NORMAN — Getting her feet wet in gymnastics as a young girl, Olivia Trautman would stand off to the side and marvel watching the older gymnast work.
The girl was only about three years older than her, but to Trautman, it seemed like a lifetime away watching her on the mats at Twin City Twisters in Champlin, Minnesota.
“I would watch her in the gym and just be in awe of the stuff that she could do,” Trautman said this week.
The older girl Trautman admired then eventually became her best friend. And Trautman eventually followed in Maggie Nichols’ footsteps by pursuing gymnastics’ elite path before competing at Oklahoma.