Kim Zmeskal Burdette, a protégé of fellow Hall of Fame members Bela and Martha Karolyi, made gymnastics record books by becoming the first American to win the all-around at a World Gymnastics Championships (1991).
That same year, she was named the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Sportswoman of the Year and the March of Dimes Athlete of the Year.
Zmeskal Burdette was the only competitor to win more than one individual event at the 1992 World Gymnastics Championships. There, she earned gold medals on the balance beam and floor exercise.
She is a three-time U.S. National Champion and has earned the distinction of scoring eight perfect 10.00s in her competitive career. A 1992 Olympic bronze medalist, Zmeskal Burdette is a two-time AAU Sullivan Award nominee, an award honoring the nation’s top amateur athlete.
After a brief retirement in 1992, she trained with Mary Lee Tracy in Cincinnati, where she made the U.S. National Team in 1998. She again retired in 2000 due to an injury.
