Abie Grossfeld (born March 1, 1934) is an American gymnastics coach and former

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

. Grossfeld has represented the United States as a gymnastics competitor or coach in seven Olympic Games, seven World Championships, six Maccabiah Games, and five Pan American Games — in addition to many other major gymnastics events.

Early life

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Grossfeld was an excellent athlete in many sports from a young age. He won gold medals in two Jr. Olympic

Cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

Championships, (1949–50). He also won the New York City 4 X 50 relay team title at Madison Square Garden in 1949, and the Bronx High School

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

and

standing long jump The standing long jump, also known as the standing broad jump, is an athletics event. It was an Olympic event until 1912. It is one of three standing variants of track and field jumping events, which also include the standing high jump and ...

titles in 1949. Grossfeld was also Captain of his high school swimming team, and competed mostly in the 50 yd. and 100 yd. freestyle events. In addition, he helped the team as a diver, and also swam and competed unattached in the NYC Boys’ Swimming Championships, winning gold in the 100 and silver in diving in 1949. He was awarded the “New York Maritime Benevolent Association Medal” in 1951 for saving a human life in peril. When he was 16 years old, he dove into an ice filled river in New York to save a drowning five-year-old.

Gymnastics career

College

Grossfeld finished 2nd in the individual all-around at the 1957

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Championships (he attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, class of 1960). He received a master's degree from the school in 1962. Grossfeld received the Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year Award for 1959 as a member of the

Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnastics The Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnastics team represents the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Fighting Illini have been invited to 47 NCAA tournaments and have won 10 team NCAA champion ...

team. At the NCAAs he won four gold - AA, FX, two HB titles, and three silver and three bronze medals. He finished in the top three in 10 of 16 events, (1957–59). At the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Championships he won seven gold medals - 3 AA, FX, R, PB, & HB (1957–59). At the national AAU Championships he was four times the horizontal bar champion (1955–61).

World Championships

He competed in the World Championships in 1958, finishing 7th in the team competition and 53rd in the individual all-around. Four years later, Grossfeld again competed in the World Championships, when the U.S. team placed 6th and Grossfeld finished 85th in the all-around.

Olympics career

Competing

A two-time Olympian for the United States' men's gymnastics team, Grossfeld first competed at the 1956 Melbourne Games. While the U.S. finished 6th overall in the team competition (271.5 points, only 5 points behind Czechoslovakia for the bronze medal), Grossfeld finished in 39th place in the individual all-around competition (107.75 points). During the Games, he also placed 13th in the horizontal bar, 23rd in the free-standing exercise, 34th in the rings, 48th in the parallel bars, and 52nd in the pommel horse. Four years later, at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

, the U.S. team finished 5th and Grossfeld placed 36th in the all-around.

Coaching

After retiring from international competition, he coached the American gymnasts at the 1964, 1972, 1984, and 1988 Olympics. His 1984 team, with

Mitch Gaylord Mitchell Jay Gaylord (born March 10, 1961) is an American gymnast, actor, and Olympic gold medalist. Early life Gaylord was born in Van Nuys, California, the son of Fred and Linda Gaylord, and is Jewish. Gaylord graduated from Grant High Schoo ...

, won the combined exercises championship.

Pan American Games

He had more success at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

, competing in 1955, 1959, and 1963. He won 15 medals (eight golds; including three for Horizontal Bar championships), including the gold in the individual all-around in 1959.

Maccabiah Games

Grossfeld also dominated at the

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (a.k.a. the World Maccabiah Games; he, משחקי המכביה, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics"), first held in 1932, are an international Jewish and Israeli multi-sp ...

. He competed at the 1953 Maccabiah Games, the 1957 Maccabiah Games (winning 7 golds in 7 events; AA, R, PH, FX, HB, PB, & V), and the

1965 Maccabiah Games The 7th Maccabiah Games in 1965 saw 1,500 athletes from 29 different countries compete in 21 sports. It was the first Maccabiah Games for Iran, Jamaica, Peru, and Venezuela. The United States delegation won the most gold medals, followed by Israel, ...

(winning four gold medals, four silver medals, and three bronze medals), winning a combined 17 gold medals.

Coaching

After retiring from competition, Grossfeld turned to coaching. He served as head coach of U.S. men's gymnastics team at five World Championships (1966, 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1987), and head coach of the U.S. team at Pan American Games in 1983 and 1987. He was also the head coach of the men's team at the 1986

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...

. In addition, he coached the U.S. gymnasts in three Maccabiah Games: 1973, 1977 (men and women), and 1981. His 1981 squad won three team gold medals. During this time, he also became a professor of physical education and became head gymnastics coach at

Southern Connecticut State University Southern Connecticut State University (Southern Connecticut, Southern Connecticut State, SCSU, or simply Southern) is a public university in New Haven, Connecticut. Part of the Connecticut State University System, it was founded in 1893 and is g ...

, helping the program become one of the best in the country. He coached four

Nissen Award The Nissen Award (Nissen Emery Award) is the award given to the best male collegiate gymnast in the United States. The award reflects admirable scholarship and moral characteristics as well as sporting success. List of winners See also * AAI Awa ...

winners (akin to football’s

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

), three NCAA Div. II championship teams, 10 Consecutive Eastern Collegiate Conference (EIGL) team championships (1975-’84), and 148 gymnasts who achieved

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n status. Among those he coached were

Peter Kormann Peter Kormann (born June 21, 1955) is an American retired gymnast and gymnastics coach. In the 1976 Olympics, he became the first American to medal in competition against the Soviets when he won a bronze medal in the men's floor competition. Kor ...

, first U.S. Olympic individual gymnastics medalist since 1932; John Crosby, two World Cup individual gold medals; and three Pan American individual gold medal winners (1971 & ’75).

Halls of Fame and awards

In 1959, Grossfeld was voted the University of Illinois’ “Athlete of the Year" and was awarded a

Big Ten Medal of Honor One of the most prestigious conference awards in college athletics, the Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one student-athlete from the graduating class of each university who had “attained the greatest proficiency in athletics ...

for demonstrating joint athletic and academic excellence throughout his college career. He received the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique Master of Sports Award in 1960. He was chosen NCAA National Coach of the Year three times (1973, 1975, and 1976). He was elected to the United States Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 197
Biography: GROSSFELD, Abie
He was named Gymnastics Federation Coach of the Year in 1984. Grossfeld, who is

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish, was inducted into the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around ...

in 1991. He received the USA Gymnastics “Spirit of the Flame Award” in 1999. Grossfeld received the World Acrobatic Society’s Acrobatic Legend Award in 2001. He was elected into National Judges Frank Cumiskey Hall of Fame.

References

External links

US Gymnastics Hall of Fame bioJews in Sports bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grossfeld, Abie 1934 births Living people American male artistic gymnasts College men's gymnastics coaches in the United States Sportspeople from New York City Competitors at the 1953 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1957 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1965 Maccabiah Games Maccabiah Games medalists in gymnastics Olympic gymnasts of the United States Gymnasts at the 1956 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1960 Summer Olympics Jewish American sportspeople Jewish gymnasts Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnasts Maccabiah Games gold medalists for the United States Maccabiah Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 1955 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees 21st-century American Jews