Peter Glen Vidmar (born June 3, 1961, in

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, ...

) is an American

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 two-time Olympic gold medalist. He was a member of the

United States men's national artistic gymnastics team The United States men's artistic gymnastics team represents the United States in Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, FIG international competitions. History The first national team roster was established in 1998. The team has competed at ...

and won gold in the team final and pommel horse, and silver in the individual all-around.

Olympics

At age 18, Vidmar was the youngest member of the U.S. team that won a bronze medal in the 1979 World Championships. He qualified for the 1980 Olympic team, but did not compete due to the U.S. Olympic Committee's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia. Vidmar 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 ...

. At the 1984 Summer Olympic games in Los Angeles, Vidmar won gold medals in the men's all-around team competition and the pommel horse competition, and a silver medal in the men's all-around individual gymnastics competition. With three Olympic medals, he is one of three athletes inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame twice. He was inducted as an individual, then as a member of the 1984 U.S. men's gymnastics team.

UCLA

He is an alumnus of

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 ...

. In 1983, Vidmar won the Nissen Award (the " Heisman" of men's gymnastics).

Career

Vidmar hosts the annual Peter Vidmar Men's Gymnastics Invitational at Brentwood School in

. He has been a gymnastics anchor for both

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

and

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. He is currently a motivational speaker as well as a co-chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee Summer Sports Summit. In 1998 Vidmar was inducted into 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 ...

Personal life

Vidmar and his wife, Donna, have five children. He is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

2012 Olympics

Vidmar was selected to be the chef de mission for the 2012 Olympics, where he would have represented all U.S. athletes and marched in the opening ceremonies. His selection drew criticism from LGBT activists and athletes, including Olympic figure skater

Johnny Weir John Garvin Weir (; born July 2, 1984) is an American television commentator and retired figure skater. He is a two-time Olympian (2006 Winter Olympics, 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics), the 2008 World Figure Skating Championships, 2008 World ...

, because in 2008 Vidmar donated money to and publicly campaigned for

Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage. It passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned by the ...

that banned same-sex couples from being married in California. Vidmar resigned his position to avoid his presence from being detrimental to the U.S. Olympics.

U.S. Gymnastics

Vidmar was named chairman of the U.S. Gymnastics Board of Directors in December 2008. He left his role at USA Gymnastics in December 2015 to serve as a

mission president Mission president is a Priesthood (LDS Church), priesthood leadership position in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). A mission president presides over a geographic area known as a Mission (LDS Church), mission and the M ...

for the LDS Church in the Australia Melbourne Mission.

References

External links

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Peter Vidmar
at

USA Gymnastics United States of America Gymnastics (USA Gymnastics or USAG) is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. It sets the domestic rules and policies that govern the sport, promotes and develops gymnastics on the grassroots ...

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List of competitive results at Gymn Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidmar, Peter 1961 births Living people American male artistic gymnasts Latter Day Saints from California Gymnasts at the 1984 Summer Olympics Gymnasts from Los Angeles UCLA Bruins men's gymnasts Olympic gold medalists for the United States in gymnastics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in gymnastics American people of Slovenian descent Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Congressional Gold Medal recipients People from Coto de Caza, California Sportspeople from Orange County, California American Mormon missionaries in Australia 21st-century Mormon missionaries Mission presidents (LDS Church) 20th-century American sportsmen