1996 Olympic Gold-Medalists Chow, Dawes Headline USA Gymnastics’ 2005 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

996 Olympic gold-medalists Amy Chow and Dominique Dawes, 1992 Olympian Jenifer Lovell Moreno (rhythmic gymnastics), three-time Olympian John Roethlisberger, 1996 Olympian Chainey Umphrey, three-time Olympic judge Harold Bjerke and two-time women’s Olympic head coach Kelli Hill comprise the class of

August 4, 2005

Indianapolis, Aug. 4, 2005 — 1996 Olympic gold-medalists Amy Chow and Dominique Dawes, 1992 Olympian Jenifer Lovell Moreno (rhythmic gymnastics), three-time Olympian John Roethlisberger, 1996 Olympian Chainey Umphrey, three-time Olympic judge Harold Bjerke and two-time women’s Olympic head coach Kelli Hill comprise the class of 2005 inductees for USA Gymnastics’ Hall of Fame. The impressive, seven-person class will be inducted Aug. 13 at a luncheon held in conjunction with the 2005 USA Gymnastics National Congress and Visa Championships in Indianapolis.

See: USA GYMNASTICS HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY

For 25 years, Bjerke served as a men’s brevet judge, the highest level attainable. In addition to the past three Olympics, he also judged eight World Championships and three World Cups. He earned the rank of FIG technical expert during the last two Olympic cycles. Bjerke, who has given more than 30 years of service to the sport, has been the men’s technical director or a judge at every U.S. Championship, Olympic Trials and World Championships Trials since 1977. A former member of the USA Gymnastics’ Board of Directors, Bjerke has also been heavily involved in the men’s program and was inducted into the National Gymnastics Judges Association’s Hall of Fame in 1991. He currently lives in Bay Shore, N.Y.
In addition to her Olympic team gold medal, Chow earned a silver medal in parallel bars at the 1996 Olympic Games. At the 1995 Pan American Games, she won a gold medal in the vault, as well as earned a silver medal on uneven bars and a bronze in the all-around. Chow competed again at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. She was a member of two World Championships teams, including 1994 when the team claimed the silver medal. Nationally, she tied for first in the beam at the 2000 championships. Chow is currently in her third year of medical school at Stanford University, from which she also earned her undergraduate degree in biology and is located in Palo Alto, Calif.
In 1992, Dawes became the first African American female gymnast to compete in an Olympic Games. In addition to being a member of the 1996 Olympic gold-medal-winning team, she earned a bronze medal in the floor exercise. In national competition, Dawes has more national titles in vault and uneven bars at four than any other female gymnast and is tied for the most in floor exercise with four and in the balance beam with three. She also was the 1994 all-around national champion. She wrapped up her competitive gymnastics career following her third Olympic Games in 2000. A graduate of the University of Maryland, Dawes currently is the president of the Women’s Sports Foundation and is a noted motivational and public speaker.
Hill was the head coach for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team for both the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, as well as the 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2003 World Championships. Hill’s cadre of gymnasts at her club, Hill’s Gymnastics in Gaithersburg, Md., includes Olympians Elise Ray, Courtney Kupets and Dawes. She has coached a national team member every year since 1989 and a national champion in 1994, 2000 and 2003-04. She was USA Gymnastics’ Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2003 and the U.S. Elite Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1991, 1993, 1996, 2000 and 2003. Hill has also served on numerous USA Gymnastics’ committees.
Moreno was a rhythmic national team member for seven years and won the 1992 Olympic Trials to compete in the 1992 Olympic Games where she placed 23rd all-around. Moreno was a team member for the 1991 World Championships. Also in 1991, she claimed the bronze medal for her ball routine at the Pan American Games, in addition to winning the Rhythmic National Championships and the U.S. Olympic Festival. She graduated magna cum laude from Lake Forest College with a BA in business and psychology.
Roethlisberger competed in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. His seventh all-around finish at the 1996 Olympics was, at the time, the U.S men’s highest finish in a non-boycotted Olympics since 1932. Roethlisberger won four national all-around titles in 1990, 1992-93 and 1995, the first gymnast to do so in 29 years. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, he was a three-time NCAA all-around champion and a four-time Big Ten all-around champion. Roethlisberger and his former teammate John Macready currently own and operate Flip Fest, a summer gymnastics camp in Knoxville, Tenn., and serves on the Executive Committee of USA Gymnastics’ Board of Directors and the FIG Athletes’ Commission.
A 1996 Olympian, Umphrey was a four-time World Championships team member (1989-96) and an Individual Event World Championships finalist from 1994-96. He placed fourth in the high bar at the 1994 World Championships. While achieving his undergraduate degree in physiological science, Umphrey was a member and later captain of the UCLA Men’s Gymnastics Team. He was graduated form the UCLA Medical School in 2003 and subsequently finished two years of orthopedic surgery training at the University of Colorado. He is completing his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Stanford University. Currently residing in Santa Clara, Calif., he plans to pursue a career in sports medicine.