Frank Grillo has been training with Olympic champion Vitaly Scherbo since he was 9 years old. Photos by Leah Parr/R-Jeneration Frank Grillo, a student at Las Vegas Academy, is working toward competing in the Olympics as a gymnast. Frank Grillo's coach, Vitaly Scherbo, left, is a gold medal champion of the 1992 Olympics. Grillo considers him a second father.

Heart pounding, hands sweating, legs throbbing. Photographers aim their cameras as the teen athlete glances at the pommel horse. After years and years of practice, it all comes down to this. Crowds of people watch as the camera zooms in on his body. No facial expression reveals what is tearing at his heart and how much pressure he feels.

Frank Grillo, a student at the Las Vegas Academy Magnet High School, has faced such nerve-wracking moments many times during years of gymnastics competition. At 16, he is a state champion and Olympic hopeful.

Grillo became interested in gymnastics when he was about 5. His sister, who is two years older, was in dance class, and he wanted to start an activity of his own. So he joined a gymnastics class for kids.

"Frank didn't want to be in seasonal sports but wanted a yearlong hobby, so after soccer, baseball and basketball, he ended up finding what he liked most," said his father, Frank Grillo Sr.

Grillo moved to Las Vegas when he was about 8, and a year after, he started training with Vitaly Scherbo, world-renowned gold medal champion of the 1992 Olympics. Scherbo started his own gymnasium in 1998 and recruited students who he thought had potential to compete on a national level.

When Scherbo saw Grillo for the first time, he noticed the boy's talent. Since then, Grillo has continued to impress Scherbo, who continually works on new moves to help prepare Grillo for international competition.

"Vitaly is like a second father to me," Grillo said. "I've known him like all my life. Ever since I've moved here he jokes around, but not so much anymore -- now that I'm bigger than him," Grillo added with a laugh.

Grillo, who has a shy personality, likes doing everything a typical teenager likes doing, but his workouts are his priority. He trains three hours per session, six days a week.

But all this exercise sometimes keeps him from hanging out with his friends. He also misses out on other activities.

"I haven't ridden a bike in years," Frank said. "It's sitting in my garage, and it's about half the size of me now."

He relaxes on weekends, playing video games with his best friend and fellow gymnast, Lucas Mendonca, because his weekdays always are busy. Mendonca is from Brazil and is competing on the same team as Grillo.

"We got a good relationship," Mendonca said. "We're both trying to get some scholarships with the same level of gymnastics, and there is a lot more competition. When we're out of the gym, we're always at each other's house. We play video games, go to a park, play catch, basketball. That's the good part, hanging out, or everyone would get sick of each other."

The 16-year-old chose a favorite secialty to learn.

"My favorite event is the rings," Grillo said. "It takes a lot of strength, and I have the most trouble with it."

Grillo also is part of the Academy Singers, the top choir at Las Vegas Academy, but is humble when asked about it.

"He loves choir, and he tries to balance time between choir and here," Grillo's father said during an interview at the gym. "Now I try to stress that gymnastics takes precedence, but his (choir) teacher Mr. (ShaunAnthony) Williams is very understanding."

Recently, he had a weeklong caroling gig and had to make up for the training he missed on his only free day, Sunday.

Grillo hopes to be part of the U.S. team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Last year he was pronounced the 2006 All-Around Nevada State Champion.

"It's the dream of every kid to go to the Olympics," Frank Grillo Sr. said. "Only six guys make it on the team with one alternate."

Despite his own workload the teenager helps younger gymnasts stretch and condition.

"I like helping them," he said. "They're like little brothers to me. Either me or Lucas helps them out, whoever is around. I can rely and trust on him on everything."

If Grillo misses just a day or two of practice, he can get seriously hurt when he begins training again. Since he is the biggest, most muscular guy in the gym, he has to do more repetitions, with more weight. With that responsibility, he pushes himself harder than most male gymnasts his age.

"As far as size goes, he's taller than the ideal height, and Vitaly tries to overcome this by putting him through extra training," Frank Grillo Sr. said. "He's very, very strong. Who knows what his development will be in the next five years? The last two to three years have been weak, but the best few years are ahead of him. The 2012 London Olympics would be about the right age for him."

Practice begins with 20 minutes of stretching and 45 minutes of conditioning with 5-to 6-pound weights on his ankles. He said gymnasts need to take precautions to avoid injuries, which could cause them to take a long period of time off from training or even cause their retirement from the sport.

Even though he does condition and warm up, he can get serious injuries. He has broken fingers, toes, legs, arms and his nose during his training.

The worst injury, or the one that he said was most painful, was a tear to his shoulder. The injury stretched from the middle of his back to his shoulder blade.

At first, Grillo thought that his shoulder tear was just a normal injury, and he continued training while undergoing physical therapy. After two seasons, he started to complain about the pain he was feeling throughout his shoulder. In March, he had surgery.

After the surgery, he became weak. He underwent rehabilitation until September, when he came back to finish strong in an Arizona meet.

"My hardest competitions were the first few after my surgery," Grillo said. "I got rusty from not doing gym. It was hard to get back to shifts I was doing before. I love gymnastics. I probably would be a completely different person if I didn't have gymnastics in my life."

Frank Grillo Sr. said most young gymnasts continue training until their bodies tell them to stop.

"Gymnastics is a sport where you can't sit out," he said. "It's so demanding on their bodies that you can't let them rust."

Grillo hopes to become world champion and then attend a college of gymnastics.

The frequent competitions help with individual improvement and when Grillo goes, he goes with a smile on his face.

"I'm always stressed, or kind of nervous at competitions," Mendonca said. "Frank, he doesn't even get nervous. He just goes for it."

Grillo said, "I'm not going to listen to anyone when I'm at competitions. I block everything out besides just me and the event. At meets, I try to ease everything and the stress. I view it as a normal workout for me. I just have fun laughing around, and if it's bigger, I get more serious."

He said his parents support everything he does in gymnastics.

His family attends all his meets, and his father also attends every practice.

His father picks him up from school and drives him to the gym every day. Because of all the training he must do, the family's only vacations center around competitions. The family recently enjoyed a trip to Disneyland.

"I think I will stick with gymnastics my whole life," Grillo said. "When I retire, I'll go for other stuff like an architect, because I like drawing and math.

"When people ask if I'm going to the Olympics in Beijing, I try to explain and tell them I'm certainly gonna try to."