USA Gymnastics
INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 15, 2015 – Seven individuals representing five different gymnastics disciplines comprise the 2016 class of inductees for the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. The four Olympic athletes and two coaches are: athletes – Ron Galimore of Indianapolis (men’s gymnastics), Paul Hamm of Glen Ellyn, Ill. (men’s gymnastics), Alicia Sacramone of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (women’s gymnastics), and Julie Zetlin of Los Angeles (rhythmic gymnastics); and coaches – Valeri Liukin of Parker, Texas (women’s gymnastics coach), and Jurek Pol of Slidell, La. (acrobatic gymnastics coach). George Hery of Fallbrook, Calif., will receive the Lifetime Achievement award for his efforts in trampoline and tumbling. The induction ceremony is slated for Saturday, July 9, during the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials – Women’s Gymnastics and USA Gymnastics National Congress and Trade Show in San Jose, Calif.
“Each of these individuals has had a significant impact on our sport,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics, “and contributed in a number of different ways. Congratulations to the inductees.”
Paul Hamm, men’s gymnastics
Hamm was the first U.S. man to win the World and Olympic all-around titles, and he won a total of three Olympic and five World medals. A two-time Olympian, Hamm won the Olympic all-around gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. He also aided the U.S. men in bringing home the team silver medal, the U.S. men’s first Olympic team medal since 1984, and went on to earn the horizontal bar silver medal. In 2003, Hamm won the World all-around title, a first for the U.S. men, and the floor exercise gold, as well as helped the men earn the team silver medal. His other World medals were the 2001 team silver and the 2002 floor exercise bronze. Also, Hamm accumulated three U.S. all-around titles (2002-04), along with two U.S. crowns each for floor exercise, pommel horse and horizontal bar, and one vault title. He also won the 2008 American Cup and the all-around title at three Pacific Rim Championships, along with several other individual and team medals. Hamm was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team, where he and his brother, Morgan, made history as the first twins to compete on the same Olympic team in gymnastics. Hamm began his career at the Swiss Turners Gymnastics Academy and trained for the 2004 Olympic Games at Ohio State University, where he earned his accounting degree in 2007. He currently resides in Glen Ellyn, Ill., and coaches at Premier Gymnastics.
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