Sam Mikulak
| Sam Mikulak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — Gymnast — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented | United States of America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
October 13, 1992 Corona del Mar, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years on national team |
 United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gym | scats | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | University of Michigan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach(es) | Kurt Golder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Samuel "Sam" Mikulak (born October 13, 1992) is an American artistic gymnast. He is a seven-time NCAA champion in gymnastics, winning the all-around and several other titles in 2011, 2013 and 2014 NCAA Men's Gymnastics championship and was a member of the U.S. men's gymnastics team that competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Early years
Mikulak was born in Corona del Mar, California, and attended Corona del Mar High School. His parents both competed in gymnastics at the University of California, Berkeley, and started Sam in gymnastics at age two.[1] His father, Stephen Mikulak, is an orthopedic surgeon.[2] Mikulak was a member of the Junior National team from 2007 to 2010. He won the all-around championship as well as event championships in the floor exercise and vault at the 2010 Junior Olympic Nationals.[1]
University of Michigan
Mikulak enrolled at the University of Michigan where he is a member of the Michigan Wolverines men's gymnastics team. As a freshman in 2010–2011, he won the individual all-around title at the 2011 NCAA Men's Gymnastics championship with a career-high score of 90.75.[1] As a sophomore in 2012, he won Big Ten Conference championship in the high bar with a 15.45 score and pommel horse with a 15.55 score.[1] He finished third in the all-around competition at the 2012 NCAA championship.[3] Mikulak is the first American member of the University of Michigan men's artistic gymnastics team to qualify for the Olympic games.[4] Mikulak won the all-around, parallel bars and high bar competitions at the 2013 NCAA championship. He won the all-around and parallel bars competitions at the 2014 NCAA championship. Mikulak was an anchor on the University of Michigan men's team which captured the NCAA team championship in 2013 and 2014. He was named undergraduate assistant coach for the University of Michigan men's team in August 2014.
2012 Summer Olympics
On July 1, 2012, he was selected for the five-man United States men's gymnastics team and represented the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[5] He is the first male gymnast from the University of Michigan to be named to the U.S. Olympic team.[6] He was chosen for the Olympic team despite being unable to compete in five of the six events after spraining his ankle while competing on the vault on the first night of Olympic trials.[2][7]
The US team came in 5th place during the team final. Mikulak also competed in the vault final, where he placed 5th.
Mikulak's Michigan teammate, Syque Caesar, also competed in the 2012 Olympics, representing Bangladesh.[2]
2013
Mikulak participated in the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. He placed 6th in the all-around final and 4th in the high bar final.[8] He participated in the P&G U.S. Championships in Hartford and placed first in all-around, parallel bars and high bar final.[9]
2014
Mikulak participated in the 2014 P&G U.S. Championships in Pittsburgh. He placed first overall in all-around final and pommel horse and second in high bar. He participated October 2014 in Nanning, China, representing Team USA in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. He won a bronze medal with the US Team in the team competition and finished 12th in the men's individual championships. Mikulak continues to assist the U-M men's gymnastics team as Undergraduate Assistant Coach and to train for competition in 2015 representing USA Gymnastics. He was named undergraduate assistant coach for the University of Michigan men's team in August 2014.
2015
Mikulak, together with Simone Biles, MyKayla Skinner and Donnell Whittenburg represented the U.S. against a strong international field at the 2015 AT&T American Cup, on March 7 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This was a FIG World Cup event. Mikulak earned fourth in the individual all-around competition. Mikulak is scheduled to compete this year in the 2015 P&G U.S. Championships in Indianapolis and the Pan-American Games in Toronto, Canada.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Sam Mikulak". MGoBlue.com. University of Michigan.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Jo-Ann Barnas (July 1, 2012). "Sam Mikulak becomes Michigan's first U.S. Olympian in men's gymnastics". Detroit Free Press.
- ↑ Jo-Ann Barnas (June 10, 2012). "U-M's Mikulak 3rd at U.S. championships: He clinches spot in June's Olympic trials". Detroit Free Press.
- ↑ Barnas, Jo-ann. "Sam Mikulak becomes Michigan's first U.S. Olympian in men's gymnastics". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
- ↑ "Michigan's Sam Mikulak named to U.S. Olympic gymnastics team". AnnArbor.com. July 1, 2012.
- ↑ "Mikulak Named to 2012 U.S. Olympic Team". MGoBlue.com. University of Michigan. July 1, 2012.
- ↑ "Injured ankle limits Mikulak to one event: But U-M star's hopes for Olympics still alive". Detroit Free Press. July 1, 2012.
- ↑ http://usagym.org/pages/athletes/athleteListDetail.html?id=325413
- ↑ http://usagym.org/pages/athletes/athleteListDetail.html?id=325413