| Elfi Schlegel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Elfi Schlegel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |  Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 17 May 1964 Toronto, Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | University of Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elfi Schlegel (born 17 May 1964) is a sportscaster for NBC Sports and a former college and national champion gymnast from Canada. [1] She is generally regarded as a top 50 Canadian gymnast of all time, and maybe even the 3rd best of the late 1970s behind Monica Goermann and the late Sherry Hawco.
Schlegel was born in Toronto, Ontario, to parents Peter and Vlasta Schlegel, immigrants from Switzerland. [2] Growing up in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke, she started gymnastics at the age of 7. [2] She attended Silverthorn Collegiate Institute in Toronto, and graduated with her diploma after her grade twelve year—a year early in the (then) thirteen-year Ontario education system. [3]
Schlegel established herself as one of the best gymnasts in Canadian history (at that point) when she won a gold medal in the all-around and team competitions in gymnastics at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta. At the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, she won a bronze medal as the third-best gymnast in the games, two silver medals for the uneven bars and vault, and a gold medal as a member of the first-place Canadian team. She also won a bronze medal in the vault at the 1980 World Cup in Toronto, the first-ever World Cup medal for a Canadian. [3]
She was selected as a member of the Canadian national team for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia, but was unable to participate when Canada joined the United States–led boycott of the Moscow Games in protest of the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. [4] She attempted to make the Canadian Olympic teams in 1984 and 1988, but replaced by younger and more talented gymnasts with the increasing depth of Canadian gymnastics was unable to make it either time.
After graduation from high school, Schlegel wanted to continue to compete, but Canadian universities did not offer intercollegiate gymnastics competition or athletic scholarships. [3] She sought and received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she was a member of coach Ernestine Weaver's Florida Gators women's gymnastics team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 1982 to 1986. [3] [5] As a Gator gymnast, she was a four-time individual Southeastern Conference (SEC) champion–all-around (1983), twice in the balance beam (1983, 1986), and vault (1984). [5] The Gators qualified for the NCAA national championship tournament all four of Schlegel's years on the team, and finished third at the 1983 NCAA tournament. [5] She received six All-American honours. [5]
Schlegel graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications production in 1986, [3] and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1997. [6] [7]
She began her broadcasting career as a part-time gymnastics commentator for CTV, moved to CBC for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, and has been with NBC Sports as an Olympic broadcaster since 1992. The 2012 Summer Olympics was her tenth Olympics as a broadcaster. In 2000 and 2004, she served as analyst for both artistic and rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline reporter in Sydney and Athens. She has served as a reporter for curling events in the 2002, 2006, and 2010 Winter Olympics. She has also covered skiing and major Horse Racing events, including the Breeders Cup, for NBC Sports from 1993 to 1999.
Elfi was a NBC's gymnastics commentator along with Tim Daggett and Al Trautwig from 1992 to 2012. NBC made the decision to replace Elfi after the 2012 Olympics with 2008 Olympic All Around Gold Medalist, Nastia Liukin. This decision was based on the fresh popularity of Liukin and the fact NBC was feeling pressure to have an All-American commentary panel. Elfi now sometimes covers gymnastics commentary for Canadian television with Kyle Shewfelt. She also frequently covered gymnastics for CBC Sports from 1989-1994.
Schlegel is married to Marc Dunn, a former Olympian who represented Canada in beach volleyball at the 1996 Summer Olympics. [8] They have three children and live in Toronto. [2]
Tracy Anne Stockwell, OAM,, née Tracy Anne Caulkins, is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time world champion, and former world record-holder in three events.
Anastasia Liukin is a Russian-born American former artistic gymnast. She is the 2008 Olympic All-Around champion, a five-time Olympic medalist, the 2005 and 2007 world champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 world champion on the uneven bars. She is also a four-time all-around U.S. national champion, winning twice as a junior and twice as a senior. With nine World Championships medals, seven of them individual, Liukin is tied with Shannon Miller for the third-highest tally of World Championship medals. Liukin also tied Miller's record as the American gymnast having won the most medals in a single non-boycotted Olympic Games.
Daniele Matias Hypólito is a Brazilian gymnast who competed at the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and the 2016 Olympic Games. Hypólito is the first gymnast from Brazil to win a medal at the World Championships, a silver in floor exercise in 2001. She is also the nine-time senior all-around Brazilian national champion in artistic gymnastics, 2002 South American Games all-around champion and 2003 Pan American Games all-around bronze medalist. To date, Hypólito has won the Brazilian National Championships more than ten times; represented Brazil at the World Championships thirteen times, competing in every championship from 1999 to 2015, except in 2009; taken part in every edition of the Olympic Games from 2000 to 2016; and competed at five Pan American Games between 1999 and 2015.
