Bart Conner

In 1976, after winning the first McDonald's American Cup, Conner was named to the U.S. team for the Montreal Olympics. He finished at forty-sixth place in

Bart Conner

the all-around preliminaries, but distinguished himself as the youngest member of the team.

At the University of Oklahoma in Norman from 1976-79, Conner trained under Coach Paul Ziert. Oklahoma took the Big Eight and National College Athletic Association (NCAA) gymnastics championships in 1978, and Conner won the NCAA all-around title that year. Also in 1978 he won all-American honors and won a second American Cup. Soon his reputation as the top U.S. male gymnast was rivaled only by his contemporary, Kurt Thomas.

At the World Championships in 1979 Conner placed first on parallel bars, to become the first American man to take the gold in international gymnastics competition. He won the USA Men's all-around championship with a score of 114.25 that year and won gold medals on pommel horse and parallel bars at the World Cup.

Conner was the top qualifier for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, but an American boycott of the Moscow venue that year kept the team from competition. The boycott provided Conner with ample time to recuperate from a torn right bicep, and he returned to Norman to complete work on an undergraduate degree in journalism and public relations.

After winning American Cup Championships in 1981 and again in 1982, Conner pushed the envelope of his athletic prime when late in 1983, on December 3, a slip during a performance in Japan caused another torn bicep. With only six months remaining before the Olympic trials, he held out hope of making the 1984 team.

Still ailing in May, at the USGF championships in Evanston, Illinois, Conner withdrew from the competition on the second day, despite a strong second place showing in the compulsories. The pullout left him deficient in the qualification points necessary to place on the Olympic team. He petitioned successfully to the Olympic Committee to make an exception because of the circumstance and after a sixth place finish at the subsequent Olympic trials earned a spot on the 1984 team.

At the Olympics in Atlanta, Conner won a gold medal on parallel bars, scoring two perfect tens. The U.S. team won a gold medal in the all-around competition with a score of 591.40, besting China's score of 590.80. Conner expressed his pleasure to the Omaha World-Herald and praised his teammates succinctly, "Nothing matches a team victory … because you have six times as much emotion."

When the hoopla subsided, Conner published a book, Winning the Gold, in 1985. He devoted much of his time to bringing professional gymnastics to the level of an art-sport—Just as professional ice skaters move from competition to exhibition and onward, to full-blown paid performances, Conner envisioned a similar career path for professional gymnasts. Endorsements provided him with financial subsidy, and he appeared on television and in movies.