Jonathan Horton

Jonathan Horton
Personal information
Full name Jonathan Alan Horton
Nickname(s) Jon
Country represented  United States
Born December 31, 1985 (1985-12-31) (age 26)
Houston, Texas
Height 5 ft 1 in (1.55 m)
Discipline Men's artistic gymnastics
Level Senior
Club Team Chevron
Gym Cypress Academy
College team University of Oklahoma[1][2]
Head coach(es) Mark Williams
Former coach(es) Tom Meadows
Medal record
Men's gymnastics
Competitor for the  United States
Summer Olympics
Silver 2008 Beijing High bar
Bronze 2008 Beijing Team
World Championships
Bronze 2011 Tokyo Team
Bronze 2010 Rotterdam All-Around
U.S. National Championships
Gold 2010 Hartford All-Around
Gold 2009 Dallas All-Around
Gold 2009 Dallas Rings
Gold 2009 Dallas High bar
Gold 2006 St. Paul Floor
Silver 2011 St. Paul All-Around
Silver 2010 Hartford Rings
Silver 2009 Dallas Floor
Silver 2008 Houston All-Around
Silver 2008 Houston Still Rings
Silver 2008 Houston Floor
Silver 2006 St. Paul All-around
Bronze 2011 St. Paul Vault
Bronze 2011 St. Paul Rings
Bronze 2011 St. Paul Floor
Bronze 2010 Hartford Floor
Bronze 2006 St. Paul High bar

Jonathan Alan Horton (born December 31, 1985) is an American gymnast. He is the 2008 Olympic silver medalist on high bar and the 2010 Worlds all-around bronze medalist. He is married to Haley DeProspero, former gymnast for the University of Oklahoma. [3]

Jonathan began gymnastics in 1990. "I was a wild child," Horton said. "I once climbed a pole in the middle of Target all the way to the ceiling. I used to do back flips on my parents' bed and I rode a garage door to the top when I was 3 years old." [4]

Jonathan won the 2008 Olympic silver medal on the high bar. He was a member of the U.S. team to the 2006 and 2007 World Gymnastics Championships and finished fourth in the all-around at the latter. At the 2010 World Championships, he won the all-around bronze medal. The following year, he was captain of the U.S. team that won the bronze medal at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. He is a 17-time medalist at the U.S. National Championships, including all-around wins in 2009 and 2010.

Horton was named to the U.S. Olympic team following the men's competition at the 2008 Olympic Trials, where he won the All-Around. The team entered the 2008 Beijing Olympics amongst much skepticism as to whether the team could compete against such established teams as the Japanese, Chinese, and German teams. Injuries had forced team leaders Paul Hamm and Morgan Hamm to withdraw from competition, thus causing the American team to bring in alternates Raj Bhavsar and Alexander Artemev. The American men performed better than many had anticipated, with Horton being the team's top performer. The American team ended the competition with the bronze medal after a stressful pommel horse event. In the event finals, Horton added a silver medal in the high bar event.[5][6]

Contents

National competition results

International competition results

2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars

Jonathan performed alongside his 2008 Beijing Olympic teammates at The 2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars. The tour began on September 7, 2008 and concluded on November 16. The dance sets had a mix of hip hop and contemporary dance with gymnastic elements.

References

  1. ^ http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-gym/mtt/okla-m-gym-mtt.html Retrieved Aug. 20th, 2008
  2. ^ http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-gym/mtt/horton_jonathan00.html Retrieved Aug. 20th, 2008
  3. ^ http://usagym.org/pages/features/2011nt/horton.html - Meet Members of the U.S. National Team
  4. ^ USA Gymnastics Team Olympic Profile, Sept. 17th, 2008
  5. ^ Macur, Juliet (2008-06-22). "Paul Hamm Among Two to Win Olympic Berths". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/sports/olympics/22gymnastics.html?ref=olympics. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
  6. ^ Lloyd, Janice (2008-08-12). "No Hamms, No Problem; American men take Bronze". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/beijing/gymnastics/2008-08-12-mens-final_N.htm?csp=34. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 

External links

Video interviews