Arizona’s Jade Carey wins Olympic gold medal

Former instructor and mother comment on victory

TOKYO, Japan (KYMA, KECY/KNXV/AP) - American gymnast Jade Carey's long road to the Olympics ended with gold. Her former coach Pam Evans shares, "She's had her ups and downs while she's there, but I know this gold medal on the floor is so exciting for her."

The 21-year-old claimed the top spot in the women's floor exercise, giving the U.S. team its fifth medal of the games.

Describing the event, her own mother Danielle Greenberg says, "She had an error on the vault and she was devastated and had about 24 hours to compose herself and come back, and she did."

Carey's triumph came a day after she narrowly avoided serious injury when she tripped during the vault finals.

"Her tendency is to come back mad and strong, so I like knew deep down that she was going to do it," added Evans.