COEUR d'ALENE - Stormi Winter, 16, a participant in the Great West Gym Fest at The Coeur d'Alene Resort, said gymnastics for her started about 15 years ago.

"We'll, I was almost 2," she said.

Winter, of Sagle, was always jumping around and climbing on things.

"My mom thought it was unsafe," Winter said. Soon, she was at a gym - a place with coaches and soft mats.

Melissa "Missy" Marlowe, 38, who was on the 1988 U.S. Olympic team and competed in Seoul, South Korea, said Winter's tale sounds familiar.

"Some kids would just rather do cartwheels than walk down the street," said Marlowe, of Salt Lake City.

She said gymnasts are part weightlifter, part rock climber, and would be great athletes in almost any other sport. She uses words like speed, flexibility, explosiveness and strength to describe gymnasts.

"Much of it is strength training," she said.

Marlowe, who has been retired for 20 years, is attending Gym Fest to hand out awards and meet the young athletes.

After starting in the sport, many of the gymnasts stick with it for years, gaining confidence about their ability to overcome challenges along the way, said Hannah Wolf, 12, of Coeur d'Alene. She has been in gymnastics for 10 years, she said.

She said her favorite part of Gym Fest is The Big Show, which features competition between the event's top gymnasts, which occurred Saturday night.

"It's a huge privilege to be in it," Wolf said. She competed in floor and bar routines in the show.

Like Wolf and Winter, Davina Carr, 15, of Spokane, is competing in Gym Fest, and has been involved in the sport most her life. Carr has been at it for 12 years.

"We've been with each other so long, it's not like it's just a sport," Carr said of her and her fellow gymnasts.

The athletes bond through the hard work, the nervousness of competition, the challenges of getting better, and other aspects of the sport that many outside it don't experience.

Katherin Pope, 14, of Post Falls, said one thing a lot of people don't understand about gymnastics is how much practice it takes, and how hard the athletes have to work, spending more hours in the gym than their counterparts in other sports.

Marlowe agrees.

"Gymnastics is not a girlie sport," she said.

Marlowe started gymnastics at age 8 and was on the U.S. national team at age 12, and ended up traveling to 11 different countries.

Carr said gymnasts meet one challenge, and are right away working toward the next level of competition and group of challenges.

The work ethic and dedication often moves from the gym to the classroom, and hopefully toward challenging careers.

Carr said she wants to be a doctor, and she believes she already has plenty of experience in that field, because of injures she has sustained in the sport.

She has had to battle injuries to her feet, back, and joints, among other ailments to stay at it.

Her immediate goal is to continue through high school competing, then move on to college, and then on to medical school.

Other gymnasts said their goal was to work to earn an athletic scholarship in gymnastics and earn a college degree.

Marlowe said the athletes are learning a lot of life lessons in the sport, and gaining valuable experience like she did.

"I feel very lucky for that," Marlowe said.