18 Facts About Bart Conner

Barthold Wayne Conner was born on March 28,1958 and is a retired American Olympic gymnast.

Bart Conner was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and won two gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Bart Conner owns and operates the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy in Norman, Oklahoma, along with his wife, Romanian Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comaneci.

Bart Conner was born on March 28,1958, the son of Harold Bart Conner and Jacqueline May, and grew up in Morton Grove, Illinois.

Bart Conner first became involved in gymnastics at school and at his local YMCA.

Bart Conner was later on the gymnastics team at Niles West High School, where he graduated in 1976.

Bart Conner later attended the University of Oklahoma to work with coach Paul Ziert on the gymnastics team.

Bart Conner eventually graduated from OU in 1984, where he was an All-American and won the 1981 Nissen Award as America's best gymnast.

Bart Conner won the 1972 US Junior National Championships when he was 14 and the US Gymnastics Federation All-Around championship when he was 17, and was the youngest member of the Olympic team during the 1976 Summer Olympics.

Bart Conner won a team all-around gold medal at the 1975 Pan American Games.

Bart Conner demonstrated an original move called the "Conner spin" during the 1984 Olympics.

Bart Conner appeared as "Bart Taylor" in the 1986 film Rad.

On November 27,1989, Nadia Comaneci, the famous Romanian gymnast Bart Conner had met at the 1976 Montreal games, defected from Romania with a group of other Romanians.

In January 1990, when Bart Conner read in the newspaper that she was scheduled to be interviewed on The Pat Sajak Show, he contacted the producer and arranged to make a guest appearance on the show.

Bart Conner liked the idea of surprising Comaneci: "I'm thinking if she's going to be on Sajak, I might as well go out there and say, 'Hey, Nads,' " Actually, Comaneci was in an abusive relationship with the person who had led the escape group and who was acting as her current manager and promoter.

Bart Conner sensed her fear of this person and reached out to help.

Bart Conner and Comaneci have one child, a son named Dylan Paul Bart Conner who was born on June 3,2006, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Bart Conner had one named element on the parallel bars, originally named in 1993, but removed from the code of points in 2000.