Abie Grossfeld

Three-time Olympic head coach (1972, 1984, 1988) Munich 1972 Los Angeles 1984 Seoul 1988

Athlete Bio#

Age

Hometown

New York, NY

Education

Bronx High School (New York, N.Y.) University of Illinois

Personal

Won four gold medals, three silvers and three bronzes at the NCAA Championships from 1957-59 while a student at the University of Illinois...Won 15 medals at the Pan American Games and 17 combined gold medals at the Maccabiah Games...Served as head coach of the U.S. men’s gymnastics team at five world championships...Coached the U.S. men’s Gymnastics team to its first Olympic gold medal in history at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 1984...Inducted into the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Hall Of Fame Bio #

Abraham Israel “Abie” Grossfeld is a U.S. former gymnast, coach and judge. He set a national record, after winning 20 medals and 14 gold medals throughout his three Pan American Games appearances in 1955, 1959 and 1963. Born in New York City, Grossfeld started out first as a cyclist, winning two titles in in the U.S. Junior Olympics before switching to gymnastics and competing for the University of Illinois. Grossfeld won seven Big 10 titles and four national championships. Grossfeld eventually turned to coaching full-time, spending 41 years as a coach at the Southern Connecticut State University, where he led his teams to three Division II championships. Grossfeld was also asked to coach the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team across seven Olympic Games and seven world championships, first serving as an assistant coach in 1964 and later a head coach at the 1972, 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. He coached some of the most prominent U.S. gymnasts, including Olympic gold medalists and fellow U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame inductees Peter Vidmar and Bart Conner. Grossfeld remained active in the Gymnastics community upon retiring from coaching, also serving as a Gymnastics judge at all levels for over five decades.