Jason Gatson

American artistic gymnast
Jason Gatson
Full nameJason Gatson
Country representedUnited States
Born (1980-06-25) June 25, 1980 (age 44)
Mesa, Arizona, U.S.
Height165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight72 kg (159 lb)
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team1997–2000, 2002–2007
GymUSOTC
Team Chevron
Eponymous skillsGatson 1 (Parallel bars)
Gatson 2 (Parallel bars)
Medal record
Representing  United States
Men's artistic gymnastics
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 1 0
World Championships 0 1 0
Pacific Alliance Championships 1 1 0
Total 1 3 0
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens Team
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2003 Anaheim Team
Pacific Alliance Championships
Gold medal – first place 2004 Honolulu Team
Silver medal – second place 2004 Honolulu Rings

Jason Gatson (born June 25, 1980) is a retired American gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and won an Olympic silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Gymnastics career

Gatson competed in his first World Championship in 1997 at the age of 17, where he placed 5th with Team USA and 22nd in the all-around. He was considered by many to be the next champion for the US team, but injuries and other struggles cost him a chance for the 2000 Olympic team.

Injuries would continue to be a problem for Gatson, but in 2003 he finished second in the US national championships and qualified to the World Championship team, where he and his fellow team members won a silver medal in the team competition. He also competed in the all-around final and still rings final, finishing 8th and 7th respectively.

Gatson would battle a back injury heading into the 2004 Olympic trials. Still, he was able to make the Olympic team despite not competing on all of the events. At the Olympics, Gatson and his team won a silver medal behind Japan. In team finals, Gatson scored 9.825 on his parallel bars routine, the highest score of the day on that apparatus.

Personal life

His knee injuries were featured on the season 2 8th episode on Impact: Stories of Survival, titled "Pentagon Survivor".

Jason's younger brother, Brandon Gatson, is a professional wrestler.[1][2]

Eponymous skills

Gatson has two named elements on the parallel bars.[3][4]

Gymnastics elements named after Jason Gatson
Apparatus Name Description Difficulty[a] Added to Code of Points
Parallel bars Gatson 1 "Swing bwd. with 1/1 t. hop to handstand." E, 0.5 1997
Gatson 2 "Gatson 1 with ¼ t to handstand on 1 rail and ¼ t. handstand on 2 rails." E, 0.5 2003
  1. ^ Valid for the 2025–2028 Code of Points

References

  1. ^ Alvarez, Bryan (2010-09-05). "PWG Battle of LA Night One report". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2010-09-06. Gatson was a gymnast and dancer (Google him) and his brother was an Olympian, so he's far more agile than you'd think looking at him.
  2. ^ Csonka, Larry (2007-07-31). "Even More WWE News: Hardy No Shows Raw, Identity of Jobbers". 411Mania. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  3. ^ "Table of Named Elements Men's Artistic Gymnastics" (PDF). gymnastics.sport. December 2023. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  4. ^ "Men's Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points 2025–2028" (PDF). gymnastics.sport. July 3, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
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Jamie Strandmark
Coaches
Men's
  • Kevin Mazeika (Head coach)
  • Miles Avery (Asst. coach)
  • Vitaly Marinich
  • Mark Williams
Women's
  • Kelli Hill (Head coach)
  • Yevgeny Marchenko (Asst. coach)
  • Armine Barutyan-Fong
  • Al Fong
  • Alan Hatch
  • Chris Waller
Rhythmic
  • Mimi Masleva
Trampoline
  • Lionel Rangel