Cathy Rigby was one of America’s first great gymnasts. In 1968, at age 15 Cathy competed at the Mexico City games. She placed 16^th at the games, but that was the highest any American gymnast had placed. Cathy was honored as one of America’s Most Influential Women in Sports from ABC-TV’s “Wide World of Sports”. Cathy later became and actress and musical comedy star.

Nadia Comaneci was born in 1961 in Romania. At age 14 Nadia was one of the youngest competitors at the 1976 games. She was the 1^st gymnast to a 10.0. Nadia’s training began when she was 6 years old. Nadia competed in the Olympics for the 2^nd time when she was 18. When she was 22, she retired from gymnastics to become a coach and judge. Nadia ended up moving to the United States, and marrying male gymnast Frank Bare.

Mary Lou Retton was born on January 24, 1968 in West Virginia. When Mary Lou was 4 she began dance and gymnastic classes. She began competing all over the world at age 14. She was the 1^st American woman to win gold in any other Olympic gymnastics category. In December 1984, she was named “Sports Woman of the Year” by Sports Illustrated. In 1990 she married Shannon Kelley, and in 1995 gave birth to a daughter.

Shannon Miller’s gymnastics career all began when her parents bought her a trampoline when she was 5. She competed at the 1992 Olympics. There she won 5 medals. Shannon competed again at the 1996 Olympics. So far Shannon has won 7 medals. Shannon continues to compete in gymnastics.

Dominque Moceanu was born in 1981, in California. She began gymnastics at a young age. Her gymnast genes probably came from her parents, who were both gymnasts. She first competed on a team, and won gold. She continues to practice and compete.

The first time Kim Zmeskal competed was at the 1992 Olympics at the age of 15. Kim was a very small gymnast only 4’7” and 80 pounds. Kim then retired from gymnastics to attend high school. She came out of retirement to train for the 1996 games. Kim still continues gymnastics today.