Paul Hunt (gymnast)

Last updated

Paul Hunt is an American gymnastics coach, and gymnastics clown. Hunt has performed comedic women's gymnastics routines, [1] including the uneven bars, [2] floor exercises, [3] and the balance beam [4] since 1980. [3] He has performed on US and international television, including Wide World of Sports and America's Funniest Videos . [5]

He was born in Illinois and now lives in Murray, Utah. For over thirty years, he ran Hunt's Gymnastics Academy (a.k.a. Hunt's Gym) in Salt Lake City until it closed at the end of December 2020 due to lost revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic. With the closure of his academy he decided to retire. [6]

Hunt was a competitive men's gymnast at the University of Illinois [2] in the early 1970s. [4] He won the Big Ten Conference individual championship in the floor exercise in 1971, [7] and had another win in the floor exercise in 1973. [8]

Hunt started coaching gymnastics in Utah in 1974. [5] While demonstrating a backflip for a female student, he realized the comic value of a man performing women's gymnastics. [6] He performed his complex routines during gymnastics competitions for comic relief, wearing a skirted leotard and often calling himself Paulina Huntescu, [5] Pauletta Huntenova, Paulette Huntinova [9] or some similar variation.

Related Research Articles

Tatiana Gutsu, rarely Tetiana Hutsu, is a Ukrainian former artistic gymnast from the Soviet Union and the winner of the all-around title in the 1992 Summer Olympics. She was renowned for performing some of the most difficult routines in the sport. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2022.

Fan Ye (simplified Chinese: 范晔; traditional Chinese: 范曄; pinyin: Fàn Yè; born October 23, 1986, in Baoding, Hebei, China. She is a former Chinese gymnast who is coached by Liu Guicheng and He Hua in Beijing. She admires fellow Chinese gymnast Liu Xuan and Russian gymnast Svetlana Khorkina for the longevity of their involvement in the sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chellsie Memmel</span> American artistic gymnast

Chellsie Marie Memmel is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2005 world all-around champion and the 2003 world champion on the uneven bars. She was a member of the United States women's gymnastics team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

Mo Huilan is a retired Chinese gymnast who competed at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She was one of China's most successful gymnasts in the 1990s. She was known for performing routines of exceptional difficulty and technique, but also for inconsistency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oksana Omelianchik</span> Soviet and Russian gymnast

Oksana Omelianchik is a retired Soviet gymnast and the all-around gold medalist of the 1985 World Championships. Omelianchik was most known for her enthusiastic showmanship, difficulty and originality, including pioneering back-to-back tumbling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samantha Peszek</span> American artistic gymnast

Samantha Nicole Peszek is an American former artistic gymnast. She was a member of the U.S. women's gymnastics team at the 2008 Summer Olympics, which won silver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UCLA Bruins women's gymnastics</span> College womens gymnastics team representing the University of California, Los Angeles

The UCLA Bruins women's gymnastics team represents the University of California, Los Angeles and competes in the Big Ten Conference. They compete in Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The team, coached by Janelle McDonald, has won 21 Regional titles and seven NCAA National Championships, most recently in 2018.

This is a general glossary of the terms used in the sport of gymnastics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyla Ross</span> American artistic gymnast

Kyla Briana Ross is a retired American artistic gymnast and current assistant coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team. She is the first female gymnast to win NCAA, World, and Olympic championship titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Dementyeva</span> Russian artistic gymnast

Anna Yurievna Dementyeva is a retired Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2011 European all-around and beam champion, and a world gold medalist with the team.

Yao Jinnan is a retired artistic gymnast who represented China at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She is the 2014 world champion on the uneven bars, and the 2011 world all-around bronze medalist and balance beam silver medalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katelyn Ohashi</span> American gymnast

Katelyn Michelle Ohashi is an American gymnast who competed for the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a six-time All-American and was a four-time member of USA Gymnastics' Junior National Team, the 2011 junior national champion, and the winner of the 2013 American Cup. Noted for incorporating popular dance elements in her floor routines, she trended globally on various social media networks in January 2019 for her perfect 10 score at the 2019 Collegiate Challenge, the fourth perfect 10 floor routine of her career.

Elizabeth "Ebee" Nicole Price is a retired American artistic gymnast. Price was an alternate for the 2012 Summer Olympics Gymnastics team, the 2014 American Cup Champion, and the 2013-2014 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup All Around Series Winner. She was a member of the U.S. Junior National Gymnastics Team from 2010 to 2012 and the US Senior National Team from 2012 to 2014. She retired from international elite gymnastics in April 2014.

Carol Michelle "Chelle" Stack is a former gymnast. She competed for the United States national team at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics. She is currently active as a brevet rated judge at US national gymnastics competitions.

Elena Vyacheslavovna Eremina is a retired Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2017 World all-around bronze medalist and the 2016 European junior all-around champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maggie Nichols (gymnast)</span> American artistic gymnast

Margaret Mary Nichols is an American former collegiate artistic gymnast. She was the ninth NCAA gymnast to complete a Gym Slam, the first to do so for Oklahoma, and the first NCAA gymnast to have achieved it twice.

Maile O'Keefe is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the U.S. National Team and is the 2016 and 2017 U.S. Junior National Champion. She is the 2023 NCAA all-around champion as well as a 4x NCAA event champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace McCallum</span> American artistic gymnast

Grace Ann McCallum is an American artistic gymnast. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the team event. She is the 2018 Pan American and 2018 Pacific Rim individual all-around champion, the 2018 Pan American uneven bars champion, and was a member of the U.S. gymnastics team that won gold at the 2018 and 2019 World Championships and the 2018 Pan American Championships.

Kara Eaker is an American artistic gymnast. On the balance beam she is the 2018 Pan American and 2019 Pan American Games champion and a two-time United States national silver medalist. On floor exercise she is the 2019 Pan American Games silver medalist and the 2018 Pan American bronze medalist. She was a member of the American teams that won gold at the 2018 and 2019 World Championships, the 2019 Pan American Games, and the 2018 Pan American Championships. She was an alternate for the 2020 Olympic team.

Anastasia Maria Webb is a former American artistic gymnast. She competed for the Oklahoma Sooners women's gymnastics team. In 2021, she became the NCAA All Around Champion and tied for the floor and vault titles, to go along with OU's team championship from 2019.

References

  1. ↑ "Hunt relies on humor to promote gymnastics", The Advocate (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), 3 February 1986.
  2. 1 2 Nadia Tour uneven bar performance (1981) on YouTube
  3. 1 2 Floor Exercise routine (1980) on YouTube
  4. 1 2 Balance beam routine (1988) on YouTube
  5. 1 2 3 Teachers & Staff Archived 2014-05-02 at the Wayback Machine , Hunt's Gymnastics Academy
  6. 1 2 Floor routine by Paul Hunt (c. 1987)on YouTube; sportscaster commentators unknown. Archived 2016-06-30 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ "Big Ten Conference 2006-07 Big Ten Records Book, Men's Gymnastics" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-23. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
  8. ↑ Roster of Winners of Individual and Team Championships in Sports During 1973, New York Times, 23 December 1973. Archived 13 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Balance beam routine by Paul Hunt (c. 1988) on YouTube; sportscaster commentators unknown.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.