| Marshall Avener | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Marshall Scott Avener | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | December 10, 1950 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 55 kg (121 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Penn State Nittany Lions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Marshall Scott Avener [1] (born December 10, 1950) is an American gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1976 Summer Olympics. [2]
Avener attended Island Trees High School in Levittown, New York. He represented the school in state competitions. [3] Avener claimed that during his high school career, he had broken his toe while trying to impress the crowd. [4]
Avener represented Pennsylvania State University where he was a speech major. He represented the USA at the 1970 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Ljubljana, SR Slovenia. [5]
Avener was a member of the US team for the 1972 Olympics in Munich. He was selected after finishing 5th out of 11 candidates in a selection meet in Des Plaines, Illinois. [6]
In Munich, Avener sometimes clashed with coaches and teammates. He irritated his team after choosing to get married during the third day of a six-week camp, then demanding his wife be housed together. Avener was allegedly punched in the eye by teammate John Crosby Jr. after offending him. [7]
After returning home from Munich, Avener visited a psychiatric clinic in an effort to control his ego and temper. [8]
1973 was Avener's most successful collegiate season; he tied with Steve Hug to become the all-around champion at the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships held during April in Eugene, Oregon. [9] A month later, Avener clinched the all-around title at a national level, crowned champion in the men's national competition that took place at Penn State Rec Hall. [10]
Avener was unable to compete at the 1973 Summer Universiade due to injury. [11]
After graduating, Avener represented the USA at the 1975 Pan American Games, winning a bronze medal in the men's vault competition. [12]
Avener represented the USA in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He was the only returning member of the US team from the Munich Olympics.
Individually, Avener competed in horizontal bar, floor exercise, horse vault, parallel bars, all-around, pommel horse, and rings. As part of the team all-around he helped the USA to a 7th place finish. [13]
Following the Munich Olympics, Avener became women's gymnastics coach at Penn State University. [14] Avener left this coaching position after 1982 after it was alleged gymnasts felt he had mistreated them. [15] In 2012, he was inducted into the US Gymnastics Hall of Fame. [16]
Olga Valentinovna Korbut is a Belarusian retired gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. Nicknamed the "Sparrow from Minsk", she won four gold medals and two silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games, in which she competed in 1972 and 1976 for the Soviet team, and was the inaugural inductee to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1988.
Dominique Margaux Dawes is a retired American artistic gymnast. Known in the gymnastics community as 'Awesome Dawesome', she was a 10-year member of the U.S. national gymnastics team, the 1994 U.S. all-around senior National Champion, a three-time Olympian, a World Championship silver and bronze medalist, and a member of the gold-medal-winning "Magnificent Seven" team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. She is also the Olympic bronze medalist on floor exercise from the Atlanta games.
Blaine Carew Wilson is a retired American gymnast who was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team. He is a five-time U.S. national champion (1996-2000), a three-time Olympian, and an Olympic silver medalist in the team competition at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Kurt Bilteaux Thomas was an American Olympic gymnast and part-time actor. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and in 1978 he became the first American male gymnast to win a gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. In 1979, he won six medals at the world championship, setting the record for most medals won at a single world championship by an American gymnast, a feat matched only by Simone Biles in 2018. He competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Thomas was favored to win a medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics but was unable to compete due to the USA boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games.
Valeri Viktorovich Liukin is a Kazakh-American retired artistic gymnast currently working as a gymnastics coach. Representing 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.
Abraham Israel "Abie" Grossfeld is an American gymnastics coach and former gymnast. Grossfeld represented the United States as a gymnast for 15 consecutive years in 35 countries as a member of 26 international United States men's national artistic gymnastics teams including the Olympic Games, World Championships, and Pan American Games.
Gregor Richard Weiss is an American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and represented the United States at the 1964 Summer Olympics, placing 7th in the team event and 59th in the individual all-around. He was a member of the U.S. team at the 1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. In the NCAA, he competed for Penn State University and was the NCAA all-around champion in 1961. He was inducted into the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1991.
Frank Joseph Cumiskey was an American gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics, in the 1936 Summer Olympics, and in the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Daniel Hayden is a retired American gymnast. Hayden was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and appeared at the 1985 and 1987 World Championships. He was a US national champion. Hayden competed for Arizona State University and was a collegiate national champion. In 1988, he was second at Olympic Trials during the first day of competition but fell to eighth the second day when he twice missed a Kovacs release on the high bar. He missed selection to the team and was named an alternate.
Guard Wayne Young is a retired American gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and was named three-times to the World Championships team, and contributed to a silver medal in the men's team competition in 2001. Three years later, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Young helped his U.S. squad to earn a silver medal in the same program, a best finish since 1984. During his college career, Young has earned six All-American and two NCAA titles in the men's vault. In 2010, Young was inducted to the sports hall of fame by the Brigham Young University.
Edward R. "Ed" Gagnier is a Canadian former gymnast and gymnastics coach. He was a gymnast at the University of Michigan from 1956 to 1958. He was selected as an All-American in 1956 and also became the first gymnast to represent Canada at the Olympic games. He was the head coach of the gymnastics program at Iowa State University from 1961 to 1983 and led his teams to NCAA championships in 1971, 1973 and 1974. He was inducted into the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1982.
Steven Keith Hug is an American former artistic gymnast who was active in the 1960s and 1970s. Hug was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competed in two Olympic Games and the 1974 World Championships.
John Gilbert "Jack" Beckner was an American artistic gymnast, coach, and referee. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competed at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics with the best individual result of seventh place on the vault and horizontal bar in 1956. His elder brother Dick was also part of the 1956 Olympic gymnastics team.
William Henry Roetzheim, Jr. was an American gymnast, collegiate coach, and administrator. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics and the 1952 Summer Olympics. Roetzheim won gold at the 1951 Pan American Games, and he was also an army veteran who served in the Korean War.
William Alfred Bonsall was an American gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competed in eight events at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Louis John Bordo was an American gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competed in eight events at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Donald Joseph Holder was an American gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competed in eight events at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Richard Andrew "Dick" Beckner was an American gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competed in eight events at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
Jose Armando Vega is an American former gymnast and coach. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competed in eight events at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
Marcy Levine Lucas is an American former gymnast. She competed for the Penn State Nittany Lions and won a national championship in 1979. She was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 2024.
| Men's artistic gymnastics athletes |
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| Women's artistic gymnastics athletes |
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| Coaches |
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| Men's artistic gymnastics athletes |
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| Women's artistic gymnastics athletes |
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| Coaches |
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