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Tom Schlesinger

Tom Schlesinger
Full nameThomas Kurt Schlesinger
Born1963 or 1964 (age 60–61)
HometownBoulder, Colorado, U.S.
Height5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Weight140 lb (64 kg)
Gymnastics career
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Country representedUnited States
College teamNebraska Cornhuskers
Head coach(es)Francis Allen
Medal record
Men's artistic gymnastics
Representing  United States
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Pan American Games 1 0 0
Total 1 0 0
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1987 Indianapolis Team
AwardsNissen-Emery Award (1988)

Thomas Kurt Schlesinger[1] (born c. 1963 or 1964[2]) is a retired American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and won a gold medal at the 1987 Pan American Games.

Early life and education

Schlesinger has called Fort Collins, Colorado, and Boulder, Colorado, home.[3] As a youth, he participated in gymnastics with his older brother Arthur and Tom was the Colorado state all-around championship while in high school.[3][4] In April 1982 while Schlesinger was recovering from right knee reconstruction, he witnessed his older brother Arthur fall from the horizontal bar while warming up which resulted in Arthur's paralysis.[2] He graduated from Poudre High School in Fort Collins.[3][4]

Schlesinger was recruited by numerous colleges for gymnastics including California State University, Fullerton, University of Oklahoma, Ohio State University, and University of California, Berkeley, but chose to attend University of Nebraska–Lincoln with head coach Francis Allen calling Schlesinger "probably the best p-bar man who's ever come into Nebraska as a freshman."[3][4]

Gymnastics career

While a student at Nebraska, Schlesinger was a Nebraska Cornhuskers men's gymnastics team member. He competed from 1985 to 1988 and finished as one of the most accomplished gymnasts in program history with 38 combined individual titles.[5] As a junior, he was the 1987 NCAA men's gymnastics championship all-around champion and was the co-champion on the parallel bars with Nebraska teammate Kevin Davis.[6][7] Nebraska won the 1988 NCAA men's gymnastics championship team title and Schlesinger was awarded the 1988 Nissen-Emery Award as the top senior male collegiate gymnast.

Schlesinger was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team for seven consecutive years.[8] He was a member of the gold medal-winning United States team at the 1987 Pan American Games and was also a member of the 1987 Worlds team. He was later named an alternate for the 1988 Summer Olympics. Schlesinger was also named to the 1989 and 1991 Worlds teams, but could not compete in either due to injury.

At the 1991 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, Schlesinger placed fourth and was named to the 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships team for the United States but a shoulder injury forced him to be replaced by John Roethlisberger.[9] He was petitioned into the 1992 United States Olympic trials due to injury, but an 18th place finish resulted in him not being selected for the 1992 Summer Olympics.[10][11][12]

Legacy

Schlesinger was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2006.[8] He was later inducted into the Nebraska Cornhuskers Hall of Fame in 2018.[13]

Personal life

Following his gymnastics career, Schlesinger became an ophthalmologist.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Thomas Schlesinger, MD PhD". psjhmedgroups.org. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME?". Chicago Tribune. October 11, 1987. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d "Nebraska Signs Third Gymnastics Recruit". Omaha World-Herald. No. 219 (7 ed.). May 30, 1984. p. 45. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "NU Gets Gymnast". Alliance Times-Herald. Vol. 97, no. 310. May 30, 1984. p. 7. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  5. ^ "Nebraska Men's Gymnastics 2025 Media Guide" (PDF). googleapis.com. 2025. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  6. ^ "NATIONAL COLLEGIATE MEN'S GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  7. ^ "Nebraska's Tom Schlesinger won the all-around title and the..." upi.com. April 25, 1987. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  8. ^ a b "2006 USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame class of seven inductees". usagym.org. July 25, 2006. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  9. ^ Hudson, Maryann (July 25, 1991). "One Year to Barcelona : Men's Gymnasts Have Chance at Pre-Games Meet". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  10. ^ Lowitt, Bruce (June 7, 1992). "U.S. gymnasts begin quest for gold at trials". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  11. ^ Peszek, Luan (July–August 1992). "Zmeskal & Roethlisberger RISE to the Occasion!". USA Gymnastics. pp. 23–27. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  12. ^ Peszek, Luan (July–August 1992). "Baltimore to Barcelona". USA Gymnastics. pp. 28–31. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  13. ^ "2018 Nebraska Athletic Hall of Fame Class announced". 1011now.com. April 9, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
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