U.S. Female Gymnasts Trivia Quiz

Answer: Marcia Frederick

Cathy Rigby was the first U.S. gymnast to win a gymnastics medal in 1970 at the World Championships, a silver on balance beam. It wasn't until 1978 that Marcia Frederick won the first gold medal for the U.S. at the World Championships with a near flawless performance on the uneven bars. Despite all her Olympic success in 1984, Mary Lou Retton never competed at a World Championship.

Answer: 3

Julianne McNamara, Kathy Johnson, and Tracee Talavera all were named to the Olympic team in 1980. However, due to the U.S. boycott of the Olympic games in 1980, these gymnasts would not have the chance to take part in the Olympics until 1984, where they were able to win the silver medal as a team.

Answer: Phoebe Mills

Brandy Johnson and Kelly Garrison-Steves both qualified for event finals, but failed to win a medal. Phoebe Mills however, was able to win a bronze medal on the balance beam, making her the first U.S. gymnast in history to win an Olympic medal at a non-boycotted Olympic games.

Answer: Amy Chow

Kerri Strug won 2 bronze(1991 & 1993) and 1 silver(1992). Jaycie Phelps won bronze in 1995 and silver in 1996. Amanda Borden won bronze in 1994. The other members(Dawes, Moceanu, and Miller) all had won several medals in the all-around at Nationals, including at least one title between 1993 and 1996.

Answer: Dianne Durham

Dianne Durham won the U.S. National All-Around title in 1983, beating Mary Lou Retton who finished 2nd. Durham would defeat Mary Lou again later that year at the 1983 Olympic Test Event. Durham's career, however, was consistently plagued by misfortune.

She withdrew from the 1984 Olympic Trials due to injury. She tried to petition her way onto the Olympic squad but because she did not compete at the 1983 World Championships she was not allowed on the squad. Julianne Mcnamara was trained by Karolyi, but she won her all-around title back in 1980. Tracee Talavera won all-around titles in 1981 and 1982 and was coached by the Mulvihills and Mike Lynch. Kathy Johnson trained at SCATS under Don Peters.

Answer: 2

The first time she did it was in 1994, where she also won the all-around title. It was the first time since 1969 that a gymnast had won every gold medal at the Nationals. In 1996, she did not win the all-around competition, but had a strong showing during the event finals winning every event.

Answer: True

The U.S. women won the silver medal during the team competition. Mary Lou Retton won the all-around gold medal, as well as a silver on vault, and bronze medals on the uneven bars and floor exercise. Julianne Mcnamara won gold on the uneven bars and a silver medal on the floor exercise. Finally, Kathy Johnson won the bronze medal on the balance beam.

Answer: 30

In 1992, Shannon Miller performed 16 out of 16 near perfect routines(compulsories, team optionals, all-around, & each event final) to win 5 medals. She won a bronze with the team, silver in the all-around, another bronze on the uneven bars, silver again on balance beam, and her final bronze medal on floor exercise.

She won the most medals of any American female athlete at those Olympics. In 1996, she performed 14 routines and won gold with the team competition and her only individual gold medal on the balance beam. During the NBC telecast of the balance beam event finals, her coach Steve Nunno stated before the event that her beam routine would be her 30th Olympic routine and followed it up by saying, "I like that number".

Answer: Tasha Schwikert

This was shown during Day 1 of the 2004 Olympic Trials.

Answer: 4

The four athletes coached by Bela Karolyi were Kim Zmeskal, Betty Okino, Kerri Strug, and Hilary Grivich. The other two gymnasts, Shannon Miller and Michelle Campi, had coaches that formerly worked under Bela Karolyi in Houston, TX.