Rhonda Faehn

Last updated
Rhonda Faehn
Biographical details
Born (1971-04-28) April 28, 1971 (age 53)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Alma mater University of California, Los Angeles
Playing career
1985–88U.S. National Team
1990–92 UCLA
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1993–1994 UCLA (Student asst.)
1997–1998 Maryland (asst.)
1999–2002 Nebraska (asst.)
2003–2015 Florida
Head coaching record
Overall347–86–6 (.797)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Southeastern Conference (2007, 2010, 2012, 2013)
NCAA (2013, 2014, 2015)
Awards
Second-team All-American (1992)
First-team All-Pac-10 (1992)
SEC Coach of the Year (2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Medal record
Women's gymnastics
Representing Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Pan American Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg1987 IndianapolisTeam
National Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg1987 Kansas CityVault
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg1988 HoustonVault

Rhonda Faehn (born April 28, 1971) is an American college gymnastics coach and former college and elite gymnast. Faehn was the head coach of the Florida Gators women's gymnastics team of the University of Florida for thirteen seasons, from 2003 to 2015. As a gymnast, Faehn competed at the 1987 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and was named as an alternate for the U.S team at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Faehn also competed collegiately, earning a scholarship to UCLA, where she attended from 1990 to 1994. She is best known for leading the Florida Gators to twelve consecutive appearances in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women's gymnastics tournament, and three consecutive NCAA championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Faehn left the University of Florida in 2015 to become the Senior Vice President of USA Gymnastics, the governing body of gymnastics in the United States. On May 17, 2018, USA Gymnastics parted ways with Faehn, who came under fire from survivors of former national team doctor Larry Nassar's abuse. [1]

Contents

Coaching career

After taking over the Florida program in 2003, Faehn established herself among the top tier of gymnastics coaches in the United States. She compiled a record of 347–86–6 as the head coach at the University of Florida. [2] Her teams finished no lower than fourth in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), widely regarded as the toughest gymnastics conference in the country. In 2003 and 2004, Florida placed second in their NCAA regional. From 2005 to 2008, the Gators won four consecutive NCAA regional tournaments. During her thirteen seasons as the head coach of the Gators, Florida finished in the top ten NCAA gymnastics teams in the nation every year, never finishing lower than seventh at the NCAA championship. Faehn coached the Gators to their first-ever NCAA national championship in gymnastics in 2013, with a second NCAA title in 2014 as the Gators tied the Oklahoma Sooners women's gymnastics team in the NCAA Super Six finals, and a third NCAA title in 2015.

Prior to coaching at Florida, she coached at the University of Maryland from 1997 to 1998, and at the University of Nebraska from 1999 to 2002. [2] She also served as a student-assistant at her alma mater, UCLA in 1993 and 1994.

After the fallout from the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal, she was briefly hired at the University of Michigan, but was fired shortly after due to backlash from alumni and some abuse survivors. [3]

In 2019 for a short period of time, she coached at Waverley Gymnastics Centre in Melbourne, Australia, before returning to the United States for family reasons.

USA Gymnastics career

On May 11, 2015, Faehn was hired as the Senior Vice President of the Women's Program at USA Gymnastics. Shortly after she was hired, she was informed by Sarah Jantzi of Twin City Twisters of a report of "uncomfortable" medical treatments administered by Larry Nassar on a national team athlete. According to her, she immediately reported this incident to Steve Penny, who informed her that he would contact law enforcement, but did not do so for another 5 weeks. [4] This incident was one of the key events of the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal and her involvement is mentioned in 2020 documentary, Athlete A . She was dismissed from USA Gymnastics on May 18, 2018. [5]

Competitive career

During her elite career, Faehn was coached by Bela Karolyi at Karolyi's gym in Texas. She finished twelfth at the 1986 U.S. National Championships, but had her greatest achievements in 1987, when she finished sixth at the national championships, and won the individual national title on vault, scoring perfect 10s on her laid-out Yurchenko vaults in both the individual all-around competition and the vault event final. She competed at the 1987 World Championships as part of the U.S. national team, and had the highest placement for the American women in the all-around final, finishing 19th. In 1988, her last year as an elite senior, Faehn finished sixth at the U.S. Nationals, and defended her individual national title on vault.

She finished seventh at the 1988 Olympic Trials and was named the alternate to the U.S. Olympic Team. Although she never competed in the Olympic events, her presence led to a controversial ruling that cost the U.S. the bronze medal. As an alternate, Faehn remained on the podium after removing the springboard that Kelly Garrison-Steves used to mount the uneven bars. A Code of Points rule bans coaches from remaining on the podium as an athlete competes. Although Faehn was not a coach, the presiding judge, Ellen Berger – an East German – invoked the rule and penalized the Americans five-tenths of a point, causing them to finish fourth behind East Germany and knocking them out of medal contention.

