Kelly Garrison-Funderburk, formerly known as Kelly Garrison-Steves (born July 5, 1967), is a retired American
artistic gymnast. An elite gymnast for eight years, she represented the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
at the
1988 Summer 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 ...
in
Seoul, South Korea
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 o ...
. In addition to her Olympic experience, she participated in the
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
,
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
and
1987 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She was a two-time winner of the
Honda Sports Award.
Early life
Garrison was born on July 5, 1967, in
Altus, Oklahoma
Altus () is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,813 at the 2010 census, a loss of 7.7 percent compared to 21,454 in 2000.
Altus is home to Altus Air Force Base, the United States Air ...
. She started gymnastics training when she was 7 years old, in 1974. In 1985, at the age of 18, she graduated from
Altus High School.
Elite career
1980–84
In 1980, at the age of 13, Garrison reached the junior international elite level. She competed at the 1980 U.S. Junior National Championships and won a gold medal on the
balance beam
The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...
. At the
USGF International Invitational, she took the bronze on the
floor exercise
In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...
. Two years later, she won the all-around at the 1982 U.S. Olympic Festival in
Indianapolis.
Moving up to the senior division in 1983, Garrison finished twelfth at the 1983 U.S. World Trials competition. At the
1983 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 22nd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Budapest, the capital of Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by ...
in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, she contributed to the U.S. team's seventh-place finish but did not qualify to any individual event finals.
In 1984, Garrison competed at the American Classic (finishing ninth) and at the U.S. Classic in
Niagara Falls, New York (finishing twelfth). However, she finished 10th in the U. S. Olympic trials. After several teammates were injured, Garrison moved to second alternate for the 1984 Olympic Team.
1985–87
In 1985, Garrison finished fifth at the Arthur Gander International and was third in the all-around at the Swiss Cup. At the 1985 U.S. National Championships, she won a gold medal on the beam. She placed second at the U.S. World Trials and made the U.S. team for the
1985 World Championships in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
. The team finished sixth, and as an individual, she was eighteenth in the all-around competition.
The following year was less successful for Garrison. She competed at the 1986 Olympic Festival in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
and placed fourth in the all-around and on the
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 ...
, fifth on floor exercise, and sixth on the
uneven bars
The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...
. At the 1986 U.S. National Championships, she placed 39th in the all-around. She also went to a
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
event in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and placed 13th.
In 1987, she placed fifth in the all-around at the National Championships and made the U.S. teams for the
1987 Pan American Games and the
1987 World Championships. At the Pan American Games, she won gold medals in the team and balance beam competitions and placed third in the all-around. At the World Championships, she contributed to the team's sixth-place finish.
1988
At the 1988 National Championships, Garrison placed second in the all-around, behind
Phoebe Mills
Phoebe Mills (born November 2, 1972, in Northfield, Illinois) is an American attorney and Olympic medalist who has been active in the sports of artistic gymnastics, diving, speed skating and snowboarding.
Personal life
Before becoming a gymnas ...
, and won the gold medal on beam and 3rd on floor. Her finish at Nationals qualified her to the U.S. Olympic Trials in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
, where she again placed second behind Mills and secured a spot on the 1988 U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team.
Olympic Games
At the
1988 Summer Olympic Games in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
, Garrison competed on all four events in the team compulsories and optionals, scoring 38.975 in the former and 38.85 in the latter. The United States placed 4th, behind the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
, and
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
. Garrison also qualified for the all-around and balance beam finals, and placed 16th and 7th, respectively.
Garrison was also involved in a controversy, involving a rarely used rule, that meant the difference between 3rd and 4th place for the United States. During her uneven bars routine in the compulsory round of the competition, the team alternate,
Rhonda Faehn
Rhonda Faehn (born April 28, 1971) is an American college gymnastics coach and former college and elite gymnast. Faehn was the head coach of the Florida Gators women's gymnastics team of the University ...
, pulled the springboard away after Garrison began her routine, then crouched beside it and remained on the podium until Garrison dismounted. At the time, coaches and alternates were not allowed to stay on the podium when an athlete was performing a routine at the Olympics. Faehn was caught by an East German judge, Ellen Berger, and the team was deducted five-tenths of a point, putting the Americans in 4th place behind the East Germans by three-tenths of a point.
Without the deduction, the United States would have won the bronze medal ahead of East Germany. This would have been the first Olympic gymnastics medal in team competition for a U.S. women's team in a fully attended Olympic Games. (The U.S. women won several medals at the
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, but those Games were boycotted by the Soviet Union and East Germany.) The president of the
International Gymnastics Federation
The International Gymnastics Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, FIG) is the body governing all disciplines of competitive gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on July 23, 1881, in ...
(FIG) at the time,
Yuri Titov
Yuri Yevlampiyevich Titov (russian: Юрий Евлампиевич Титов; born 27 November 1935) is a former Russian gymnast, Olympic champion and four times world champion, who competed for the Soviet Union. He won a total of nine Olympic ...
, apologized to the Americans after the compulsories.
Eponymous skills
Garrison has two eponymous skills on the balance beam that are listed in the
Code of Points.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrison, Kelly
1967 births
Living people
American female artistic gymnasts
Olympic gymnasts for the United States
Gymnasts at the 1988 Summer Olympics
People from Altus, Oklahoma
Pan American Games medalists in gymnastics
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States
Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics
U.S. women's national team gymnasts
Gymnasts at the 1987 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games
Oklahoma Sooners women's gymnasts
NCAA gymnasts who have scored a perfect 10