HIRAM — Crystal Yates is a name you may hear in 2016 in connection with the Summer Olympics.

The Paulding County 12 year old granddaughter of Cordele native Shirley Monson Childs has been performing gymnastic stunts since she was three, and currently, she is the senior division level 5 overall state champion.

Miss Yates earned that honor Nov. 21 at the state meet in Buford. Actually, she has held state titles at various levels since she began competing seven years ago at the age of 5.

“It’s in my blood,” she says. “I think I was turning somersaults in my mother’s womb.”

The lithe pre-teen competes as a member of the Paulding Gymnastics Team, and the vault is her favorite event. “It requires a lot of power and utilizes all my strength,” which the young athlete says she likes.

With a 9.35 score in the vault, she finished first in that event at the state meet. In fact, she was the only competitor among the 12 and 13 year olds to score above 9.0 in the vault.

She also finished first in the floor event with a 9.025 score. Her score on the bars was 9.15 which was good enough for a 6th place finish.

A score of 8.9 on the beam gave her a total score of 36.425 which was .200 of a point better than the second place performer from Lawrenceville.

Yates says she wants to continue competing in gymnastics for the rest of her life, and she has hopes of qualifying for the Olympics one day.

“I want to continue building my strength. I know that what I do today will affect my future.”

Yates admits to being a picky eater, but says that while she tries to eat healthy, she does splurge on the occasional candy bar and cookies.

An honors student whose ambition is to become a news anchor for CNN, Yates currently anchors a news report on TV in her school, Dobbins MIddle School in Hiram.

She has little time for other extracurricular activities. “My life is gymnastics, and it’s worth missing other things,” she says.

Rarely does she attend a football or basketball game at her school. She also misses school dances and spends her summers training when classmates are playing and goofing off.