Curtis Mayfield Hibbert (born 2 September 1966) is a police constable and Canadian Olympian. He is the first Canadian and first person of colour to win World Championship medals in gymnastics. With five golds, Hibbert is the most successful gymnast in history in a single Commonwealth Games.

Early life

Born in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

, Hibbert immigrated to Canada with his family in 1970. He started gymnastics training three years later at age nine.

Gymnastics career

Hibbert first came to national attention in 1983 with appearances in the Canadian Nationals, Canada Winter Games, and

Pan Am Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

. In 1987 he won a silver medal in the high bar at the World Championships, setting up his appearance at the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

with the Canadian team, where he made the finals in three events and finished 22nd in the all-around competition. Hibbert was the star performer of Canada's Commonwealth Games team in 1990 winning 7 medals: 5 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. Hibbert again competed for Team Canada in the

1992 Barcelona Olympic games Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

, finishing 36th in the all-around. He won the silver medal at the 1987

World Gymnastics Championships Gymnastics World Championships refers to a number of different world championships for each of the disciplines in competitive gymnastics. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) organizes World Championships for six disciplines: acrobatic g ...

in the

high bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syst ...

, and tied for bronze on vault at the 1992 Paris

. Between 1987 and 1992 Hibbert won two World Championship medals, six Canadian All-Around titles, a Commonwealth Games All-Around title. Hibbert retired from competitive gymnastics in 1993. Following retirement Hibbert established the Kids Super Gym Club in Erin Mills, Ontario, fostering a strictly non-competitive atmosphere where fun takes precedence for young athletes of all skill levels. Throughout his gymnastics career, Hibbert has been a volunteer coach of young gymnasts from across the globe. Hibbert has done hundreds of speaking engagements across the country focused on goal setting and translating the olympic experience into life experience. He has been to elementary and high schools across the city of Toronto speaking to students, helping teachers develop gymnastics programs and motivating young people to be active.

Stunt work

In 1995 Hibbert began a career as one of the most active stuntmen in both Canadian and American movie and television productions. Some of his many works include ''

16 Blocks ''16 Blocks'' is a 2006 American crime-thriller film directed by Richard Donner and starring Bruce Willis, Mos Def, and David Morse. The film unfolds in the real time narration method. It marked the final directed film for Donner in addition to t ...

'', ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to ...

'', ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

'', and '' Undercover Brother''.https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382499/ Furthermore since the mid 2000s, combined with his stunt work, Curtis Hibbert has also developed a career as a public servant with the government of the City of Toronto.

References

External links

* * • Curtis Hibbert in the Public Sector https://www.tcdsb.org/FORCOMMUNITY/HeritageCelebration/AfricanCanadianHeritage/Documents/2016%20Feb%20Areas%205%20and%206%20ACHM%20Activities.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Hibbert, Curtis 1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica Black Canadian sportspeople Canadian male artistic gymnasts Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Jamaican emigrants to Canada Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Gymnasts at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Olympic gymnasts for Canada Gymnasts at the 1988 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1992 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Canada Canadian police officers Commonwealth Games medallists in gymnastics Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Gymnasts at the 1983 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games