| Chris Brooks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Christopher Brooks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | December 19, 1986 Houston, Texas |
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| Hometown | Houston, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level | International Elite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years on national team | 1999-2001, 2003-2005, 2010-2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gym | Cypress Academy of Gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | University of Oklahoma | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach(es) | Tom Meadows | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former coach(es) | Bill Foster, Mark Williams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Christopher (Chris) Brooks (born December 19, 1986 in Houston, Texas) is an American male gymnast. He has trained alongside Olympic and World Championships medalist Jonathan Horton as a Junior, college and Senior elite gymnast.[1]
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Brooks's father, Larry, was also a gymnast which is how Chris got involved with the sport. Both Brooks's brother and sister have had involvement in gymnastics as well[2]. His brother coached him for 2 years before he went to the University of Oklahoma. His father died after a car accident in 2008. [3][4]
Brooks was a highly ranked junior gymnast in high school, where he trained Houston North Gymnastics Club under coach Bill Foster. He was a member of the U.S. Junior National Team 1999-2001, 2002-2005. In 2003 he was a Gold medallist at the USA National Championships [5][6]. In 2004, he suffered a serious injury when his grip locked while training on High Bar, resulting in shattering and splintering of the ulna and radius of his right arm. [7]
He was a member of the Oklahoma Sooners gymnastics team in college from 2005-2009. The team were national champions in 2008. Brooks was a multi-year, multi-event All American, and in 2009 was captain of the Sooners Men's Gymnastics team [8].
He returned to elite gymnastics in 2008 where he competed in the US National Championships in Houston, Texas. He made a huge comeback at the beginning of 2009 at the Winter Cup coming 5th All-Around, 4th on High Bar and winning a Bronze medal on Floor Exercise. Due to injury, he was not able to compete fully at the 2009 USA Nationals and did not make the National Team that year.
After graduating from the University of Oklahoma he returned to Texas to train at Cypress Academy of Gymnastics under coach Tom Meadows, with American teammate Jonathan Horton.
In 2010, he won Gold in the All-Around and High Bar as well as a Bronze on the Vault at the Winter Cup. He went on to compete at the American Cup where he won a Bronze in the All-Around behind teammate Jonathan Horton and Russian, Maxim Devyatovskiy [9] beating the World Silver medallist, Daniel Keatings. He went on to compete in the Japan Cup in July helping the USA Men's Team to a Bronze medal finish. Later in the summer he competed fully in the US National Championships in Hartford, Connecticut where he won a Gold Medal on High Bar and Silver on Parallel Bars securing a place on the Senior National Team. He went on to represent the USA at the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam where he helped the team to a 4th place finish, and 6th place finish in the High Bar final. After worlds, he had to have surgeries on his ankles and wrist.[10]
In 2011 he was chosen to be a member of Team Hilton HHonors - a group of male gymnasts sponsored by Hilton Worldwide.[11]. He competed in the USA National Championships where he won a silver medal on High Bar and Bronze on parallel bars. He was chosen to be an Alternate for the team representing USA at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan where they won the first Men's team world medal for the USA since 2003.