Jim Hartung

Last updated

Jim Hartung
Full nameJames Hartung
BornJune 7, 1960 (1960-06-07) (age 63)
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Height5 ft 4+1⁄2 in (164 cm)
Medal record
Men's gymnastics
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1984 Los Angeles Team competition
World Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1979 Fort Worth Team

James Hartung (born June 7, 1960) [1] is a retired American gymnast. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska. [2]

Contents

Elite competition

Hartung was a member of the 1980 Olympic team but did not compete due to the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia. As consolation, he was one of 461 athletes to receive a Congressional Gold Medal many years later. [3] In 1984, he was a member of the gold-medal winning Olympic Team. [1] [4] [5]

In 1979, Hartung was a member of the U.S. bronze-medal winning World Championships team. He was also part of the 1978 Worlds, 1981 and 1983 Worlds squads. [1]

At USAG national championships, Hartung won the all-around gold in 1981. Over several years, he collected 13 golds on apparatuses. [1] He is also considered one of the best NCAA men's gymnasts of all time as the leader of the 5-time in a row winning Nebraska team and because of his record 22 All-Americans. He was also the 1980 and 1981 NCAA all-around champion.

College competition

Hartung competed for the University of Nebraska and was a member of four straight national championship teams: 1979–1982. He was the all-around NCAA champion in 1980 and 1981. During his career, he also won five apparatus gold medals at NCAA championships. [1] In 1982, Hartung won the Nissen Award (gymnastics's "Heisman"). [4]

Post-athletic career

After gymnastics, Hartung became a high level gymnastics judge. Since 2006, he has been an assistant coach of the men's gymnastics team at the University of Nebraska. [4]

Hartung entered the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame as a member of the gold medal Olympic team in 1984 and then in 1997 as an individual. In 2006, he and his 1984 teammates were inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. [6] Hartung is also a member of the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame [7] and the Omaha Sports Hall of Fame. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yelena Shushunova</span> Soviet Russian gymnast

Yelena Lvovna Shushunova was a Soviet Russian gymnast. Shushunova was one of five women who have won all-around titles at all major competitions: Olympics, World Championships and European/Continental Championships and one of ten women who medaled on every event at World Championships. Shushunova was renowned for pioneering complex skills as well as her explosive and dynamic tumbling and high consistency.

Peter Glen Vidmar is an American gymnast and two time Olympic gold medalist. He won gold in the team final and pommel horse as well as silver in the individual all around.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bart Conner</span> American gymnast

Barthold Wayne Conner is a retired American Olympic gymnast. As a member of the US men's gymnastics team at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, Conner won two gold medals. He owns and operates the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy in Norman, Oklahoma, along with his wife, Romanian Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comăneci. In addition, both Comăneci and Conner are highly involved with the Special Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omaha South High School</span> Public high school in Omaha, Nebraska, United States

Omaha South High School is an information technology and visual/performing arts magnet school which educates students in grades 9–12. It is located in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Built in the 1930s, it is one of the largest high school buildings in the state.

Kurt Bilteaux Thomas was an American Olympic gymnast and part-time actor. 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.

Karen Christina Shelton is an American former field hockey player and coach. Shelton served as head coach of the University of North Carolina's field hockey program from 1981 until her retirement in 2022. She was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1977 to 1984 and a starter on the team that won the bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. She attended West Chester State and was a member of four NCAA championship winning teams. Shelton also qualified for the 1980 Olympic team but did not compete due to the Olympic Committee's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia. As consolation, she was one of 461 athletes to receive a Congressional Gold Medal many years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitch Gaylord</span> Gymnast

Mitchell Jay Gaylord is an American gymnast, actor, and 1984 Los Angeles Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics.

Denise Curry is an American former basketball player and college and professional basketball coach. Curry was inducted in the inaugural class at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.

Elfi Schlegel is a sportscaster for NBC Sports and a former college and national champion gymnast from Canada. She is generally regarded as a top 50 Canadian gymnast of all time, and one of the best of the late 1970s alongside Monica Goermann and the late Sherry Hawco.

Michael Scott Tully is an American pole vaulter. He represented the United States twice in the Olympics, earning a silver in 1984, and held the American pole vault record from 1984 to 1985.

Tracee Ann Talavera is an American former artistic gymnast who competed for the United States at the Olympics and World Championships. She qualified for the 1980 Olympic team. She was the 1981 and 1982 U.S. National All-around Champion and a member of the silver medal-winning American team at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Talavera was born in Santa Clara, California.

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 teams including the Olympic Games, World Championships, and Pan American Games.

Trent Dimas is an Hispanic American gymnast and Olympic champion. Now retired, Dimas was an elite senior level international artistic gymnast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Gulack</span> American artistic gymnast

George Julius Gulack was an American gymnast and Olympic champion, and was involved in gymnastics administration for both the American Athletic Union and the Olympic Committee. He competed at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles where he received a gold medal on the rings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Galimore</span> American gymnast (born 1959)

DaVanche "Ron" Galimore is an American former gymnast. He was the United States artistic gymnastics champion in floor exercise in 1977, 1979, and 1980; and in vault in 1977, 1979, 1980, and 1981. He was one of the members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, although that team was never sent to Moscow because of a U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. He was one of 461 athletes to receive a Congressional Gold Medal years later.

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.

Melvin Lattany is a former American track athlete. He was one of the world's dominating sprinters in the early 1980s.

Scott Philip Johnson is a retired American artistic gymnast. He represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics and at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He was a member of the 1984 gold medal winning team, and he was the team captain in 1988. He made history at the 1987 Pan American Games by becoming the first gymnast to win a medal on each event.

Francis Allen was head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers men's gymnastics team from 1969 to 2009. Those 40 years make him the longest tenured head coach in the history of Nebraska Cornhuskers athletics. He has coached his men's gymnastics team to eight NCAA National Championship titles. He was the head coach for two Men's Olympic Gymnastics Teams and coached nine gymnasts who competed in the Olympics.

Larry Gerard is a former American artistic gymnast and member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team. He was selected for the 1980 Olympics but was unable to participate due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Biography: Jim Hartung". usghof.org. March 21, 2018.
  2. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jim Hartung". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  3. ↑ Caroccioli, Tom; Caroccioli, Jerry (2008). Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Highland Park, IL: New Chapter Press. pp. 243–253. ISBN   978-0942257403.
  4. 1 2 3 "Bio: Jim Hartung". huskers.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Biography: Jim Hartung". omahasportshalloffame.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  6. ↑ http://usagym.org/pages/home/publications/technique/2006/1/hof.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  7. ↑ "Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame Foundation". Archived from the original on February 17, 2010. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
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.