Julianne Lyn McNamara (born October 11, 1965) is an American former

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

, who was born to

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

s Jean and Kevin McNamara. She was the winner of the U.S. women's first individual event gold medal in

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

history.

Career

McNamara won the 1980 US all-around title and qualified for the 1980 Olympic team but did not compete due to the United States Olympic Committee's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia. As consolation, she was one of 461 athletes to receive a

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is the oldest and highest civilian award in the United States, alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is bestowed by vote of the United States Congress, signed into law by the president. The Gold Medal exp ...

many years later. A year later, at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

that were coincidentally also held in Moscow, McNamara notched the top U.S. women's world all-around finish (seventh place) at that point in history. She also earned a bronze medal on bars, a seventh on floor and finished fifth on beam. At the 1982 World Cup, McNamara fell off the bars to place eighth all-around. In finals, however, she earned a bronze on vault and a seventh place on beam. In 1982, The Flower Council of Holland, headed by namesake

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

Queen Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke ...

, christened the ''Julianne McNamara rose''. At the time, the only other American woman to be so honored was the then U.S. First Lady

Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress who was the first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of President Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in ...

. The climax of McNamara's athletic career was at the

1984 Olympic Games The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an i ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. There, she tied Ma Yanhong from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

for first on the uneven bars (both gymnasts scored 10.00), won the silver on floor, and placed fourth all-around. As of the

2020 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, she is the only American to win gold in the uneven bars event.

Retirement

Although the 1984 Olympics was her last formal competition, McNamara did not retire officially until 1987. Her international accomplishments are considered to have played a major role in spotlighting the U.S. women's team in the early 1980s. She also starred in the TV Show Knight Rider, Season 4, "Knight Behind Bars" as lead character Julie Rogers. Upon her retirement from gymnastics, McNamara embarked on an acting career, appearing in television shows such as ''

Charles in Charge ''Charles in Charge'' is an American sitcom television series that premiered on October 3, 1984, on CBS. The series was a production of Al Burton Productions and Scholastic Productions in association with Universal Television and starred Sco ...

'' and ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American media franchise, entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three-television series: the original ''Knight Rider (1982 TV series), Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequ ...

''. She also did

color commentary A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for some television gymnastics coverage. In 1989, McNamara married

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player

Todd Zeile Todd Edward Zeile (; born September 9, 1965) is an American former professional baseball third baseman, catcher, and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played 16 seasons, from 1989 to 2004, for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, ...

, whom she met while attending

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. She retired from her acting career and the couple had four children together: sons Garrett, Ian, and Aaron; and daughter Hannah, who appeared as teenage Kate Pearson on ''

This Is Us ''This Is Us'' is an American drama television series created by Dan Fogelman that aired on NBC from September 20, 2016, to May 24, 2022. The series follows the lives and families of two parents and their three children in several different ti ...

''. McNamara and Zeile divorced in January 2015. She was inducted to the

International Gymnastics Hall of Fame The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, located in Oklahoma City, USA, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring the achievements and contributions of the world's greatest competitors, coaches and authorities in artistic gymnastics. The early IG ...

as a member of the Class of 2024. She reflected on her career in her induction speech which she gave on May 18 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma:

Eponymous skill

McNamara has one eponymous skill listed in the Code of Points, an uneven bars mount.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Julianne 1965 births Living people American female artistic gymnasts Olympic gold medalists for the United States in gymnastics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in gymnastics Sportspeople from Queens, New York Gymnasts from New York City Gymnasts at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Congressional Gold Medal recipients U.S. women's national team gymnasts American people of Australian descent 20th-century American sportswomen