Orland Park Native To Make Olympic Debut In 2021 Summer Olympics

ORLAND PARK, IL — An Orland Park rhythmic gymnast is making her way to Tokyo, Japan, for her Olympic debut, after being named to the 2021 U.S. team for the Summer Olympics earlier this week.

Rhythmic gymnasts perform on a mat with a hoop, ball, clubs or ribbon. The sport requires great flexibility, strength and hand-eye coordination, as it combines elements of gymnastics and dance.

Evita Griskenas, 20, of Orland Park, is one Team USA Rhythmic Gymnast of nine who qualified for the summer event at the 2021 USA Gymnastics Championships in St. Louis Sunday. Griskenas was the highest ranked American gymnast at the 2019 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, and in the 2019 Pan American Games, She won five medals for Team USA — gold in the all-around, three gold medals in ball, hoop and ribbon, and a bronze medal for clubs — making her the most decorated athlete in any sport.

Griskenas told Patch this is her very first time heading to the Olympics.

"It’s a goal that I have been working towards for 16 years now, so it’s very exciting, encouraging, and invigorating for me," Griskenas told Patch. "I’m still getting waves of 'wow this is really happening!' at various moments throughout the day and use that to fuel my motivation."

Orland Township showed its support of the Orland Park native by wishing her luck on her Olympic journey. Griskenas was surprised and honored by the initiative.

"I actually saw the shoutout through Facebook first! It was very appreciated and makes me really feel the support of the town behind me," Griskenas told Patch.

The other athletes from North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics — located at 455 Lake Cook Road, Deerfield, Illinois — heading to the Olympics include Laura Zeng of Libertyville, Camilla Feeley of Wheeling, Lili Mizuno of Northbrook, Elizaveta Pletneva of Wheeling, Nicole Sladkov of Vernon Hills, Yelyzaveta Merenzon of Buffalo Grove and Isabelle Connor of Manhattan Beach, California. Gergana Petkova of Barrington is the reserve athlete on the team.

Griskenas and Zeng will compete in individual events, and the rest of the Olympic athletes are group competitors. Zeng is a six-time U.S. all-around national champion, and represented the United States at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Griskenas, a Carl Sandburg High School graduate, is the U.S. national champion in ball.

"Our Olympic dream 16 years ago was to send two individual athletes and Group to the Games," said Natalia Klimouk, USA Gymnastics national team coach and director of North Shore Rhythmics.

She went on to say, "It's the first time the U.S. has qualified the maximum number of rhythmic gymnasts — an incredible accomplishment and testament to the dedication of our coaches and to the perseverance and commitment of our athletes."

Klimouk praised USA Gymnastics Rhythmic Program Director Caroline Hunt, a Winnetka native. NSR coaches Angelina Yovcheva and Margarita Mamzina are part of the USA delegation, and Dani Takova is co-director of NSR.

"NSR is honored to so fully represent the United States in Tokyo," Klimouk said. "Rhythmic gymnastics is a beautiful sport, and we’re thrilled it continues to gain popularity in the U.S."

A record of 339 medal events in 42 venues at the Summer Games will kick off on July 23, and run through Aug. 8. For rhythmic gymnastics, the individual qualifications will compete on Aug. 6, while groups will compete on Aug. 7. See the 2021 Summer Olympics schedule here.

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