Al Fong (born c. 1953) is an American

gymnastics 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, shou ...

coach and owner of GAGE Center, a gymnastics club. Fong coached

Julissa Gomez Julissa D'Anne Gomez (November 4, 1972 – August 8, 1991) was an American gymnast whose rapid rise through the ranks of elite gymnastics in the mid-1980s was cut short by a vaulting accident in 1988 that left her a quadriplegic. She eventuall ...

and

Christy Henrich Christina "Christy" Renée Henrich (July 18, 1972 – July 26, 1994) was an American artistic gymnast. Her death from anorexia nervosa at age 22 led to major reforms in the way women's gymnastics is covered on television and in the news media ...

, Olympic hopefuls for the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, who died after a competition accident and from anorexia, respectively. He has since coached two Olympic silver medalists:

Terin Humphrey Terin Marie Humphrey (born August 14, 1986, in St. Joseph, Missouri) is a retired American artistic gymnast. She competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where she helped the United States team place second and won an individual silver med ...

and

Courtney McCool Courtney Lynn McCool-Griffeth (born April 1, 1988) is an American former artistic gymnast who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics. She was coached by Al and Armine Fong of Great American Gymnastic Express. From 2007–2010, McCool competed ...

Personal life

Fong is a second-generation Chinese-American, born and raised in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. He was a gymnast and earned a gymnastics scholarship to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

. Fong is married to former Soviet gymnast Armine Barutyan-Fong, who is a gymnastics coach at GAGE Center. Together they have a daughter, Athena.

Career

1970s Fong graduated from Louisiana State University in 1975, and became a gymnastics coach that same year. In 1979, Fong started his own gym, the Great American Gymnastics Express (also known as GAGE Center), in Blue Springs, Missouri. Fong coached six-year-old future world champion Tammy Pendley in Lee's Summit, Missouri. 1980s and 1990s In the 1980s, Fong coached

and

. Gomez died after breaking her neck while performing a Yurchenko vault. Henrich died from complications of anorexia nervosa. After Henrich's death, Fong stopped coaching elite gymnastics and instead taught after-school programs. 2000s He coached Olympic silver medalists

and

at his gym, GAGE Center, in Blue Springs. Fong has said his coaching style has changed: "There is no yelling or screaming ..f anybody who knew me 20 years ago saw this, they'd say 'Bulls----". At a selection camp for the 2003 World Championships, Humphrey was selected as a second alternate. She was not allowed to practice with the U.S. team. Fong commented that the experience was very painful and said Humphrey should have been selected to compete. Fong was involved in a scoring controversy concerning the men's all-around competition at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

when Korean Olympic officials lodged a protest against American gymnast

Paul Hamm Paul Elbert Hamm (born September 24, 1982 in Washburn, Wisconsin) is a retired United States, American artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. He is the 2004 Olympic Games, 2004 Olympic all-around champion, a three-time Gymnastics at the Summer Ol ...

s score. 2010s As of 2019, Fong coached

Leanne Wong Leanne Ashley Wong (born September 20, 2003) is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the gold medal winning teams at the 2022 World Championships and the 2019 Pan American Games. She is the 2021 World all-around silver medalist ...

and

Kara Eaker Kara Eaker (born November 7, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. On the balance beam she is the 2018 Pan American and 2019 Pan American Games champion and a two-time United States national silver medalist (2018, 2019). On floor exercise she ...

Athlete deaths

Julissa Gomez and the Yurchenko vault

broke her neck while performing a Yurchenko vault in 1988 during the World Sports Fair in Japan, just before the 1988 Olympic trials. She died as a result of her injuries in hospital. After the accident Fong said: "One thing is certain...Julissa certainly wouldn't want national team members to stop competing, or want me to quit being the coach that I am". After the accident some coaches supported banning the vault entirely, but Fong said that "a lot of the coaches are concerned about the hysteria going on about this vault ..his could hamper the development of the sport." He said that banning the vault would put the United States even further behind the Soviets and suggested that coaches should teach the vault to gymnasts when they are younger so they will have more time to develop it. Another one of Fong's gymnasts, Karen Tiereny, cracked the C-1 vertebra in her neck when she landed on her head performing the Yurchenko vault at the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1987. Tiereny decided she would not perform the vault anymore and has said that Fong continued to encourage her to perform it anyway. Fong insists that he did not pressure Tiereny to continue performing the Yurchenko. Christy Henrich He coached

, who missed the

by .188. Henrich developed anorexia nervosa after a judge told her she was too heavy at 93 pounds to make the Olympic team. As a result of her illness, she was unable to compete after 1990. She retired from the sport in 1991 and died from multiple organ system failure in 1994 at age 22. Fong had stopped coaching Christy in 1989 and has said that he "kicked her out of the gym for her own good" adding that she had lost the strength needed to complete her routines safely. Henrich has said that Fong called her the "Pillsbury Dough Boy", which Fong has denied. Fong stopped coaching elite gymnastics for a time after Henrich's death. The best gymnasts left his gym and his reputation as a coach was damaged. He taught after-school programs for a time, until he met nine-year-old Terin Humphrey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fong, Al American gymnastics coaches American people of Chinese descent Living people People from Seattle Louisiana State University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)