Kytra Tinisha Hunter (born October 25, 1991) is a former American

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

who competed for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

from 2011–15. One of Florida's most decorated gymnasts, Hunter is a 25-time All-American and a four-time individual

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

national champion. She was a 2015 recipient of the

Honda Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

Personal life

Hunter was born to parents Kimberly and De-Forrest Hunter. She has one brother, DeForrest, who played basketball, football and ran track. She began gymnastics when she was 4 years old after her parents saw an advertisement in the local newspaper in South Carolina as she comes from a military background with her father serving in the Army for 26 years.

Junior career

Hunter qualified as an elite gymnast in 2006, winning silver medals in the all-around and vault finals of the Junior Olympic Championships. She went on to compete at the 2006 Visa Championships in the junior elite division, where she finished 6th on vault.

Senior career

In 2009, Hunter competed at the CoverGirl Classic in Des Moines, Iowa, where she finished 7th on vault. At the

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 ...

in Dallas, she won a bronze medal on the floor exercise and placed 4th in the all-around. She made the national team and was chosen as an alternate for the

2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 41st World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at The O2 Arena in London from 12 to 18 October 2009. Similar to the 2005 World Championships, there were no team competitions. Individual all-around and event finals were contested. C ...

. That same year, she received her first international assignments, competing in Germany, France and Japan. In 2010, she was chosen to represent Team USA at the

City of Jesolo Trophy The City of Jesolo Trophy is an annual women's gymnastics competition held in Jesolo, Italy. There are competitions for the senior division and junior division. The United States won the senior team competition every year from 2010 to 2017.

, where she helped the US win gold in the team competition and placed 9th in the individual all-around. She won gold and bronze medals at the CoverGirl Classic and once again placed 4th in the all-around at the Visa Championships. She was chosen as an alternate for the

2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at the Rotterdam Ahoy indoor sporting arena in the Netherlands from 16 to 24 October 2010. In this year's championships, there was a total of 73 participating federations with 615 gymnasts ...

College career

Hunter accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

beginning in the fall of 2011. In the 2012 season, her first with the Gators, she earned the maximum of five All-American honors, became the regional floor exercise champion, and won the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) all-around and vault championships. She became the first Florida gymnast to claim multiple NCAA titles in the same year, winning both the all-around (scoring 39.725) and vault. She was also the recipient of the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

, recognizing her as the nation's top college women's gymnast for 2011–12. Hunter graduated in 2015, finishing her college career as a two-time team SEC champion, a three-time team NCAA champion, a four-time individual NCAA champion (two all-around titles, a vault title and a floor title), and a seven-time individual SEC champion. She won the 2015

for gymnastics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Kytra 1991 births Sportspeople from San Antonio American female artistic gymnasts Living people Florida Gators women's gymnasts Current women's college gymnasts U.S. women's national team gymnasts NCAA gymnasts who have scored a perfect 10 21st-century American women