Meta Elste-Neumann (October 16, 1919 – October 30, 2010)Meta Elste-Neumann's obituary
/ref>Meta Elste-Neumann's profile at Sports Reference.com
/ref> was born

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. As Meta Elste, she was a competitor for 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 territorie ...

Women's Olympic Gymnastics team at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

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and the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

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.U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame
/ref> She won an Olympic

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

with the United States team in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

. Elste was three when her parents emigrated from Germany and settled in Chicago. She learned her gymnastics at the Lincoln Turner Hall on the north side of the city. She briefly attended Lake View High, but after her father suffered a debilitating stroke she had to drop out at the age 14 to help earn money for her family. She used her gymnastics skills as a member of a traveling circus. Elste's Olympic opportunities were delayed by World War II, when the Games were cancelled in 1940 and 1944, but in 1948 and 1952 she was well-prepared to compete. In national AAU competition, Elste won the uneven parallel bars in 1947, the floor exercise in 1949, and the balance beam in 1952. She was selected nine times for All-American honors by the AAU.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elste-Neumann, Meta 1919 births 2010 deaths American female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1948 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in gymnastics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Emigrants from the Weimar Republic to the United States 21st-century American women

See also

References