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Peter Vidmar

Peter Vidmar

Personal information
Nationality	United States
Born	(1961-06-03) June 3, 1961 (age 63) Los Angeles, United States
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
Sport	Artistic gymnastics
Club	UCLA Bruins, Los Angeles
Medal record Men's gymnastics Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles Pommel horse 1984 Los Angeles Team competition 1984 Los Angeles All-around World Championships 1979 Fort Worth Team

Peter Glen Vidmar (born June 3, 1961 in Los Angeles) 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.^[1]

Olympics[edit]

At age 18, Peter Vidmar was the youngest member of the bronze medal winning 1979 world championships team. Vidmar 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, he was one of 461 athletes to receive a Congressional Gold Medal many years later.^[2] At the 1984 Summer Olympic games in Los Angeles, Vidmar won gold medals in the men's all-around team competition and the pommel horse competition, as well as a silver medal in the men's all-around individual gymnastics competition. With a total of three Olympic medals, two golds and a silver,^[3] he is one of only three athletes inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame twice: first as an individual, then as a member of the historic 1984 U.S. men's gymnastics team.^[4] He also was the highest-scoring American gymnast in Olympic history.^[5]

UCLA[edit]

He is an alumnus of UCLA.^[6] In 1983, Vidmar won the Nissen Award (the "Heisman" of men's gymnastics).^[7]

Career[edit]

Vidmar hosts the annual Peter Vidmar Men's Gymnastics Invitational at Brentwood SchoolinLos Angeles. He has been a gymnastics anchor for both CBS and ESPN. He is currently a motivational speaker as well as a co-chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee Summer Sports Summit. In 1998 Vidmar was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.^[8]

Personal life[edit]

Vidmar is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[9]

2012 Olympics[edit]

Vidmar was selected to be the chef de mission for the 2012 Olympics, where he would have represented all U.S. athletes and marched in the opening ceremonies. His selection drew criticism from LGBT activists and athletes, including Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir, because in 2008 Vidmar donated money to and publicly campaigned for Proposition 8 that banned same-sex couples from being married in California. Vidmar decided several days after his selection to resign from the appointment.^[10] Vidmar said, “I simply cannot have my presence become a detriment to the U.S. Olympic family.”^[11]

U.S. Gymnastics[edit]

Vidmar was named chairman of the U.S. Gymnastics Board of Directors in December 2008.^[12] He left his role at USA Gymnastics in December 2015 to serve as a mission president for the LDS Church in the Australia Melbourne Mission.^[13]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Peter Vidmar at the International Gymnastics Federation
• Peter Vidmar at the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame
• Peter Vidmar at the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame
• Peter VidmaratOlympics.com
• Peter VidmaratOlympedia
• Peter Vidmar at the Team USA Hall of Fame
• Peter VidmaratUSA Gymnastics
• Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived July 15, 2011)
• List of competitive results at Gymn Forum