Mary Lee Tracy

Last updated
Mary Lee Tracy
Education Colerain High School
OccupationGymnastics coach
Years active1989-present
Employer(s) Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy
USA Gymnastics

Mary Lee Tracy is an American gymnastics coach and owner of Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy, a program in Fairfield, Ohio. [1]

Contents

Personal life

Tracy was born in Cincinnati, and has lived in Ohio all her life. Tracy attended Colerain High School and was a 1977 graduate. [2] After graduating high school, Tracy joined the Cincinnati Ben-Gals cheerleading squad for NFL team Cincinnati Bengals. [3]

Coaching career

Tracy started the Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy in 1988 and has created over 25 national team members and 4 Olympians.

In the past, she has coached Amanda Borden, Jaycie Phelps, Kim Zmeskal, Alyssa Beckerman, Dominique Moceanu, Ashley Priess and more recently, Kayla Williams, Amelia Hundley, Lexie Priessman, and Amanda Jetter. [1] Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy currently has gymnast [4] Emily Gaskins.

In 2014, Lexie Priessman, the program's former top elite gymnast, decided to leave the gym, expressing that she needed a "change". [5] [6] Previously, in 2013, an incident occurred with former CGA elite gymnast Alexis Beucler when Tracy created a petition to force her to drop to Level 10, causing Beucler to later move to Florida to train with Brandy Johnson. [7]

In a 2016 television interview after Dr. Larry Nassar had been indicted on federal child pornography charges and after dozens of gymnasts had accused him of molestation, Tracy defended him as a doctor who had “helped so many kids in their careers” and “protected them.” [8]

In September 2018, after USA Gymnastics hired Mary Lee Tracy to be its elite development director for women, Tracy was heavily criticized for initially defending sexual molester team doctor Larry Nassar. Three-time Olympic champion Aly Raisman spoke out on Twitter against the federation’s hiring of Tracy, saying: “USA Gymnastics has appointed someone who, in my view, supported Nassar, victim-shamed survivors and has shown no willingness to learn from the past." [8] Tracy was fired three days after she had been hired. [9] [8]

Related Research Articles

Alyssa Erin Beckerman is an American former gymnast and balance beam national champion. She was a member of the United States national team from 1997 to 2000, and competed on the University of California, Los Angeles intercollegiate gymnastics team from 2001 to 2003. She was an alternate for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

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

Márta Károlyi is a 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 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 Mary Lou Retton, Betty Okino, Kerri Strug, Teodora Ungureanu, Phoebe Mills, Nadia Comăneci, 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. Established in 1963 as the U.S. Gymnastics Federation (USGF), USA Gymnastics selects and trains the men's and women's national teams for the Olympic Games and World Championships. USAG sets the rules and policies that govern the sport of gymnastics, promotes the sport at all levels, and serves as a resource center for members, clubs, fans and gymnasts.

Rhonda Faehn 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.

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">McKayla Maroney</span> American artistic gymnast

McKayla Rose Maroney is an American retired artistic gymnast. She was a member of the American women's gymnastics team dubbed the Fierce Five at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the team and an individual silver medal in the vault event. Maroney was also a member of the gold-winning American team at the 2011 World Championships, where she won gold medals in the team and vault competitions. She defended her World title and won the gold medal on vault at the 2013 World Championships, becoming the first U.S. female gymnast to defend a World Championship vault title.

Alexis Amber "Lexie" Priessman is a former American artistic gymnast. She has represented the U.S. in various international competitions and was a National Team member from 2010 through to 2013.

Amelia Magdalena Hundley is a former American artistic gymnast. She won a gold, silver, and bronze medal at the 2015 Pan-American Games in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She also won team gold medals competing for the United States at the 2012 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships and the City of Jesolo Trophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy</span> US womens artistic gymnastics academy

Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy (CGA), is an American women's artistic gymnastics academy in Fairfield, Ohio. It is has trained Olympians and world champions, including Amanda Borden and Jaycie Phelps.

Buckeye Gymnastics is an American women's artistic gymnastics academy, with two locations in Westerville and Powell. It was home to Olympic Champion Gabby Douglas during her 2016 Olympic comeback.

Dominic Zito is an American choreographer. He is the National Team choreographer for USA Gymnastics and has worked with gymnasts, including Olympians, such as Jordyn Wieber, Kyla Ross, Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles, Dominique Moceanu and Elise Ray.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Penny</span> American businessman and sports administrator

Stephen D. Penny Jr. is an American businessman and sports administrator. He was president and CEO of USA Gymnastics (USAG) from 2005 until 2017, and is a key figure in the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Geddert</span> American gymnastics coach (1957–2021)

John Gerald Geddert was an American artistic gymnastics coach, who was a head coach of the gold-medal 2012 U.S. women's Olympic team and regular coach of team member Jordyn Wieber. He retired when suspended by USA Gymnastics in 2018 after being implicated in the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal centered on his long-time associate Larry Nassar. Geddert committed suicide in 2021, shortly after being charged with 24 criminal charges, including 20 counts of human trafficking of a minor, one count each of first-degree criminal sexual assault, second-degree criminal sexual assault involving a minor, and lying to a police officer.

Emily Paige Gaskins is an American artistic gymnast. An elite gymnast since 2013, Gaskins was a member of the U.S. Junior National team for three years until 2016. She also made the Senior National Team in 2016.

<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 at the time of the abuse—over two decades in the United States, starting in the 1990s. More than 500 athletes alleged that they were sexually assaulted "by gym owners, coaches, and staff working for gymnastics programs across the country", including USA Gymnastics (USAG) and Michigan State University (MSU). It is considered the largest sexual abuse scandal in sports history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Nassar</span> American physician, serial child molester

Lawrence Gerard Nassar is an American former sports medicine physician, convicted sex offender and serial child molester. For 18 years, he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team, where he used his position to exploit and sexually assault hundreds of young athletes.

The 2012 Visa U.S. National Gymnastics Championships was the 49th edition of the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships. The competition was held from June 7–10, 2012 at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Missouri.

The 2011 Visa U.S. National Gymnastics Championships was the 48th edition of the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships. The competition was held from August 17–20, 2011 at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The 2010 Visa U.S. National Gymnastics Championships was the 47th edition of the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships. The competition was held from August 11–14, 2010 at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Winter Cup</span> Artistic Gymnastics Competition

The 2021 Winter Cup was an artistic gymnastics competition held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. In past iterations it was only for Men's Artistic Gymnastics, however, this competition was the first time that Women's Artistic Gymnastics were included.

References

  1. 1 2 "About Mary Lee Tracy".
  2. "Facebook". www.facebook.com.
  3. "Full in Full Out: Know a Coach - Mary Lee Tracy". 7 August 2010.
  4. "Elites".
  5. "The Techkit - Sport and Outdoor Tips - Product Reviews". 2 January 2022.
  6. "The Techkit - Sport and Outdoor Tips - Product Reviews". 2 January 2022.
  7. "GymFan".
  8. 1 2 3 "U.S.A. Gymnastics Under New Scrutiny as a Hiring Decision Goes Awry," The New York Times.
  9. Macur, Juliet; Belson, Ken (September 4, 2018). "Kerry Perry, U.S.A. Gymnastics Chief, Is Forced Out" via NYTimes.com.