Abie Grossfeld

Abie Grossfeld
— Gymnast —
Country represented	United States
Born	(1934-03-01) March 1, 1934 (age 82)
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Medal record Pan American Games 1955 Mexico City Horizontal Bars 1955 Mexico City Floor Exercise 1955 Mexico City Rings 1955 Mexico City Parallel Bars 1955 Mexico City Team 1959 Chicago Floor Exercise 1959 Chicago Horizontal Bars 1959 Chicago Rings 1959 Chicago Tumbling 1959 Chicago Trampoline 1959 Chicago All Around 1959 Chicago Team 1963 São Paulo Horizontal Bars 1963 São Paulo Rings 1963 São Paulo Team Maccabiah Games 1953 Israel All Around 1953 Israel Floor Exercises 1953 Israel Pommel Horse 1953 Israel Rings 1953 Israel Horizontal Bars 1953 Israel Parallel Bars 1957 Israel All Around 1957 Israel Rings 1957 Israel Pommel Horse 1957 Israel Horizontal Bars 1957 Israel Parallel Bars 1957 Israel Vault 1965 Israel Gymnastics 1965 Israel Gymnastics 1965 Israel Gymnastics 1965 Israel Gymnastics

Abie Grossfeld (born March 1, 1934) is an American former gymnast and current gymnastics coach.

Grossfeld has represented the United States as a gymnastics competitor or coach in seven Olympic Games, seven World Championships, six Maccabiah Games, and five Pan American Games — in addition to many other major gymnastics events.

Born in New York City, Grossfeld was an excellent athlete in many sports from a young age. He won gold medals in two Jr. Olympic Cycling Championships, (1949–50). He also won the New York City 4 X 50 relay team title at Madison Square Garden in 1949, and the Bronx High School high jump and standing long jump titles in 1949. Grossfeld was also Captain of his high school swimming team, and competed mostly in the 50 yd. and 100 yd. freestyle events. In addition, he helped the team as a diver, and also swam and competed unattached in the NYC Boys’ Swimming Championships, winning gold in the 100 and silver in diving in 1949.

He was awarded the “New York Maritime Benevolent Association Medal” in 1951 for saving a human life in peril. When he was 16 years old, he dove into an ice filled river in New York to save a drowning five-year-old.

Grossfeld finished 2nd in the individual all-around at the 1957 NCAA Championships (he attended the University of Illinois, class of 1960). He received a master's degree from the school in 1962.

At the NCAAs he won four gold - AA, FX, two HB titles, and three silver and three bronze medals. He finished in the top three in 10 of 16 events, (1957–59). At the Big Ten Championships he won seven gold medals - 3 AA, FX, R, PB, & HB (1957–59). At the national AAU Championships he was four times the horizontal bar champion (1955–61).

He competed in the World Championships in 1958, finishing 7th in the team competition and 53rd in the individual all-around.

Four years later, Grossfeld again competed in the World Championships, when the U.S. team placed 6th and Grossfeld finished 85th in the all-around.

A two-time Olympian for the United States' men's gymnastics team, Grossfeld first competed at the 1956 Melbourne Games. While the U.S. finished 6th overall in the team competition (271.5 points, only 5 points behind Czechoslovakia for the bronze medal), Grossfeld finished in 39th place in the individual all-around competition (107.75 points). During the Games, he also placed 13th in the horizontal bar, 23rd in the free-standing exercise, 34th in the rings, 48th in the parallel bars, and 52nd in the pommel horse.

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