SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – The 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony is tomorrow and people around the world are looking forward to watching their favorite athletes compete for gold. At the same time, there are people right here in Sioux Falls with their own Olympic ties now training some possible future gold medalists.
Keli Kitaura and Ricardo Pereira both coach at the All-American Gymnastics Academy. Before they came to Sioux Falls, they were coaching Olympic gymnasts.
Kitaura coached the Brazilian gymnastics team at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“It was amazing because it’s a lot of years of commitment, right,” Kitaura said. “It’s not just one year and then we go to compete. It’s basically ten years of commitment and practice and working hard with my athletes.”
Pereira also coached the Brazilian team in the 2016 Rio Olympics and also coached in London during the 2012 Olympics.
“That’s the dream, you know, I worked my whole life to be there,” Pereira said.
Now they are using some of their experiences from the Olympics to train young gymnasts in Sioux Falls.
“Of course, it’s different — different countries, different cultures, right, but we have little girls and we can build them,” Kitaura said. “We can make them good.”
And maybe one day we’ll see these girls competing for gold at the Olympic games.
“My goal right now it’s produce some athletes here to the national team, USA national team, and maybe go to the Olympics for two different countries,” Pereira said.
One of the athletes Kitaura coached in 2016 is back in the Olympics this year competing with the Brazilian team.
