Amanda Borden

Amanda Kathleen Borden (born May 10, 1977) is an American retired gymnast. She was the captain of the gold medal-winning United States team in the 1996 Summer Olympics, the Magnificent Seven; a team medalist at the World Championships, and a multiple medalist at the 1995 Pan American Games. Borden was known for her clean form and technique.

Early life

Amanda Kathleen Borden was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She attended Finneytown Secondary Campus where she was on the A-honor roll, the National Honor Society and the Spanish National Honor Society. Borden was also her high school's homecoming queen.

Gymnastics

Borden began gymnastics in 1984, and trained under coach Mary Lee Tracy at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy. She was a member of the U.S. National Team for six years, earning her first berth as a junior in 1990. Due to her clean form and strong technique, Borden was chosen to demonstrate the 1993–1996 compulsory routines to the entire gymnastics community at the 1991 World Championships. Her enthusiastic, energetic demeanor also attracted attention, prompting commentators to nickname her "Pepsodent." However, injuries were a part of the adversities she had to work through. In the spring of 1991, she broke the growth plate on her left elbow. She trained with a cast to compete in the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, but then Borden had to withdraw the day before the competition because of a pulled right hamstring. The following year, at the U.S. National Championships, she placed 4th in the all-around, and was named as an alternate for the 1993 World Championships.

At the Pan Am Games in 1995, Borden competed on the U.S. team, which won the gold medal in the team competition. Individually, she won a second gold medal on balance beam, and silver medals in both the floor exercise and the all-around. Later in the year at the 1995 U.S. National Championships, she had to withdraw due to an injury.

In 2004, Borden opened a gymnastics training facility, Gold Medal Gymnastics Academy, located in Tempe, Arizona. Two years later she married Brad Cochran. In 2008, she gave birth to their first child, a daughter. They now have three children, the youngest two being boys. The couple opened a second training facility in Chandler, Arizona. Borden coaches at both facilities, focusing on uneven bars and beam. She also goes to IGC (International Gymnastics Camp) every summer to talk about her gymnastics experiences.

Now as a coach, her Olympic experiences inform her approach to her athletes, both in stressing the importance of doing gymnastics for the love of it, and in overcoming adversity. Borden's presence as an athlete was characterized by her good cheer and positive mind set, and for her perseverance through difficult times. Thinking back to her disappointment in missing the cut for the 1992 Olympic team, Borden reflects: