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Bart Conner

Bart Conner’s career belongs first and foremost to gymnastics, where precision, control and years of preparation carried him from a local YMCA to the top of the Olympic podium. Born in Evanston on March 28, 1958, and raised in Morton Grove, Illinois, Conner first became involved in the sport at school and through the YMCA. He later joined the gymnastics team at Niles West High School, graduating in 1976. His progress came quickly. Conner won the U.S. Junior National Championships in 1972 at the age of 14, then claimed the U.S. Gymnastics Federation All-Around championship at 17. He was the youngest member of the United States Olympic team at the 1976 Summer Olympics, having already earned a team all-around gold medal at the 1975 Pan American Games. Conner attended the University of Oklahoma, where he worked with coach Paul Ziert and competed as an All-American. In 1981, he received the Nissen Award as America’s best gymnast, and he graduated from the university in 1984. His Olympic story includes both frustration and triumph. Although Conner qualified for the 1980 Summer Olympics, he could not participate because of the U.S. boycott following the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Four years later, he returned for the 1984 Summer Olympics and won gold medals in the team all-around and men’s parallel bars. His parallel bars victory helped the United States secure its first men’s Olympic gymnastics gold medal in 80 years. During those Games, he also demonstrated an original move known as the “Conner spin.” Conner is also associated with work as a gymnastics coach, extending a career shaped by the sport from early competition through its highest international level. No Please Rewind movie is currently connected to his profile.