West Orange gymnast Alana Walker rises to the top

WEST ORANGE, NJ — As the Summer Olympics in Paris approaches, many youngsters can’t help but dream of one day getting the chance to compete in one of the biggest events in the world.

Alana Walker is one of them. When she was a young girl, Walker was mesmerized while watching gymnast Gabby Douglas in the Olympics, hoping to follow in her footsteps.

The 17-year-old West Orange native seems on her way.

Walker, who was schooled and trained at North Stars Gymnastics Academy in Boonton, already has international experience. She is a member of the Jamaican women’s national gymnastics team and this past spring she competed at the 2024 Senior Pan American Artistic Championships in Santa Marta, Colombia. She made it to the finals and finished 15th in the all-around. Walker’s parents were both born and raised in Jamaica, allowing her to become a member of its national team.

It was the second time she represented Jamaica. After winning the USAG Women’s Development Program Level 10 Nationals for her age division her freshman year, she became a member of the Jamaican national team for the Pan Am Junior Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. She took home bronze in the all-around, which represented her total score for all four events, and made history for the island nation by becoming Jamaica’s first gymnast to medal at an international competition.

Walker is beginning her freshman year at Stanford University, where she will continue her career on a full athletic scholarship. She arrived at Stanford about three weeks ago.

Walker began taking toddler gymnastics classes at around the age of 4. As she got older, her passion for the sport grew. Her parents fostered that love and enrolled her at North Stars Gymnastics Academy when she was in the third grade. 

North Stars has a long history of training outstanding gymnasts, with more than 100 athletes who have gone on to compete in the NCAA and a few dozen elites, since it opened in 1973. At North Stars Gymnastics Academy, athletes in its invitation-only homeschool program train in the mornings, then attend academic classes before taking part in a second afternoon session of training year-round.

Remarkably, Walker has been able to overcome two major injuries. 

After winning USAG Region 7 Regionals her sophomore year, she tore her anterior cruciate ligament, a week before nationals while training a high-level vault. That injury kept her out for several months. She made a full recovery, but then suffered another setback, tearing her Achillies while tumbling on floor. 

Walker knew she had it in her to make a comeback and became dominant her senior year. She went on to medal once again at nationals,  taking third on floor and sixth on the uneven bars, and competed for Team Jamaica at the Senior Pan Am Games before graduating from North Stars Gymnastics Academy in June.

As she was recovering from those injuries, Walker said she felt very grateful for all the support she received.

“Any kind of injury is discouraging, especially the period of time that it happened,” said Walker in a recent phone interview with the West Orange Chronicle. “The first time, I was set to go to nationals and I couldn’t compete anymore. But, I will say, I probably had one of the better experiences, getting through these injuries because of all the support that I had from my teammates, my coaches, my therapists and my family. Everybody was positive, so it didn’t feel as hard.”

Ashley Umberger, Walker’s head coach at North Stars Gymnastics Academy, marvels at Walker’s resiliency, as well as her overall talent.

“Alana is just a special individual,” Umberger said. “She is one of the hardest-working kids I have ever met, mentally and physically, because she battled two major injuries — an ACL tear and a ruptured Achilles. Each one of those injuries takes you out for about six to nine months. 

“Within every accolade that she has earned, she’s had some down time of healing major injuries and she was still able to accomplish what she set out to achieve. She is extremely resilient and really a special individual.”

Walker is looking to help Stanford win the NCAA national title. Stanford finished third in Semifinals Session I of the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, this past April.

Walker hasn’t declared a major yet, but at the moment, she is interested in mechanical engineering. 

“I love everything about here it,” Walker said of Stanford. “It’s a very beautiful campus. I connected with the coaches and I connected with the girls on the team.” 

Indeed, the sky’s the limit for Walker, especially when it comes to making it to the Olympics in four years for Jamaica.

“That’s definitely something that I have been thinking about,” Walker said. 

Umberger added, “She is probably one of the most special kids that I have ever worked with, and I see a lot of amazing things to come from her in the future.”

Video Courtesy of Andrew Walker