Gymnastics Facts      

  • The first women's gymnastics instruction in the United States was given at Mount
    Holyoke College in 1862.

  • Olympic gymnastics competition for women was introduced at the 1928 games.

  • Larissa Latynina of Russia won 18 Olympic gymnastic medals, thus setting an
    Olympics record for women: nine gold medals, five silver, and four bronze between
    1956 and 1964.

  • Marcia Frederick was the first American woman to win the World Gymnastics
    Championship. She won in 1978 on the uneven bars. Marcia Fredrick trained at
    Pioneer Gymnastics for many years before going to another gym to train for the
    olympics.

  • Olga Korbut of the Soviet Union inspired thousands of girls to take up gymnastics
    after she won two gold medals and one silver medal in the 1972 Olympics. She was
    later named Female Athlete of the Year.

  • In the 1976 Olympics, Nadia Comaneci of Romania became the first gymnast in
    Olympic history to score a perfect 10.0. She did this on the uneven bars. She went
    on to record six more perfect scores during those Olympics.

  • In 1984, 16-year-old Mary Lou Retton of West Virginia won the Olympic gold medal in
    the Women's All-Around event, thanks to her perfect performance on the vault. She
    was the first American to win that event.

  • Shannon Miller is now the most decorated female American gymnast of all time. She
    has seven Olympic medals altogether, two gold, two silver, and three bronze. Only
    three American women, swimmers Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres, and Shirley
    Babashoff, have more Olympic medals.

  • Kerri Strug provided us with one of the most exciting events of the 1996 Olympics
    and gymnastics history when she nailed her vault on an injured foot to insure the
    gold medal for the United States team. Strug was just one member of the gold medal
    winning team that is known as the “Magnificent Seven.” The others are Amanda
    Borden, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, and
    Jaycee Phelps.
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  • n the 2004 Olympics, 16-year-old Carly Patterson of Texas became the second
    American ever to win the Women's All-Around event. She was the first to do so in a
    year when the Olympics weren't being boycotted by other countries.
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