Indianapolis – Olympians Philip Cahoy, Lance Ringnald, Andrea Schmid Shapiro, Kim Zmeskal Burdette and World Championship team members Ann Carr Tunney, Sue Soffe Sylvester and distinguished coach Ed Burch, will be inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame Saturday, August 11, in Philadelphia. The induction ceremony will take place in conjunction with the U.S. Gymnastics Championships and the annual Congress meeting.
Frank Endo and Jerry Wright will be presented with the USA Gymnastics Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Philip Cahoy
Cahoy is a ten-time NCAA All-American, nine-year member of the U.S. Senior National Team and a four-time World Championships team member. He was also a member of the 1986 Goodwill Games team and was chosen to represent the U.S. at the 1980 Olympic Games.
Cahoy went on to compete at the University of Nebraska where he received his B.S. in Biological Sciences. While competing for Nebraska, Cahoy was a member of their 1980-1983 NCAA championship teams. He was also a four-time NCAA event champion.
After his competitive gymnastics career, Cahoy went to medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He received his M.D. in 1990 and completed his internship/residency in the Division of Orthopedics at the University of Wisconsin Department of Surgery. Cahoy is now a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon at Grand Island Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in Grand Island, Nebraska.
Lance Ringnald In 1988, at age 18, Ringnald became the youngest male member of a U.S. Olympic Team in twenty years. Also a member of the 1992 Olympic team, Ringnald earned over 70 medals in international competition while a competitive gymnast.
A former protégé of fellow 2001 Hall of Fame inductee Ed Burch, Ringnald received numerous honors throughout his career at Gold Cup Gymnastics in Albuquerque. Ringnald was named the U.S. Olympic Committee Male Athlete of the Year in 1989 and 1990 and was the recipient of the New Mexico Governors Sports Award in 1989.
Since his retirement from competitive gymnastics, Ringnald has been the star in a weekly gymnastics show aboard the Norwegian Wind and performs in two other production shows on the cruise ship. He speaks to passengers about the sport of gymnastics and his Olympic experience. Ringnald has been on ships for the past five years in the Caribbean, Alaska and Europe.
Andrea Schmid-Shapiro
Schmid-Shapiro, an Olympian in 1952 and 1956 for Hungary, has been instrumental in the development of rhythmic gymnastics in the United States. Schmid-Shapiro was the head gymnastics coach at San Francisco State University from 1963-1979. She was the coach of the USA rhythmic team at the 1975 World Championships and has coached a past rhythmic national champion and World Championship team member.
Schmid-Shapiro has also served as an internationally rated judge since 1973. She has been the meet referee or judge at several national and international competitions including four Olympic Games, 17 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, 26 USA Gymnastics National Championships and 10 Four Continents Championships. She also served as the Technical Director for Rhythmic Gymnastics at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and as an elite nationally-rated judge for artistic gymnastics.
In addition to her coaching and officiating accomplishments, Schmid-Shapiro has held numerous professional positions within the national and international gymnastics community. She currently serves on the USA Gymnastics Executive Committee as the Vice Chair for Rhythmic Gymnastics and the Board of Directors as a Rhythmic National Membership Director. Schmid-Shapiro also served on the FIG Rhythmic Technical Committee and has co-authored several publications throughout the years.
Kim Zmeskal Burdette
A member of the U.S. National Team for seven years and a 1992 Olympic bronze medalist, Zmeskal Burdette was a three-time National Champion (1992, 1991, 1990), the 1991 World Champion and a two-time gold medalist at the 1992 World Championships. Her individual all-around gold medal at the 1991 World Championships made her the first American ever to win the all-around title at the World Championships.
Throughout her career, Zmeskal Burdette won several awards including the 1990 Up & Coming award by the Women’s Sports Foundation. In 1991, Zmeskal Burdette was named the U.S. Olympic Committee Sports-Woman of the Year as well as the March of Dimes Athlete of the Year. She was also named the 1992 Athlete of the Year by her national teammates.
Zmeskal Burdette, 25, is still very active in the sport of gymnastics. She married Chris Burdette, October 23, 1999 at Bela Karolyi’s ranch where they met. After retiring from the sport, Zmeskal Burdette was immediately hired as a national team coach for Olympic preparation camps and as a production assistant for NBC Sports.
Ann Carr Tunney
1974 World Championship team member Carr Tunney began her gymnastics career at the Mannettes Gymnastics Club in Philadelphia in 1970. She continued her career at Penn State University under coach Judi Avener from 1976 to 1980. In 1976, Carr Tunney became the first woman in Penn State history to be awarded a full athletic scholarship. While at Penn State, she led her team to first place finishes in 1978 and 1980, while individually finishing first in the all-around, balance beam, floor and uneven bars in 1978 and second in the all-around in 1980.
From 1977 to 1980, Carr Tunney was the recipient of the Broderick Sports Award, awarded to the nation’s most outstanding collegiate gymnast. She was awarded the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame Meritorious Achievement Award in 1978 and in 1980, she was the recipient of Penn State University’s Eric A. Walker Award, given to the senior whose achievements have enhanced the public esteem and renown of the University.
Since retiring as a competitor, Carr Tunney has remained very involved in the sport. From 1981 to 1985, she served as the founder, owner, manager and coach of Lakettes Gymnastics Academy in Erie, Pa. Since 1987, Carr Tunney has worked for the School District of Philadelphia as a Physical Education Teacher at McClure Elementary School. There she also runs an after school gymnastics program and track team. Carr Tunney serves as a gymnastics official for Philadelphia High School Gymnastics and the Philadelphia Recreation Department.
Sue Soffe Sylvester
Two-time rhythmic World Championships team member Soffe Sylvester began her career as an artistic gymnast and in three years reached the elite level of artistic gymnastics. However, due to an injury in 1974, she found herself trying rhythmic gymnastics, a sport virtually unknown in the United States at the time.
During her career, Soffe Sylvester was a member of the Rhythmic World Championships teams in 1977 and 1979 and was the nation’s top-ranked rhythmic gymnast at the time. She went on to become a six-time consecutive U.S. National Champion, an accomplishment matched by no other gymnast, male or female.
At age 23, Soffe Sylvester was forced to retire from the sport of rhythmic gymnastics due to a chronic back and hip injury. She then traveled the world extensively before returning to Southern California where she works in the real estate field.
Ed Burch
Owner and head coach of Gold Cup Gymnastics in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Burch has led gymnasts to three Olympic Games (1996, 1992, 1988) during his 25 years of coaching. He has won nat