Courtney Louise McGregor (born 17 November 1998) is a retired artistic gymnast who represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics and retired in 2020.

Early life and education

McGregor was born in 1998 in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, where she lived until May 2016. Her parents are Tina and Russell McGregor. Of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent, she is affiliated with the

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, ...

. She attended

Villa Maria College Villa Maria College is a private Roman Catholic college in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1960 by the Felician Sisters. History The college was initially a teacher-training center for sisters in the education apostolate and was establish ...

and later switched to

The Correspondence School Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu or Te Kura (formerly The Correspondence School) is New Zealand's largest school with around 25,000 students enrolled each year, from early childhood to secondary level. It is headquartered in Portland Crescent in Thorndon ...

Gymnastics career

McGregor started gymnastics at age six. Her first international competitions were the

2012 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships The 2012 Pacific Rim Championships were held from March 16–18, 2012, at the Comcast Arena and Comcast Community Ice Rink in Everett, Washington. Medalists Artistic gymnastics Men's events Women's events Rhythmic gymnastics Trampoline ...

Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...

, and the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney. She competed at the

2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held in Nanning, China at the Guangxi Gymnasium from 3–12 October 2014. The competition was the fourth time a World Artistic Gymnastics Championships has been held in the continent of Asia. ...

in Nanning, China, and also won a bronze medal in the vault at the

2016 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships The 2016 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships is the fifteenth edition of the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships. The competition was held April 8–10, 2016 at the Xfinity Arena (for artistic and trampoline events) and the Everett Community C ...

. She qualified for the Olympics at the

2016 Gymnastics Olympic Test Event The 2016 Olympic Gymnastics Test Event, known officially as Aquece Rio 2016, served as the final qualifier to the gymnastics events at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Concerns and criticisms During the test event the FIG ( ...

(known as Aquece Rio 2016) in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. She was the first artistic gymnast to compete for New Zealand since Laura Robertson at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney. At 17, McGregor was New Zealand's youngest Olympic competitor in 2016. She finished 41st in the all-around in

qualifications Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional expe ...

, with a best placing of 13th on

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

College career

MacGregor accepted an athletic scholarship at

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding ...

and enrolled there in May 2016 to study mathematics and philosophy. Her Christchurch-born coach, Mary Wright, continued to train her in

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area' ...

. She won the 2019 all-around competition for the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

. She was forced to sit out the 2020 season after rupturing her Achilles tendon and subsequently announced her retirement from gymnastics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcgregor, Courtney 1998 births Living people New Zealand female artistic gymnasts Place of birth missing (living people) Gymnasts at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Christchurch People educated at Villa Maria College, Christchurch People educated at Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu Boise State University people Gymnasts at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for New Zealand Ngāti Kahungunu people New Zealand Māori sportspeople Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand 21st-century New Zealand women