| Mitch Gaylord | ||||||||||||||||
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| Country represented | United States | |||||||||||||||
| Born | March 10, 1961 | |||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | |||||||||||||||
| Eponymous skills | Gaylord (horizontal bar) | |||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Mitchell ("Mitch") Jay Gaylord (born March 10, 1961), is an American gymnast and Olympic gold medalist.[1]
Gaylord was born in Van Nuys, California, son of Fred and Linda Gaylord. While attending UCLA, he won the All-Around in the 1983 and 1984 U.S. National Championships, and the 1984 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championship.
In the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, Gaylord led the gold-medal-winning U.S. men's gymnastics team, becoming the first American gymnast to score a perfect 10.00 in the Olympics. He also won the silver medal in vault, the bronze in parallel bars and the bronze in the rings.
Gaylord invented 2 skills that are performed on the horizontal bar: the "Gaylord" and the "Gaylord II" which are still performed by gymnasts today.[2][3]
Gaylord appeared in several movies and TV shows. Most notably, he performed as a stunt double for Chris O'Donnell (as Robin) in the 1995 movie Batman Forever [4] and starred in American Anthem opposite actress Janet Jones.[5] He was also a frequent guest star on Hollywood Squares.
Most recently, Gaylord has appeared on the Home Shopping Network endorsing Suzanne Somers' fitness machine The Body Row, and the Melt It Off workout program.[6]
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Mitch Gaylord is married to Valentina Agius and has two children. He was previously married and had three children. Gaylord is Jewish.[1]