Kim Zmeskal
| Kim Zmeskal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Burdette in 2002.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Kimberly Lynn Zmeskal Burdette | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |
 United States
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
February 6, 1976 Houston, Texas |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 4 ft 7 in (140 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 80 lb (36 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level | Senior international elite | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Karolyi's, CGA Texas Dreams (coach) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former coach(es) |
Béla Károlyi, Mary Lee Tracy |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Medal record
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kimberly Lynn "Kim" Burdette (née Zmeskal) (born February 6, 1976) is an American retired gymnast who was a national champion, world champion, and an Olympic bronze medalist. She currently coaches gymnastics and co-owns Texas Dreams Gymnastics in Coppell, Texas with her husband Chris Burdette.
Zmeskal was born in Houston, Texas and is a Catholic. From a young age, Zmeskal trained with coaching great Béla Károlyi, who had bought a run-down gym in Zmeskal's Houston neighborhood. This gave Zmeskal the opportunity to observe and interact with her heroine, Mary Lou Retton.
In 1989, at the age of 13, Zmeskal became the U.S. Junior National Champion. She also took first place in the American Classic, the Swiss Cup Mixed Pairs (with Lance Ringnald), and the Arthur Gander Memorial. Zmeskal went on to become a three-time consecutive U.S. National Champion. In international events, she began a rivalry with the Soviet Union's Svetlana Boginskaya.
Zmeskal graduated from Westfield High School in 1994.
At the 1991 World Championships in Indianapolis, the team silver medal was a first for the Americans, and Zmeskal became the first American to achieve the World all-around gold medal.
Having recently become world champion, Americans had high hopes for Zmeskal and the U.S. team heading the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, with Zmeskal earning the cover of both Time and Newsweek magazines before the Games. In the U.S. National Championships and Olympic Trials, Zmeskal battled an emerging Shannon Miller, with Miller defeating Zmeskal at the Trials.
Zmeskal fell off the balance beam during her compulsory routine on the first night of competition. Although she would rebound with performances on the floor, vault, and bars, Zmeskal was in 32nd place after the compulsories and 5th on the American team. She would further rebound with scores of 9.912 on beam, 9.95 on vault, 9.9 on uneven bars, and a 9.925 on floor during the finals of the team competition, moving Zmeskal into 12th place and into the all-around competition by finishing third among the American women. Her combined score of 39.687 for the night was the highest of any competitor.
...
Wikipedia