Nicole Sladkov will be part of an event that made its debut at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. | Instagram
Nicole Sladkov will be part of an event that made its debut at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. | Instagram
A Vernon Hills native athlete will compete in the Tokyo Olympic Games in rhythmic gymnastics.
Nicole Sladkov will be part of an event that made its debut at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Rhythmic gymnastics combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics in a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon or rope.
Sladkov learned the sport from her mother, who also competed in rhythmic gymnastics.
"She was coaching after I was born and she would bring me to the gym and I would just kind of sit on the side and watch the bigger girls or the older girls do their routines and like play with their ribbons and what not," Sladkov told NBC Chicago. "But then she did open her own club and we started working with each other."
Sladkov will compete on the U.S. Team, according to the Olympics site, led by veteran and Libertyville-native Laura Zeng, who is considered the nation's most-accomplished rhythmic gymnast. The pair will be joined by Evita Griskenas, Isabelle Connor, Camilla Feeley, Lili Mizuno and Elizaveta Pletneva.
Despite the fact that the games won’t feature any family or friends to cheer them on, Sladkov said that she will keep her mother close to her heart and all advice she had given to her over the years.
"The one thing I always remember is every time I walked off the carpet after a routine she just said always, you know, 'I'm so proud of you,'" Sladkov said. "No matter how good or how bad the routine was, every single time I walked off the carpet she would tell me how proud she was."
Sladkov is no stranger to international competition, as she competed with the senior group at the 2017, 2018 and 2019 World Championships.
At the 2017 Pan American Championships in Daytona Beach, Florida, she won the gold medal in the five hoops and silver medals in the group all-around and three balls plus two ropes, both behind Brazil.
Most recently she was a 2019 Pan American Games all-around and five balls silver medalist (senior group).
The rhythmic gymnastics events are slated to begin on Aug. 5.
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