When all else failed for the Lau family of Nu'uanu, fortune intervened.

And for 14-year-old gymnast Randi Lau, beneficiary of a most improbable turn of events, the timing could hardly have been better.

Lau, a student at Myron B. Thompson Academy, finished eighth in the all-around standings at last Saturday's 2008 Visa Championships in Boston, becoming the first Hawai'i gymnast ever to earn a spot on the Women's Junior National Olympic Team for artistic gymnastics.

The achievement came just a year after Randi and her parents, Robert and Susan, had all but surrendered their hopes of seeing Randi don a USA uniform, and a mere three months after the family's serendipitous discovery of a pair of stranded world-class gymnastics coaches from Russia.

"The chances of me making the team was so slim, it was hard for me to keep going," said Randi, who had to overcome injuries and a lack of high-level training just to get to Boston. "But deep inside, I knew I could do it.

"I'm hoping to train all the way to 2012 and try and earn a spot on the Olympic team."

Artistic gymnastics is a sub-discipline of gymnastics that encompasses the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercises.

Randi competes at the "elite" level, the highest division of the sport.

A gifted natural athlete, Randi was first exposed to gymnastics at age 6 when she attended a birthday party at Hawai'i Academy. Her innate abilities were apparent enough to one of the coaches also at the party. Confirmation came as the Laus visited other local gyms for second, third and fourth opinions.

Under the guidance of veteran local gymnastics coach Joe Rapp, Randi quickly established herself as one of the most promising young gymnasts the state has produced.

At age 11, she was elevated to elite status and competed against girls five years her senior at the Visa Championships.

"When she qualified for Visa (2005), we thought that was it, that she had done it," Robert Lau said, chuckling. "We didn't know how much was still ahead. We were just standing there with a giant maze in front of us that we had to find a way to get through."

And, indeed, it was a maze fraught with unforeseen perils.

While the Laus are grateful for the job Rapp did in developing their daughter — "He built her," Robert said. "He pushed her and made her a Junior Olympic champion" — they said the expertise needed to properly nurture an elite artistic gymnast simply wasn't available in Hawai'i.

"Unlike the Mainland, you can't just get in the car and drive to another state," Robert said.

So, while the Laus maintain that Hawai'i gymnastics coaches do a fine job developing quality Junior Olympic prospects, they knew they had to do something dramatic to give their daughter a shot at performing at a higher level.

If Randi was to earn a shot at representing her country, they reluctantly agreed, she'd have to leave home.

WHAT IT TAKES

Robert, an information technology supervisor, and Susan, a data engineer, are in thought and action compulsively analytical people.

After each milestone Randi achieves, the Laus make it a point to step back, reflect and ask Randi what she wants to do next.

"You have to finish what you start," Robert said. "But once you reach the goal, you have to evaluate what you want to do next and what it will take to do it.

"When Randi made the Visa, we asked her if she wanted to continue. And she did — it was her call," he said. "When we realized that the coaching expertise just wasn't here to help reach her next goal, we asked her if she was really willing to live somewhere else to get it."

She was.

The Laus settled on the prestigious World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in Plano, Texas, where they would entrust their eldest child to the care of people they did not truly know.

"It was our last resort," Robert said of Randi's move in 2006.

It was, the Laus now concede, a disaster.

Away from her family, immersed in an unfamiliar culture, trained to the breaking point by well-intentioned but hard-driving coaches, Randi hit the wall — hard.

"She kind of fell apart (physically) and by the end of the year, she was nowhere," Robert said. "So we brought her home."

BOUNCING BACK

The Laus figured Randi had given gymnastics her best shot and now, perhaps, it was time to move on.

The family had willingly tapped deep into its reserves of money, effort and time to pursue the dream.

To fund Randi's training, they had been forced to skimp on other luxuries. They haven't taken a true family vacation in years. The window on Robert's 10-year-old Tundra is busted and won't be fixed anytime soon.

