 | |
| Full name | Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy |
|---|---|
| Nicknames | CGA [1] |
| Sport | Women's artistic gymnastics |
| Based in | Fairfield, Ohio |
| President | Mary Lee Tracy |
| Website | cincinnatigymnastics |
Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy (CGA), is an American women's artistic gymnastics academy in Fairfield, Ohio. It has trained Olympians and world champions, including Amanda Borden and Jaycie Phelps. [2]
The academy was opened in the 1980s by current president and head coach Mary Lee Tracy.
Previously, as gym owner Tracy did not conduct background checks on prospective coaches at CGA. [3] As a result, CGA employed Ray Adams, who was later convicted and jailed for sexual abuse. [3] Tracy said she never had a problem with Adams. He left voluntarily, and she gave him a good reference. [4] Adams worked in at least a dozen gyms in four states, was fired at least six times, was criminally charged four times, and once pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery for abusing four little girls. [5]
In a 2016 television interview after Dr. Larry Nassar had been indicted on federal child pornography charges and after dozens of gymnasts had accused him of molestation, Tracy defended him as a doctor who had “helped so many kids in their careers” and “protected them.” [6]
Tracy was named as the United States women's national artistic gymnastics team elite development coordinator by USA Gymnastics in August 2018. [7] The move quickly came under scrutiny from Aly Raisman and CGA alumna Alyssa Beckerman due to Tracy's ties with Larry Nassar. [8] [9] Three-time Olympic champion Aly Raisman spoke out on Twitter against the federation’s hiring of Tracy, saying: “USA Gymnastics has appointed someone who, in my view, supported Nassar, victim-shamed survivors and has shown no willingness to learn from the past." [6] USA Gymnastics fired her 3 days later. [10]
Gymnasts who have trained at CGA include:
Alyssa Erin Beckerman is an American former gymnast and balance beam national champion. She was a member of the United States national team from 1997 to 2000, and competed on the University of California, Los Angeles intercollegiate gymnastics team from 2001 to 2003. She was an alternate for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
Amanda Kathleen Borden is a retired American gymnast. She was the captain of the gold medal-winning United States team in the 1996 Summer Olympics, the Magnificent Seven; a team medalist at the World Championships, and a multiple medalist at the 1995 Pan American Games. Borden was known for her clean form and technique.
Márta Károlyi is a Hungarian-American gymnastics coach and the former national team coordinator for USA Gymnastics. She and her husband, Béla, are ethnic Hungarians from Transylvania, Romania, who trained athletes in Romania before defecting to the United States in 1981. Béla and Márta Károlyi have trained nine Olympic champions, fifteen world champions, sixteen European medalists and many U.S. national champions, including Mary Lou Retton, Betty Okino, Kerri Strug, Teodora Ungureanu, Phoebe Mills, Nadia Comăneci, Kim Zmeskal, and Dominique Moceanu.
United States of America Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Established in 1963 as the U.S. Gymnastics Federation (USGF), USA Gymnastics is responsible for selecting and training national teams for the Olympic Games and World Championships. The revised 2018 mission of USA Gymnastics is focused on "creating a culture that empowers and supports its athletes and focuses on its highest priority, the safety and well-being of the athletes." USAG sets the rules and policies that govern the sport of gymnastics, including "promoting and developing gymnastics on the grassroots and national levels, as well as a safe, empowered and positive training environment, and serving as a resource center for members, clubs, fans and gymnasts throughout the United States."
Jordyn Marie Wieber is an American former artistic gymnast and current gymnastics coach. Since April 2019, she has been the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team.
Sabrina Vega is a retired American gymnast from Carmel, New York. She was a five-time national team member and a member of the United States team that won gold at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She later competed for the University of Georgia from 2017 to 2020.
Alexandra Rose Raisman is an American retired artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian. She was captain of both the 2012 "Fierce Five" and 2016 "Final Five" U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics teams, which won their respective team competitions.
McKayla Rose Maroney is an American retired artistic gymnast. She was a member of the American women's gymnastics team dubbed the Fierce Five at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the team and an individual silver medal in the vault event. Maroney was also a member of the gold-winning American team at the 2011 World Championships, where she won gold medals in the team and vault competitions. She defended her World title and won the gold medal on vault at the 2013 World Championships, becoming the first U.S. female gymnast to defend a World Championship vault title.
Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2012 Olympic all-around champion and the 2015 World all-around silver medalist. She was a member of the gold-winning teams at both the 2012 and the 2016 Summer Olympics, dubbed the "Fierce Five" and the "Final Five" by the media, respectively. She was also a member of the gold-winning American teams at the 2011 and the 2015 World Championships.
Simone Arianne Biles Owens is an American artistic gymnast. With a total of 37 Olympic and World Championship medals, she is the most decorated gymnast in history and is widely considered one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. With seven Olympic medals, she is the ninth-most decorated female Olympic gymnast, and is tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals earned by a U.S. gymnast.
Khazia Hislop is a British-born Trinidadian artistic gymnast who currently lives in the United States. She was selected for the 2014 Commonwealth Games but withdrew to injury. Hislop trains at Brestyan's Gymnastics alongside Talia Chiarelli and Aly Raisman.
Alyssa Lyn Baumann is a retired American artistic gymnast, and has competed for the United States at international events as well as for University of Florida team. Baumann is the 2014 and 2015 United States silver medalist on the balance beam. She was a member of the 2014 World Championship team that won gold.
Jessie DeZiel is an American artistic gymnast. She currently attends University of Nebraska and was a member of their gymnastics team, from 2012 to 2015.
Mary Lee Tracy is an American gymnastics coach and owner of Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy, a program in Fairfield, Ohio.
The 2016 United States women's national gymnastics team season refers to the competitions that the United States women's national gymnastics team will participate in during the 2016 artistic gymnastics season. The 2015 World Team champions, the U.S. team go into 2016 as the favorites to become 2016 Olympic Champions; hoping to defend their 2012 Olympic title.
Stephen D. Penny Jr. is an American businessman and sports administrator. He was president and CEO of USA Gymnastics (USAG) from 2005 until 2017, and is a key figure in the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal.
John Gerald Geddert was an American artistic gymnastics coach, who was a head coach of the gold-medal 2012 U.S. women's Olympic team and regular coach of team member Jordyn Wieber. He retired when suspended by USA Gymnastics in 2018 after being implicated in the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal centered on his long-time associate Larry Nassar. Geddert committed suicide in 2021, shortly after being charged with 24 criminal charges, including 20 counts of human trafficking of a minor, one count each of first-degree criminal sexual assault, second-degree criminal sexual assault involving a minor, and lying to a police officer.
The USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal relates to the sexual abuse of hundreds of gymnasts—primarily minors—over two decades in the United States, starting in the 1990s. It is considered the largest sexual abuse scandal in sports history.
Lawrence Gerard Nassar is an American serial child rapist and former family medicine physician. For 18 years, he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team, where he used his position to exploit and sexually assault hundreds of young athletes.