Mary Beth Arnold

1995 World Championships Bronze Medalist

Hometown: Sparks, Nev.
Residence: Cincinnati, Ohio
Birth Date/Place: July 11, 1981/Reno, Nev.
Club: Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy
Coach: Mary Lee Tracy
School:
Year in School: 11th (Fall of '97)
Years on National Team: 5 (1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98)
Began Gymnastics: 1987
Favorite Apparatus/Event: Uneven bars, balance beam
Hobbies: Swimming, reading, writing poetry, drawing, camping & studying about animals and riding horses, collecting stuffed animals

Mary Beth was a member of the 1995 World Championships team that earned the bronze medal, as well as a member of the gold-medal Pan American Games team in 1995. She established herself as a world-class gymnast when she won the 1994 Tournoi International competition in Belgium. Her goal is to compete in the 2000 Olympics and earn a World title. She would like to stay involved with gymnastics after her retirement from the sport and would also like to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. Her love of animals is obvious. She has two cats (Buster & Nadia), three dogs, five horses, one hedgehog, one gecko and two snakes. In her family she has three brothers and one sister--Mary Beth is the middle child. Her younger brother and sister also love gymnastics and participate at beginning levels. Mary Beth takes piano, jazz, tap, ballet and horseback riding lessons in addition to gymnastics. She's also a 3.8 student. Even though she comes from a sports family, academics are viewed as number one.

International Competition

1996 French Invitational; 4th-UB
1995 World Championships, Sabae, Japan; 3rd-Team
1995 Budget Rent a Car Invitational, San Jose, Calif.; 1st-Team, 4th-AA
1995 Pan American Games, Mar del Plata, Argentina; 1st-Team
1995 McDonald's American Cup, Seattle, Wash.; 9th-AA (prelims.)
1994 Tournoi International, Charleroi, Belgium; 1st-AA, 1st(t)-UB, 1st-V
1994 Grand Prix, Turino, Italy; 2nd-UB, 3rd-B

National Competition

1997 John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships, Denver, Colo.; 14th-AA, 14th-V, 2nd-UB, 6th-BB, 32nd-FX
1996 U.S. Olympic Trials-Gymnastics, Boston, Mass.; 7th-AA
1996 Coca-Cola National Championships, Knoxville, Tenn.; 9th-AA, 5th-UB
1995 World Team Trials, Austin, Texas-9th-AA
1995 Coca-Cola National Championships, New Orleans, La.; 6th-AA
1995 U.S. Classic, Birmingham, Ala.; 4th-AA, 6th-V, 1st-UB, 5th-FX
1995 American Classic/Pan American Games Trials, Oakland, Calif.; 9th-AA, 6th(t)-V, 8th-UB
1994 Coca-Cola National Championships, Nashville, Tenn.; 3rd-AA, 1st-UB (junior division)
1994 U.S. Classic, Palm Springs, Calif.; 3rd-AA (junior division)
1994 U.S. Olympic Festival, St. Louis, Mo.; 22nd-AA, 2nd-Team
1994 American Classic/World Championships Trials, Orlando, Fla.; 7th-AA (junior division)
1993 American Classic/World Championships Trials, Salt Lake City, Utah; 2nd-AA, 1st-UB (junior B division)

updated: 08 Oct 1997