University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Ady Wahl
January 10, 2024 | Gymnastics, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Ady Wahl likes all kinds of foods — and given how hard she trains, she has to eat a lot — but the Georgia GymDog is always happy with a salad.
These Quick Chats have been happening for almost nine years, and a regular question since the beginning has asked subjects to name something they could eat every single day without ever getting tired of it. After a thousand or so interviews, with answers regularly including chicken wings, steak, candy or ice cream, Wahl, a freshman from Zanesville, Ohio, is the first to say she could eat a salad every day.
"I don't know what it is, but I've always loved salads from the time I was little," she said during a recent Quick Chat. She also talked about her start in gymnastics, meeting coach Courtney Kupets Carter at a camp, and much more.
Wahl competed in all four events during the GymDogs' season-opening win over N.C. State last Saturday. She posed a 9.775 on vault, 9.800 on bars, 9.775 on beam and a 9.825 on floor in her first collegiate meet. Georgia is back in action Friday at Arkansas.
Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: When did you get started in gymnastics? And when did you get really serious about it?
Wahl: Ever since I was little, I was always running around all over the place. And my mom actually coached gymnastics, so that's kind of how I got into it. I went to a local gym in my hometown, and that just sparked my interest.
I wasn't the gymnast who was very good at everything, but I was very in love with it from the get-go. I don't know, that passion just grew and grew as I got older — and here I am.
Frierson: What was it that you loved?
Wahl: I think it was just the thrill of doing a flip, or being able to tell my friends, "Oh, yeah, I can do a backflip." At first, it was just the thrill of getting a new skill or being able to do stuff that other people can't do. I don't know, I always had a love for it. It was so exciting to me, like, "I get to go to the gym!"
Frierson: Do you remember the first time you really nailed a routine or maneuver?
Wahl: I think one of the first times I did a double back(flip) on the floor, it was my first time at a bigger gym. It was my first time doing it on my own and landing it. I just remember people saying "Good job!" to me, and I remember being like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe I did that.
That was one moment that I really remember, and I'll remember it for the rest of my life.
Frierson: Did you play some other sports, or was it gymnastics all the time?
Wahl: I tried volleyball in middle school and it was really fun, but my parents were like, "We need you to make a decision on what you want to do." I saw my future more in gymnastics than I did in volleyball, so I just stuck with it.
Frierson: What is it like having to make that kind of decision at a young age?
Wahl: I think for other sports, say if you play basketball or softball, it's easier to do more than one sport. I'm not going to say they don't take as much dedication, but gymnastics is very hard on your body, so you kind of have to be all-in or all-out, because if you want to go Division I, you have to be all-in.
It was really an easy decision for me to make because I'd been doing it for so long, and why would I give up now? I was at the point where I was like, there's no turning back. I'm already on this path to go somewhere great, and I wanted to stay on that path.
Frierson: When did you learn or realize how amazing a gymnast Courtney was during her GymDogs career?
Wahl: I had always known about Courtney because she's an Olympian, but it was just crazy to me that she was coaching at UGA. When I would come to camps, I would just be like, "Oh, my gosh, it's Courtney Kupets!" I think my first camp here, I went home and I was watching videos (of Kupets Carter) with my mom, and I was like, "Mom, she is insane. She is so good!"
It is really cool to be coached by her. It's such an honor.
Frierson: When I think of your hometown, Zanesville, I think of the wild story from about 10 years ago, when a guy in Zanesville let his huge collection of lions, tigers and other wild animals loose. Do you remember that happening?
Wahl: Yes! I was in elementary school, and I do remember it because they called off school. They were like, you guys are not going to school (with all of these dangerous animals on the loose). I remember just looking out my window, waiting to see if I could see an animal or something. I was actually thinking about that just the other day.
Frierson: Who is the funniest person on the team?
Wahl: Oh, gosh, there are so many funny people. Vanessa (Deniz) is one of the funniest people I have ever met, and Eryn (Williams). I would say that those two are always making me laugh. Vanessa is very, very quirky and very funny.
Frierson: What is something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Wahl: I could eat a salad every day, I think. I don't know what it is, but I've always loved salads from the time I was little.
Frierson: I do about 100 of these a year, and have for about nine years now, and I believe you're the first person to say they'd have a salad.
Wahl: Really? I don't know why. It's not like a heathy thing or anything, I just like it.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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