Edward R. "Ed" Gagnier (born February 1, 1936) is a Canadian former gymnast and gymnastics coach. He was a gymnast at the University of Michigan from 1956 to 1958. He was selected as an All-American in 1956 and also became the first gymnast to represent Canada at the Olympic games. He was the head coach of the gymnastics program at Iowa State University from 1961 to 1983 and led his teams to NCAA championships in 1971, 1973 and 1974. He was inducted into the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1982.

Early years

Gagnier grew up in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He joined his high school gymnastics team at age 14.

University of Michigan

As a member of the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

gymnastics teams, he won five Big Ten Conference championships—the 1957 all-around championship, the 1956 and 1957 vault championships, and the 1956 and 1957 parallel bars championships. In 1956, he was also selected as an All-American in the parallel bars and all-around. Gagnier became Canada's first Olympic gymnast, representing his home country at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...

. Gagnier graduated from the University of Michigan in 1958 with a bachelor of arts degree in physical education. In 1992, he was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor.

Iowa State

After leaving the University of Michigan, Gagnier coached gymnastics in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1961, he was hired by Iowa State University to create a gymnastic program. The program began as a club sport. He served as the head gymnastics coach at Iowa State for 22 years. His teams won the NCAA team championships in 1971, 1973, and 1974. They also won eight

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

championships. He retired as Iowa State's gymnastics coach in 1983 but remained in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medici ...

, as the school's promotions director for the athletic department. Gagnier was also the author of "Inside Gymnastics," published in 1974. Gagnier was inducted into the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1982. A banner of Gagnier was hung from the rafters of Hilton Colessium on February 20, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gagnier, Ed Michigan Wolverines men's gymnasts Iowa State Cyclones men's gymnastics coaches 1936 births Living people Canadian male artistic gymnasts Sportspeople from Windsor, Ontario Gymnasts at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts of Canada