El Dorado Hills native and Stanford alum Riley Loos tumbles toward Paris Olympics

STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOR HIS SUCCESS. LONG BEFORE RILEY LUCE WAS DOING THIS AS A U.S. MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM GYMNAST, HE WAS DOING THIS AROUND HIS NEIGHBORHOOD AND PRETTY MUCH EVERYWHERE ELSE. YEAH, THAT’S ACTUALLY WHY I JOINED GYMNASTICS. I WATCHED THE 2008 OLYMPICS, SAW SOMEBODY ON THE RINGS, AND I WAS LIKE, I WANT TO DO THAT. SO I JOINED THE NEXT YEAR AND QUIT BASKETBALL. SOCCER. AND BASEBALL QUIT AMAL AND JUST DID GYMNASTICS FOR THE NEXT 14 YEARS. THAT LED. HIM TO THE STANFORD GYMNASTICS TEAM UNDER 22 YEAR HEAD COACH TOM GILLIAM. NEARLY HALF THE NATIONAL TEAM HAS A CONNECTION TO STANFORD, AND THIS COACH, WHO ALSO LED THE TOKYO MEN’S OLYMPIC TEAM. IT’S LIMITLESS. THERE’S THAT’S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT GOT ME INTO THE SPORT WAS NOT JUST THE THRILL SEEKER IN ME AND THE ADRENALINE ADDICT, BUT THE, YOU KNOW, THE INFINITE POSSIBILITIES THAT CAN BE PUT TOGETHER WHEN YOU’RE TRAINING. ONCE YOU’VE GRADUATED, BUT YOU’RE STILL YOU STILL HAVE THE ABILITY TO TRAIN WITH THE TEAM. WHY IS THAT SO CRUCIAL TO TRAINING AT STANFORD. IS LIKE A NATIONAL TEAM CAMP. EVERY SINGLE DAY, AND YOU’RE JUST BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE BY THE BEST GUYS IN THE GAME. IN WOBBLER’S GUYS SEEM TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME IN THE AIR. THE REALITY IS THEY SPEND MORE TIME IN THEIR HEAD. WHAT PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE, I’D SAY, IS, ONE THING I WANT TO MENTION IS HOW MENTAL THIS SPORT IS AND HOW MUCH WORK HAS TO BE DONE. JUST VISUALIZING AND THINKING ABOUT HOW YOU THINK ABOUT THINGS. AND THE ONE THING HE’S MAINLY THINKING ABOUT, BEING ONE OF THE FIVE MEN WHO WILL ULTIMATELY TUMBLE INTO THE OLYMPIC TEAM ROSTER, WELL, THAT’S THE BIG GOAL THIS YEAR. THAT’S WHAT I’M GOING FOR. I DON’T THINK IT’S OUT OF REACH. UM, I THINK IF I DO MAKE IT, IT’LL BE MY LIFE GOAL ACCOMPLISHED AND I CAN JUST REST FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. HONESTLY, RUSTING. THAT MIGHT BE THE ONLY THING RILEY LUCE CAN’T HANG WITH ON THE ROAD TO PARIS. I’M DEIRDRE FITZPATRICK. THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES ON THIS WEEK’S DYING TO ASK THE ROAD TO PARIS PODCAST. RILEY AND DEIRDRE BREAKDOWN HOW STANFORD’S SYSTEM OF TIERED ACCOUNTABILITY WORKS, AND YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO APPLY