Personal life

Faehn was born on April 28, 1971, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In June 2006, she married Jeremy Bayon, a French tennis player who was an assistant coach for the Florida Gators men's tennis program. [6] The couple have two sons, Noah and Isaiah. [7] The family resides in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Honors

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Béla Károlyi</span> Romanian-American gymnastics coach (1942–2024)

Béla Károlyi was a Romanian and American gymnastics coach of Hungarian origin. Early in his coaching career he developed the Romanian centralized training system for gymnastics. One of his earliest protégés was Nadia Comăneci, the first Olympic Games gymnast to be awarded a perfect score. Living under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu, Károlyi frequently clashed with Romanian officials. He and his wife defected to the United States in 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohini Bhardwaj</span> American artistic gymnast

Mohini Bhardwaj is an American retired artistic gymnast who competed at the 1997 and 2001 World Championships and earned a silver medal with the American team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and is a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. She is the first Indian-American gymnast, and the second Indian-American athlete in any sport, to medal at the Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie Dantzscher</span> American artistic gymnast

Jamie Annette Dantzscher is an American former artistic gymnast. She was a member of the bronze medal-winning American team at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Márta Károlyi</span> Hungarian-Romanian-American gymnastics coach

Márta Károlyi is a Romanian-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, including Nadia Comăneci, 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 Comăneci, Mary Lou Retton, Betty Okino, Kerri Strug, Teodora Ungureanu, Phoebe Mills, Kim Zmeskal, and Dominique Moceanu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USA Gymnastics</span> National gymnastics governing body

United States of America Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. It sets the domestic rules and policies that govern the sport, promotes and develops gymnastics on the grassroots and national levels, and serves as a resource center for members, clubs, fans and gymnasts. It selects and trains the U.S. national teams for the Olympic Games and World Championships.

<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">Bridget Sloan</span> American artistic gymnast (born 1992)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernestine Russell</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Gators women's gymnastics</span> Womens gymnastics team of the University of Florida

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aly Raisman</span> American Olympic gymnast and gold medalist (born 1994)

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.

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.

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.

<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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenny Rowland</span>

Jennifer Annette Ester Rowland is an American gymnastics coach and former gymnast. Since 2015, she has been the head coach of the Florida Gators gymnastics program, succeeding Rhonda Faehn in 2015. Previously, she was with the Auburn Tigers and Oklahoma Sooners women's gymnastics teams.

The 2016 Florida Gators gymnastics team represented the University of Florida in artistic gymnastics during the 2016 NCAA Division I women's gymnastics season. The Gators competed in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and hosted their home meets at the O'Connell Center on the university's campus in Gainesville, Florida. The 2016 season was the Gators' first under head coach Jenny Rowland.

Trinity Lemyra Thomas is an American artistic gymnast and a four-time National Team member (2016–20). She was a member of the gold medal-winning team at the 2018 Pan American Gymnastics Championships, where she also won silver medals in the individual all-around and on the uneven bars, as well as the bronze medalist on balance beam and floor exercise at the 2017 national championships. She was a member of the Florida Gators women's gymnastics team. One of the most successful NCAA gymnasts in history, Thomas finished her collegiate career with a record-tying 28 perfect-10 scores and a record-breaking five Gym Slams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riley McCusker</span> American artistic gymnast

Riley Shannon McCusker is an American artistic gymnast and a six-time member of the United States women's national gymnastics team (2016–2021). She is the 2019 Pan American Games and 2017 United States national uneven bars champion. In the all-around, she is the 2019 Pan American Games silver medalist and a two-time United States national bronze medalist. She has also won six medals at the USA Gymnastics National Championships in her senior career. She was a member of the gold medal-winning American team at the 2018 World Championships and the 2019 Pan American Games. In 2019, she competed at the Birmingham FIG World Cup, earning a silver medal in the all-around behind Olympic champion Aliya Mustafina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal</span> Sexual abuse of young athletes by coaches and other adults from 1992–2016

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.

References

  1. ↑ "USA Gymnastics VP out amid Nassar fallout". ESPN.com. May 18, 2018.
  2. 1 2 GatorZone.com, Gymnastics, Coaching & Support Staff, Rhonda Faehn Archived 2012-04-02 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  3. ↑ "U-M fires gymnastics coach with ties to Larry Nassar scandal".
  4. ↑ https://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/52ccab27-7c72-4ee4-83c0-a8b2e720239b/83273E89F7C4468554C2420D2FB2623D.r.-faehn-testimony-06.01.2018.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  5. ↑ "USA Gymnastics parts ways with key official who knew about Nassar abuse".
  6. ↑ "Gator Men's Tennis Coaches & Support Staff - GatorZone.com". www.gatorzone.com. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  7. ↑ "Gator Gymnastics Coaches & Support Staff - GatorZone.com". www.gatorzone.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
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.