John Roethlisberger (born June 21, 1970) is a retired American

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 ...

. He is a three-time Olympian, representing the U.S. at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and 2000 Olympics in Sydney. He is also a four-time U.S. National all-around champion and a four-time U.S. National

pommel horse The pommel horse is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal body covered with foam rubber and ...

champion. He also won back-to-back American Cup titles in 1995 and 1996. John was named Sportsperson of the Year in 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998 and 2000 and was a member of six World Championship teams throughout his career.

Collegiate career

Roethlisberger enrolled at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

where his father was head coach of the men's gymnastics team. While there, he won the NCAA all-around title three times and the Big Ten Conference all-around title four times. In 1993, Roethlisberger won the

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 ...

, and was a 1992 and 1993 Academic All-American. In 1993, John was named the winner of the NCAA Top-six Award, which is awarded annually to the top six student-athletes in the nation from all sports.

Commentary career

John has been in the commentary box for many

Visa Championships The USA Gymnastics National Championships is the annual artistic gymnastics national competition held in the United States for elite-level competition. It is currently organized by USA Gymnastics, the governing body for gymnastics in the United Stat ...

U.S. Classic The U.S. Classic is an annual summer gymnastics meet for elite artistic gymnasts of the United States. The meet occurs before Nationals and is a qualifier for it. In Olympic years, the aforementioned meets along with the U.S. Olympic Trials are u ...

, and

Nastia Liukin Cup The Nastia Liukin Cup (formerly the Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup from 2010–11) is an annual artistic gymnastics competition held in the United States and hosted by Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin. History In August 2009, USA Gymnastics announced ...

competitions for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

. He also does commentary for the Big Ten and SEC Networks college gymnastic meets.

Personal life

John is the son of Fred Roethlisberger, who was a member of the 1968 U.S. Olympics gymnastics team. His sister

Marie Roethlisberger Marie Roethlisberger (born May 12, 1966), is a former gymnast who was a 1984 United States Olympic gymnastics alternate. She is almost completely deaf. She is the daughter of United States 1968 Olympic Gymnast Fred Roethlisberger and the siste ...

was an alternate on the 1984 U.S. Olympic gymnastics team. He earned his BS degree in finance and international business. He now co-owns camp Flipfest, along with John Macready. Flipfest is located on Lake Frances in Crossville, Tennessee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roethlisberger, John 1970 births Living people American male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1992 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1996 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2000 Summer Olympics Minnesota Golden Gophers men's gymnasts Olympic gymnasts of the United States People from Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin Pan American Games medalists in gymnastics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Gymnasts at the 1995 Pan American Games Big Ten Athlete of the Year winners Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games