Payson Keeler is the most driven, determined, and focused of the gymnasts at The Rock gym. She arrives earlier at the gym than all of the other gymnasts every morning to practice, and leaves later than everyone else every night. After an old back injury flared up, she tried to mask the effects with painkillers and wound up with an injury nearly everyone said would prevent her from ever competing again. Payson was determined not to give up, and when her coach Sasha Belhov found her a doctor who said she could operate successfully on Payson's back, Payson took the chance. The operation was successful, and in no time Payson was back to training for competition. Because she had been out of training for so long, Payson had grown an inch and gained more womanly curves during the time she was sidelined. Therefore, the 'power gymnast' she had always been was no more, destroyed by a body that refused to co-operate with her idea of the person she needed to be in order to meet her ultimate goal--winning an individual gold medal at the Olympics. Sasha brought up the idea of becoming an 'artistic gymnast,' someone who scored high points through the grace and style she showed rather than through simple strength and speed. This became her new dream. Payson was resistant at first, upset to watch her friends go to Worlds and compete without her and afraid she could not change so much. In addition, as a young woman somewhat ashamed of her newly burgeoning femininity, the idea of showing off that same femininity to the world was not appealing to Payson. She protested. However, after taking ballet lessons--which Sasha agreed to participate in as well!--Payson began to gain some faith in her body's ability to be beautiful AND powerful. She went to the ballet with Sasha, and even met his friend, the lead ballerina! She performed her new floor routine outside to gain a sense of herself as an 'unfolding flower.' She learned how to love herself for everything she was, not just the non-womanly parts. During this 'recovery' process, Payson and Sasha eventually grew very close. She leaned on him, he loaned her his gold medal until she had one of her own, he made sure she was honored at the 'Rocky' gym awards even though she was still recovering from her injury and no one knew if she would ever compete again. Because she dependend on him to have that faith in her, she began to rely on him for more emotional matters. Payson developed a crush on Sasha, made even worse by the fact that he was the only man around that gym policy allowed her to spend any length of time with alone outside of the gym. Meanwhile, Payson's other love interest, who illegally supplied her with pain meds for her back and was not such a stand-up guy, left town. Payson's interest culminated in her kissing her coach. He detached quickly and tried to talk. She fled. Sasha approached both Payson and her mother compassionately after the incident, talking over with Payson his own hope that they remain close and his own worshipful feelings for his coach. The tension passed. Unfortunately, the bitter and envious Lauren found a videotape of the kiss that had accidentally been left in the camera intended to record Payson's floor routine for her to analyze later. She sent it in to Ellen Beals, the head of the National Committee, who proceeded to thoroughly trounce Sasha and embarrass Payson. Payson tried out for the Committee in order to make the Olympic qualifiers, and was accepted. She found out later that the price of this acceptance was presumably Sasha's resignation as head coach of the Rock. Triumph and joy was mixed with tears as she discovered via a letter her beloved coach had behind for her that he would have to leave for her to claim her dream--and he was willing to do so. Payson is a natural leader, the one who keeps everyone's heads in the game and instills her desire to win inside every member of every team she is ever on. She is sure to inspire many at the Rock gym and probably throughout the U.S. with her recent successes and unbelievable comeback story. However, the loss of her coach will weight heavily on Payson indeed. She tends towards guilt and extreme sensitivity, the result perhaps of all of the immense passion she possesses being channeled towards one specific goal. Will she blame herself for Sasha's disappearance from her life, and from the gym? Will Payson finally get a love interest worthy of her and capable of loving her back? How much of a blow will the loss of her coach and beloved friend be, and will it be enough to distract the always committed Payson from her training with the pull of any other broken heart? Stay tuned, renew this show for next season, and let's find out! Show less «