlwind month since she and her U.S. women’s gymnastics teammates collected team silver behind the host Chinese in Beijing.

In China, Sloan saw The Great Wall, rubbed elbows with Michael Phelps and many of her fellow Olympians and even got to do some shopping, any teen’s dream.

Her most vivid memory from the experience, however, was that.

The experience.

“Definitely just being there and getting to have the experience and have that with me forever,” she said of her single favorite memory. “Definitely winning the medal was extremely cool.”

And, no, Sloan has no expectations that medal will grow into gold, despite an ongoing investigation by the International Gymnastics Federation into allegations several Chinese gymnasts were under the minimum Olympic age requirement of 16.

“I’m happy with silver,” said Sloan, who competed only in the team competition.

At the moment, the youngest gymnast on the U.S. team won’t commit to pursuing a second Olympic experience in 2012 in London.

But she’s not ruling it out, either.

“I am kind of taking it easy,’’ she said. “After 2011, I’ll give you an answer.”

For now, she’s enjoying the ride.

Since returning to the U.S. she has been feted with a parade and reception in her hometown, attended a ceremony on the steps of the statehouse with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and seven other Indiana Olympians, and has been toasted at center court at an Indiana Fever WNBA playoff game and at midfield at last week’s NFL Colts’ game.

This weekend, Sloan will spend time with some of her most avid fans —her paternal grandmother, 12 aunts and uncles and 25 first cousins live in the Quad-Cities, where both her mother and father, Jeff, grew up.

They weren’t with her physically in Beijing, but she defintely knew they were pulling for her.

“I got a lot of (text) messages from my cousins and a lot of e-mail from them,” she said.

The UT Homecoming Parade will start at 15th Avenue in downtown East Moline beginning at 2 p.m.

Sloan will sign autographs at Soule Bowl between 5:45 and 6:45 p.m.

Craig DeVrieze can be contacted at (563) 333-2610 or cdevrieze@qctimes.com.