Smith, who was trained by the club's head coach and Team GB gymnastics coach, Paul Hall, won a team bronze and an individual silver medal in the pommel horse event at London 2012.

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At the time of the Games, her profile on the website of US Gymnastics suggested she planned to become a doctor or gymnastics coach in later life, but those ambitions were swept away in a media frenzy on her return to America.

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Others being appointed MBEs are Elizabeth Milburn, from West Suffolk College, for services to further education and the community, Susan Tamlyn, for heritage work and Andrew Wood, manager and head coach at Ipswich Gymnastics Centre, for sport.

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The hope is that expanded membership in USA Synchro will attract corporate sponsorship and build the U.S. team, said the national governing body's new executive director Julie Swarts, a former gymnast and coach who also works as a gymnastics judge.

WSJ: Synchro de Mayo: A Struggling U.S. Sport Throws Itself a Party