Sneha Girap (Editor)

Courtney McCool

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Height
  
1.44 m

Weight
  
43 kg


Name
  
Courtney McCool

Role
  
Gymnast

Home town
  
Kansas City

Courtney McCool onlineathenscommultimediagalleries022408gymna

Full name
  
Courtney Lynn McCool Griffeth

Born
  
April 1, 1988 (age 36) (
1988-04-01
)

Discipline
  
Women's artistic gymnastics

Level
  
Senior International Elite

Olympic medals
  
Gymnastics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's artistic team all-around

Similar People
  
Courtney Kupets, Terin Humphrey, Mohini Bhardwaj, Hollie Vise, Annia Hatch

Country represented
  

Courtney mccool uneven bars 2004 u s gymnastics championships women day 2


Courtney Lynn McCool-Griffeth (born April 1, 1988) is an American former artistic gymnast who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics. She was coached by Al and Armine Fong of Great American Gymnastic Express.

Contents

Courtney McCool Courtney McCool Pictures Photos amp Images Zimbio

From 2007–2010, McCool competed for the University of Georgia. In that time, the team won three NCAA national titles.

Courtney McCool String of clutch performances power UGA to 21st straight

Courtney mccool floor exercise 2004 u s gymnastics championships women day 2


Elite gymnastics career

Courtney McCool Courtney Mccool Gymnastics Pinterest

McCool was the runner-up in the junior division of the 2003 National Championships and won a silver medal on vault at the 2003 Pan American Games. The following year, her first as a senior international elite, she was the runner-up at the American Cup and the all-around champion at the Olympic Test Event in Athens. She was the only gymnast at the Test Event to qualify for all four event finals, and she won a silver medal on vault and bronze on the uneven bars. She then placed fourth in the all-around at the National Championships and second at the Olympic Trials, earning a spot on the Olympic team.

Courtney McCool Courtney McCool Pictures US Olympic Team Trials

At the Olympics, McCool competed all four events in the qualification round, but faltered on beam and floor and was excluded from the team finals lineup. The United States team won the silver medal behind Romania.

Post-Olympics controversy

Courtney McCool OnlineAthens Gallery Gym Dogs make final preps for

After the Olympics, McCool joined the T.J. Maxx Tour of Olympic Champions, a nationwide gymnastics exhibition tour. However, after finding out that the tour would not be stopping in her hometown, Kansas City, she joined the Rock 'N Roll Gymnastics Challenge, a rival tour, for its Kansas City show. T.J. Maxx officials said they had not given McCool permission to do this, and dropped her from the rest of the tour.

Courtney McCool OnlineAthens Gallery NCAA Championship First Session

Robert Colarossi, the CEO of USA Gymnastics, issued a statement criticizing McCool's actions: "In an apparent belief that our Tour would not include a stop in Kansas City, but without first seeking our approval, Courtney committed to participate in the Kansas City stop of the Rock-N-Roll Gymnastics Tour," he wrote. "When we were made aware of this fact, we informed Courtney and her parents that we had added a Kansas City stop and that her performance in the Rock-N-Roll Tour would present a conflict with her obligations to our Tour, and a breach of her agreement with us. Being fully apprised of the consequences of that breach, Courtney made her decision to perform." Weeks later, in January 2005, Colarassi resigned as CEO.

Late in 2004, it emerged that McCool had been suffering from Kienbock's disease, a wrist condition that required surgery and prevented her from performing in further post-Olympic exhibitions.

NCAA career

McCool earned a full scholarship to the University of Georgia beginning in the 2006–07 school year. In her freshman season, she helped the team win its third straight national title, scoring an event high of 9.95 on beam at the 2007 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships in Salt Lake City. At the 2008 Championships in Athens, Georgia, McCool won the floor exercise and contributed to Georgia's fourth consecutive title. In 2009, Georgia won a fifth straight title, and McCool was named an All-American on balance beam, where she scored her first 10.0.

Skills

McCool performed the following routines in 2004:

Vault (Start Value: 9.7): 1½-twisting Yurchenko

Uneven bars (SV: 9.9): Kip, cast handstand (KCH); stalder shoot to high bar; KCH; underswing to blind turn + Khorkina; KCH; Gienger; KCH 1/2 + giant 3/2 (Dawes) + Tkatchev; KCH; giant 1/1 + shootover to handstand + underswing shoot to high bar; KCH; giant + giant + double layout dismount.

Balance beam (SV: 10.0): Front handspring mount (McCool); front aerial + back handspring stepout + layout stepout + layout stepout; switch leap + Onodi; sheep jump; wolf jump 1/1; switch side leap; full turn with leg above horizontal + Popa; roundoff + triple twist dismount.

Floor exercise (SV: 10.0): Popa + tuck jump 2/1; roundoff + back handspring + 2½ twist + front 1/1; double turn with leg above horizontal + wolf jump 1/1; switch ring leap + Gogean; triple full; front double twist + front layout.

McCool's balance beam mount, a front handspring with a two-foot landing, is named after her in the International Federation of Gymnastics' Code of Points because she was the first to perform it at the Olympics.

Floor music

2004: "Peter Gunn Theme"

References

Courtney McCool Wikipedia