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Conner, Bart
- Three-time Olympian (1976, 1980, 1984)
- Won a gold medal in the parallel bars after earning two perfect 10.0 scores and won a gold medal in the team competition at the 1984 Olympics
- 1979 World champion in the parallel bars
- Finished fifth on the floor exercise at the 1984 Olympics, which is the highest placing for an American in the event
- Withdrew from the 1984 National Championships due to an injury and because 40 percent of the scores from the meet were used to determine the Olympic team the USOC granted him a waiver and he earned a spot on the team with his performance at trials
- Became the youngest gymnast to win the U.S. Gymnastics Federation all-around championship in 1975
- Won the NCAA all-around title and team championship in 1978 as a part of the University of Oklahoma
- Started gymnastics at the age of 10 when his parents felt he needed a way to release his energy and started competing in YMCA meets at age 11 – “When I was nine or ten, I started walking around the house on my hands,” Conner said
- Became a TV commentator after retiring from competition, started his own gym in Norman, Okla., where he coaches athletes with his wife and owns International Gymnast Magazine, Grips, Etc. and Perfect 10 productions
- Married to Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, who scored the first perfect 10.0 in competition and became an international sensation after her all-around gold winning performance at the 1976 Olympics
- Inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame 1997, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1991, USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1996
- Co-authored a book with fellow Olympic medalists John Naber, Dan Jansen and Jeff Blatnick called “Awaken the Olympian Within” in 1999
- Serves on the Executive Board of Special Olympics International and is a national vice-president of the Muscular Dystrophy Association
Conner is the first American to win medals at every level of national and international competition. Conner has been a U.S. junior and senior level champion, NCAA champion, Pan American Games champion, World champion, World Cup champion and an Olympic champion. He was the first gymnast to win the American Cup (1976) and was crowned the American Cup champion two more times (1981, 1982). He won gold at the 1975 Pan American Games in the team competition. In 1979, he became the first and only American to win a gold medal at a World Cup event,where he won gold on the pommel horse and the parallel bars. Conner was crowned the U.S. all-around National champion twice in his career (1974, 1979). In 1972 and 1974, he won the Junior National Championships.
On being a part of the 1984 men’s U.S. Olympic gymnastic team: "The entire US team, all six guys, had the best meet of our lives, all on the same night,” said Conner on All American Speakers Web site. “It was incredible. Even though gymnastics is primarily an individual sport, there is something special about being part of a great team."
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Born: 3/28/1958
Hometown: Morton Grove, Ill.
Resides: Norman, Okla.
Sport: Gymnastics
Event: Parallel Bars
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