Q.C. teen tumbles into world championships

Cody Farabee's body flies through the air as he practices his powerful flips and twists at the Aspire Kids Sports Center.

Many of the young gymnasts and coaches at the Chandler center take a break and watch as the Queen Creek 17-year-old seems to effortlessly perform his gymnastic skills.

They're watching because Cody is not your average gymnast.

The Williams Field High School senior placed first last month in the junior elite division in both double-mini trampoline and power tumbling at the world championship qualifiers in Las Vegas.

The win qualified Cody for the Junior World Championships in November in St. Petersburg, Russia. He'll compete against 900 athletes from 32 countries.

It's the first time an Arizona athlete has qualified for the world championships, according to Aspire Kids Sports Center.

It seems Cody's six-day-a-week, two-and-a-half-hours-a-day practice has paid off during his first world tryout.

"I feel like I prepared for it," Cody said. "I thought it was awesome. I was able to crack a smile, and it's hard for me to show emotion. I like knowing that I'm one of the best in the nation and can perform at that level."

His coach, Jon Black, knew after the warm-ups that Cody would do well in the qualifiers, although he didn't expect him to do as well as he did. Cody won the tumbling portion by five and a half points, a rare point spread in the gymnastics world.

"We expected him to be a contender, but not to dominate," said Black, 27, who is also an award-winning gymnast. "Cody is my first student that's done this well."

Black will accompany Cody to Russia and was chosen as one of six coaches to be on the floor during the Junior World Championships.

Cody got back into gymnastics when he was 14 and has been practicing since with Black at the Aspire Kids Sports Center. Between the ages of 5 and 9, Cody did artistic gymnastics.

He was into skateboarding and extreme sports, and the high-flying twists and flips he is able to do satisfy his thrill for extreme sports, Cody said.

"It's the X Games version of gymnastics," Cody said.

Power tumbling is continuous flips and twists in the air along an 88-foot stretch of floor. The double-mini trampoline has Cody jumping on a trampoline, doing multiple flips in the air, and then jumping on a second trampoline and doing more flips until he finally lands on the ground.

Black said he wouldn't have picked Cody out as a natural talent in gymnastics. He credits Cody's wins to his hard work, and the time and effort he puts into practice.

"He has no fear, which is great," Black said. "He's impressed me tremendously with his ability to compete at a higher level, and I look forward to training him as a senior elite athlete and getting him to the world championships on that level."

Cody attributes his award-winning gymnastic feats to his coach and his parents, who have always been there to support him. Because of Cody's schedule, he is not able to get a job. Besides gymnastics, Cody is also on the Williams Field diving team and was a state champion diver last year.

He's been diving for about two years, and his diving training is similar to his gymnastics training.

"I like gymnastics over diving, but diving is my fallback," Cody said.

After the world championships, Cody wants to get scholarships so he can continue doing gymnastics at a university.

His next goal is to be the world champion at the senior level in two years. If he does well at the senior level, Cody can start thinking about trying out for the Olympics.

"Those are my goals: college, worlds, Olympics, maybe," Cody said. "I just want to be the best I can be."

Cody is trying to raise $5,000 for his trip to Russia.

For information on donating, call the Aspire Kids Sports Center at (480) 820-3774.