Jane Louise Kerr Thompson, née Jane Louise Kerr, is a former competition swimmer from Canada. Kerr was a butterfly and freestyle specialist who was an Olympic bronze medallist.
Valeri Viktorovich Liukin is a Soviet-born Russian-American retired artistic gymnast turned gymnastics coach. As a competitor for the former Soviet Union, Liukin was the 1988 Olympic champion in the team competition and individually on the horizontal bar, and Olympic silver medalist in the all-around and the parallel bars.
The World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) is a two-facility gymnastics club located in Frisco and Plano.
Timothy P. Daggett is a former American gymnast and an Olympic gold medalist. He is a graduate of West Springfield High School and UCLA, who competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, along with Bart Conner, Peter Vidmar and Mitch Gaylord. There, Daggett scored a perfect 10 on the high bar, assisting his team in winning a gold medal – the first for the U.S. men's gymnastics team in Olympic history. In addition to team gold, he earned an individual bronze medal on the pommel horse. In 2005, he was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.
David Erwin Larson is an American former competition swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist and former world record-holder. Larson is a Georgia native who became an All-American college swimmer for the University of Florida. He was known for his success as a member of American relay teams in international competition at the Pan American Games and the Olympics – and for setting two world records in the 4×200-meter relay event on the same day at the 1984 Olympics.
Craig Russell Beardsley is an American former competition swimmer who was a world record-holder in the 200-meter butterfly for three years in the early 1980s. Although he qualified as a member of the ill-fated 1980 U.S. Olympic Team, Beardsley could not compete in the Olympics because of the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympic Games.
Bridget Elizabeth Sloan is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2009 world champion in the all-around, the 2009 United States national champion, and a silver medalist with the American team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Megan Neyer is an American former competition springboard and platform diver. Neyer was a member of the ill-fated 1980 U.S. Olympic team, the 1982 world champion springboard diver, a fifteen-time U.S. national diving champion, and an eight-time NCAA champion.
Shawn Johnson East is an American former artistic gymnast. She is the 2008 Olympic balance beam gold medalist and team, all-around and floor exercise silver medalist. Johnson is also the 2007 all-around World Champion, and a five-time Pan American Games gold medalist, winning the team titles in 2007 and 2011, as well as titles in the all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam in 2007.
Alicia Marie Sacramone Quinn is a retired American artistic gymnast. She won a silver medal with the United States team at the 2008 Summer Olympics and is the 2010 World Champion on the vault. With a total of eleven World Championship and Olympic medals, Sacramone is the fourth most decorated U.S. female gymnast, behind Simone Biles (30), Shannon Miller (16), and Nastia Liukin (14).
Christina Anne McDonald Fritz, née Christina Anne McDonald, is a former college and international gymnast from Canada.
Ernestine Jean Russell, later known by her married names Ernestine Carter and Ernestine Weaver, is a Canadian former gymnast and American former college gymnastics coach. She represented Canada in the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics. Although Russell won no medals in her two Olympic appearances, she is regarded as Canada's first notable female Olympic gymnast and contributed significantly to the growing popularity of women's gymnastics in Canada and the United States.
The Florida Gators women's gymnastics team represents the University of Florida in the sport of gymnastics. The team competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gators host their home matches in the O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, and are currently led by head coach Jenny Rowland. The Gators women's gymnastics program has won nine SEC championships, and four national championships: the 1982 AIAW national tournament and the 2013, 2014, and 2015 NCAA championships.
James Jerome Carnes was an American track and field athlete, coach and administrator. A successful coach at the high school, college and international levels, Carnes compiled a 161–11 career dual meet record, highlighted by four college conference championships and six state high school championships. He was the head coach of the U.S. Olympic track & field team and the Florida Gators track and field team, the founder of the Florida Track Club, and a member of the U.S. Track & Field Hall of Fame.
Kytra Tinisha Hunter is a former American artistic gymnast who competed for the University of Florida from 2011–15. One of Florida's most decorated gymnasts, Hunter is a 25-time All-American and a four-time individual NCAA national champion. She was a 2015 recipient of the Honda Award.
Alexandra Claire McMurtry is an American former artistic gymnast. She is the 2013 Nastia Liukin Cup champion and the 2017 NCAA Champion. She competed in NCAA gymnastics for the Florida Gators and was the 10th person in NCAA history to record a Gym Slam.
Ashleigh Marie Gnat is an American collegiate gymnast. She has competed for the Louisiana State University gymnastics team since 2014. Gnat coached as an assistant coach at Penn State in 2020. She is now an assistant coach at her alma mater, Louisiana State University gymnastics team.
|
