Annia Hatch

Annia Portuondo Hatch (born June 14, 1978, in Guantánamo, Cuba) is a Cuban-American artistic gymnast who competed for the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Career in Cuba Hatch began gymnastics in her native Cuba at the age of four. She won her first Cuban National Championships when she was ten;

Competing for Cuba, Hatch made her debut at the World Gymnastics Championships in 1993 and placed tenth in the all-around. With her husband, she became a part-owner and coach of the Stars Academy gym in West Haven, Connecticut. She went on to place fourth at Nationals, performing two strong vaults (a double-twisting Tsukahara and a double-twisting Yurchenko) and establishing herself as a contender for a medal at the 2002 World Championships: Muriel Grossfeld, a former national champion who worked with Hatch, called her "probably the best vaulter in the world".

Although Hatch was a U.S. citizen, Olympic rules stated that during the first year after obtaining citizenship in a new nation, an athlete needed permission from her former country of citizenship to represent the new one in international competition. However, Hatch was able to return to competition by the middle of 2004, in time for the National Championships and Olympic Trials,

In the team competition at the Olympics, Hatch performed on vault and contributed to the United States' silver medal. Although her ACL was not completely rehabilitated, she still qualified to the vault event final, where she won a silver medal behind Monica Roșu of Romania. She was the first American woman to win an Olympic vault medal since Mary Lou Retton in 1984.

Post-Olympics After the Olympics, Hatch turned to coaching, while also working in fashion (including developing her own clothing line). In January 2012, she moved to Ashburn, VA where she resides now. Her Annia Cares project organization was launched in 2016 to help and support athletes and families around the world.