On her favourite event, the uneven parallel bars, Katie often performs a Def~that is a Gienger with a full twist! After Olympic Trials in 1996, Katie was unable to practice with the Twistars team that was working out at Spartan Gymnastics (she would have had to forgo her NCAA eligibility if she had), so she went to Spartan Gymnastics camp instead! She was in the top group (obviously), and when campers had to write down what new skills they wanted to learn, she said she wanted to learn a handspring-double front on vault! If compulsories had been eliminated before the 1996 Olympics, Katie would have made the Olympic team~she had the 5th-best optional score at the Olympic Trials
On her favourite event, the uneven parallel bars, Katie often performs a Def~that is a Gienger with a full twist!
If she had made the Olympic team 1996, Katie's brother would have bought her a mo-ped. If she makes it in 2000, he'll buy her a car.
Katie wants a mo-ped really badly-she taped pictures of them all over the refridgerator so her parents would know she wanted one.
Katie's sister Jen was also an elite gymnast, but not as high-ranked as Katie. Now she's 24 and coaches. She used to coach the level 8s at Spartan Gymnastics, and now (as of February 1996) coaches the Great Lakes Gymnastics preteam.
Although Katie is now injured, in January she was performing amazing releases on bars---two hops fulls to a Geinger. In one competition, she scored a 9.925 on bars!
Katie's beam mount is also spectacular. It's a roundoff layout to a backhandspring layout!
Katie's floor routine was choreographed by Bela Karolyi's good friend Geza Poszar, and includes two whips through to a full-in, a double-twisting front layout, and a triple twist.
Katie's mother, Joyce Teft, is the bookkeeper for a lumberyard, and her father, Tom Teft, is a route salesman for a soft drink company
Katie's brother Tim plays baseball and wrestles, and him and Katie get along well.
A week before the 1995 World Team Trials, Katie was feeling very overwhelmed. Her beam coach, Kathryn Geddert, made a packet for her including crossword puzzles and word searches related to gymnastics, to keep her focused.
Sometimes when Katie is feeling tired, Kathryn Geddert draws lightning bolts on her hands to make her feel energized.