Gymnastics has been a part of the Olympics ever since the Olympics originated in 1896. For 32 years, only men were allowed to compete. Starting in 1828, women were allowed to compete as gymnasts in the Olympics. Throughout the years, there have been many Olympic gymnasts who have won gold medals; however, Amanda Borden, Kim Zmeskal, and Betty-Jean Maycock are all United States Olympic gymnasts who have done more that just win an Olympic title. Because of Amanda Borden’s continuous accomplishments throughout life, she deserves recognition. Borden was voted as team captain while training in 1996. Even though she was the least experienced on her team, Borden was chosen because of her maturity and care for her teammates. She maintained excellent grades in high school. Also, during high school, Borden was a member of the “A” honor roll, the …show more content…
She was the first American to win the all-around at a world championship. Scoring eight perfect 10.00s in her career, is incredible. Zmeskal was the only competitor at the 1992 World Championships win more that one event. Throughout her life, Zmeskal made many accomplishments. She was chosen as the “1992 Athlete of the year” by her national teammates. Also, Zmeskal was honored by the Women’s Sports Foundation with the “1990 Up and Coming” award. In high school, Zmeskal was able to train and also keep up in school. She was a member of the National Honors Society and was a two-time AAU Sullivan Award Nominee. Betty-Jean Maycock was a member if the 1860 United States Women's Gymnastics Team. Maycock and her team competed in the Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. After her career as a gymnast, she went back to college and earned a Ph.D. It was in childhood development at the University of Maryland. Maycock now currently works for Microcredit. Microcredit is an organization that helps its recipients graduate from welfare