Throughout Randi's development as a gymnast, the Laus have also had to rely on their own skills to manage the hundreds of unseen responsibilities that make such development possible. For every one of Randi's 90-second performances, the Laus have had to invest hundreds of hours of coordination and preparation — often by the seat of their pants.

At the point when Randi returned from Texas in 2007, this had been their life. But Randi was already 14 — young in real-world terms but already graying in the gymnastics world. They had to ponder a future outside the realm of competitive gymnastics.

Back at home, Randi expanded her athletic endeavors to basketball and junior team tennis. She went to the beach with friends, played with her dogs, spent time with sister Taylor and brother Robbie. Still, the desire that had fueled nearly seven years of hard training and disciplined living hadn't yet been exhausted.

"It made me realize what I'm supposed to do," she said.

Randi had kept a toe in the gymnastic waters by continuing to train with Rapp's Hawaiian Island Twisters, but her parents were convinced that she needed more to break through.

With Randi firm in her commitment to keep going, the Laus searched for yet another last resort. They had heard about a couple from Russia who had moved to Hawai'i to work at Mojo Gymnastics. When Mojo shut down, the couple was left stranded.

Rayna Donahue, mother of another gymnastic prodigy, Tia, had arranged for the couple to join the staff at Dan Misener's What's Up Gymnastics! in Waipahu. Upon further investigation, the Laus found that the couple — former European Junior Champion Yulia Rodina and husband Eduard Rizvanov — were highly accomplished coaches in Russia.

"It was perfect timing," Susan said. "Who would have thought?"

On St. Patrick's Day this year, the Laus brought Randi to the gym for her first training session with Rodina.

"At first, it was all a big joke," Robert said. "There was only seven weeks until the (National Qualifiers in Dallas). We didn't think she would be ready."

It was more than a mild surprise, then, when Randi exited the qualifier with a first-place finish and a berth in the Visa Championships a month later.

"When she did that, we thought, 'Could we? Could we really do this?' " Robert said.

Despite suffering a sprained wrist just a week after the qualifier — an injury that should have sidelined her for three months, according to her doctor — Randi managed a breakthrough performance at the Visa Championship, placing fifth in the balance beam and eighth overall to earn a spot among the 12 athletes advancing to the national team.

VAULTING AHEAD

In 1997, the governing body for artistic gymnastics raised the minimum age for international competition at the senior level from 14 to 16. That means that Randi will be 18 when she makes her bid for a shot at the 2012 Olympics. In the meantime, there is much work to be done to be selected for international competition at the junior level.

Randi arrives at Rodina's home between 7 and 8 each morning for a brisk run, then heads to the gym for three hours of intense conditioning and skills training. After a midday break for lunch and homework, she puts in another four hours of training with Rodina and Rizvanov.

Before and after, there is school work to do, family dogs to care for, and chores to complete. Randi is taking an online summer course in geometry to stay on track for completing Calculus II by her senior year, a requisite for taking pre-med courses in college. (She wants to be an oral surgeon.)

"It's really hard," Randi said of her packed schedule. "But when I made the team, I was happy because I knew it was because of the all the training I had done before."

Rodina, whose qualifications include designations as a Brevet Judge and Master of Sports (USSR), said Randi still hasn't reached her full potential as a gymnast.

"She is a good gymnast now," Rodina said. "Now, we have to connect everything — coaching, training — and if she works hard in the gym, she can do great."

Randi's strength is in the balance beam, but there is still much room for improvement in her performance on the uneven bars.

Rodina and Rizvanov work with Randi to increase her overall strength, which in turn will allow her to execute more difficult maneuvers on the bars.

The Laus admit that the demands placed on their daughter are onerous, and that it has been difficult to cede so much control to her various coaches. They also understand that such sacrifices come with the territory — and it's territory Randi herself is dead set on traversing.

"It was a really great to be able to put on those (USA Olympic Team) sweats with the others on the national team," Randi said. "I'd been working hard for four years to get there and I was proud of myself for being the first from Hawai'i to do it. Going to competitions and representing both Hawai'i and the United States will be a great feeling."