Elfi Schlegel (born May 17, 1964) is a Canadian

gymnast Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

and commentator. She competed in four NCAA women's gymnastics tournaments for the

Florida Gators women's gymnastics The Florida Gators women's gymnastics team represents the University of Florida in the sport of artistic gymnastics, gymnastics. The team competes in Division I (NCAA), Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the S ...

team and won gold medals at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

and

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games, officially the VIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as San Juan 1979, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization (PASO), and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to Jul ...

. She was chosen to represent Canada at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

, but did not compete due to the

1980 Summer Olympics boycott The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was the largest boycott in Olympic history and one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summ ...

. She covered the sport as a commentator for CTV (1984–1988),

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

(1988–1992), and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

(1992–2012).

Early years

Schlegel was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, to parents Peter and Vlasta Schlegel, immigrants from

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

.Gymn.ca, Athletes, Retired Women
Elfi Schelegel
Retrieved 1 August 2011. Growing up in the Toronto suburb of

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...

, she started gymnastics at the age of 7. She attended

Silverthorn Collegiate Institute Silverthorn Collegiate Institute is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the neighbourhood of Markland Wood in the former suburb of Etobicoke. It is under the sanction of the Toronto District School Board (the succe ...

in Toronto, and graduated with her diploma after her grade twelve year—a year early in the (then) thirteen-year Ontario education system.Julian Pleasants,
Elfi Schlegel
" University of Florida Oral History Project, George A. Smathers Libraries, Gainesville, Florida (September 26, 1996). Retrieved 1 August 2011.

International career

Schlegel established herself as one of the best gymnasts in Canadian history (at that point) when she won a gold medal in the all-around and team competitions in gymnastics at the 1978

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Alberta. At the

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

, she won a bronze medal in the individual all around, two silver medals for the uneven bars and vault, and a gold medal as a member of the first-place Canadian team. She also won a bronze medal in the vault at the 1980

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

in Toronto, the first-ever World Cup medal for a Canadian. She was selected as a member of the Canadian national team for the

Moscow, Russia Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, but was unable to participate when Canada joined the United States–led boycott of the Moscow Games in protest of the invasion of Afghanistan by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

College career

After graduation from high school, Schlegel wanted to continue to compete, but Canadian universities did not offer intercollegiate gymnastics competition or athletic scholarships. She sought and received an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where she was a member of coach Ernestine Weaver's

team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) competition from 1982 to 1986.
Florida Gymnastics 2011 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 52, 55, 62–63, 67–71, 73 (2011). Retrieved 1 August 2011. As a Gator gymnast, she was a four-time individual

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) champion–all-around (1983), twice in the balance beam (1983, 1986), and vault (1984). The Gators qualified for the NCAA national championship tournament all four of Schlegel's years on the team, and finished third at the 1983 NCAA tournament. She received six

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honours. Schlegel graduated from Florida with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in telecommunications production in 1986, and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1997.

Broadcasting career

In 1984, Schlegel began her television career as a

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

commentator for CTV's '' Wide World of Sports''. She covered the

Gymnastics at the 1988 Summer Olympics At the 1988 Summer Olympics, two different gymnastics disciplines were contested: artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics. The artistic gymnastics events were held at the Olympic Gymnastics Hall in Seoul from September 18 through 25th. Th ...

for

. Schlegel was a gymnastics analyst on NBC's Olympic broadcasts from 1992 to 2012. She also covered the

Breeders Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, ...

and Olympic

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

for the network.

Personal

Schlegel is married to Marc Dunn, a former Olympian who represented Canada in beach volleyball at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes
Marc Dunn
. Retrieved 1 August 2011. They have three children and live in Toronto.

References

Bibliography

* Caraccioli, Jerry, & Tom Caraccioli, ''Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games'', New Chapter Press, Washington, D.C. (2009). . * Schlegel, Elfi, & Claire Ross Dunn, ''The Gymnastics Book: The Young Performer's Guide to Gymnastics'', Firefly Books Ltd., Richmond Hill, Ontario (2001). .

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schlegel, Elfi 1964 births Living people 20th-century Canadian sportswomen American horse racing announcers American sports announcers American women television journalists Canadian female artistic gymnasts Canadian horse racing announcers Canadian people of Swiss descent Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Curling broadcasters Florida Gators women's gymnasts Gymnastics broadcasters Gymnasts at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Gymnasts at the 1979 Pan American Games Gymnasts from Toronto Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Olympic Games broadcasters Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Pan American Games silver medalists in gymnastics Pan American Games gold medalists in gymnastics Pan American Games bronze medalists in gymnastics University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications alumni Women sports commentators Commonwealth Games gold medallists in gymnastics