Brett McClure

Brett Dallas McClure (born February 19, 1981 in Yakima, Washington) is a retired American gymnast.[2] He won a bronze medal in the pommel horse at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia, and later helped his U.S. gymnastics team earn a silver in the team competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. During his sporting career, McClure has collected two more silver medals in the same program at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships (2001 and 2003). McClure is currently the High Performance Director with USA men's gymnastics.

Brett McClure
Country represented United States
Born (1981-02-19) February 19, 1981
Yakima, Washington, United States[1]
ResidenceMill Creek, Washington, United States[1]
Height1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight67 kg (148 lb)
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team1999–2006
ClubTeam Chevron-Swiss Turners[1]
Head coach(es)Vitaly Marinich[1]
Medal record
Men's artistic gymnastics
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
2004 Athens Team
Goodwill Games
2001 Brisbane Pommel horse
World Championships
2001 Ghent Team
2003 Anaheim Team

Early years

McClure was born in Yakima, Washington, the son of Les and Judy McClure.[1] He started gymnastics at the age of nine under the influence of his father Les, who pushed him to train and perform ten pushups from a handstand position against the wall. When his family later resided in Mill Creek, Washington, he spent two years at Henry M. Jackson High School and finished up early at Chrysalis School in Woodinville, during which time he trained at Cascade Elite Gymnastics in Lynwood, WA. In 1999, McClure moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado to work and train as a full-time resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, under head coach Vitaly Marinich.[3]

Career

2001–2003

McClure made his official worldwide debut at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia, where he received an average score of 9.362 to bring home the bronze medal in the pommel horse, finishing behind China's Huang Xu and Romania's Marius Urzică.[4] On that same year, he added a silver to his annual hardware in the men's team all-around competition (a total of 166.845) at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Ghent, Belgium.[5]

At the 2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim, California, McClure pulled off a highest preliminary score in the horizontal bar to give U.S. a second straight silver in the men's team all-around competition. His team received a composite score of 171.121, trailing China by nearly eight-tenths of a point (0.8).[6]

2004 Summer Olympics
See also: Gymnastics at the 2004 Summer Olympics

McClure competed for the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens by earning a spot in the men's gymnastics team from the Olympic trials in Boston.[7] On the first day of the Games, McClure joined with his teammate Paul Hamm in the individual all-around final from the prelim stage, finishing nineteenth with an entry score of 56.323.[8] In the team all-around, McClure ended a 20-year-old drought to capture a silver for the U.S. men's best medal finish, joining on top of the podium by Jason Gatson, Paul Hamm, Morgan Hamm, Blaine Wilson, and Guard Young.[9] During the competition, McClure performed a pommel horse (9.650) and horizontal bar (9.412) to sum up the team's total to 172.933, trailing Japan by almost a full point.[9][10] In his final event, the individual all-around, McClure finished outside the medals in ninth place with a score of 57.248, just six-tenths of a point behind his teammate Hamm.[11][12]

Life after gymnastics

On May 25, 2006, McClure announced his retirement from competitive gymnastics to pursue other opportunities and spend time with his family in Colorado.[13] He was later named assistant coach of the Air Force Falcons gymnastics team at the United States Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado.[14] In June 2013 he took a coaching position at UC Berkeley for Cal Men's Gymnastics team.[15] In 2015, he led the Bears to their first appearance in NCAA team finals since 2012. As of May 1, 2017, McClure has taken on the role of High Performance Director with USA men's gymnastics.

References
  1. "USA Men's Gymnastics Team Profile: Brett McClure" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 26, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Brett McClure". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  3. Newnham, Blaine (August 10, 2004). "Men's gymnastics: Triumph of good will lures McClure". Seattle Times. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  4. "McClure Wins Pommel Horse Bronze Medal for USA at 2001 Goodwill Games". USA Gymnastics. August 29, 2001. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  5. "U.S. Men's World Team Makes History By Earning First-Ever Silver Medal". USA Gymnastics. October 31, 2001. Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  6. Peterson, Lauren (August 10, 2004). "U.S. Can't Catch China". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  7. Elliott, Helene (June 25, 2004). "McClure Sits in Second Place at Trials". USA Gymnastics. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  8. Clarke, Liz (August 15, 2004). "Wilson Falls, but Men Advance". USA Gymnastics. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  9. Garcia, Marlen (August 17, 2004). "Precious metal found in Athens". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  10. "Men's Artistic Gymnastics Team All-Around". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. August 17, 2004. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  11. "Men's Artistic Gymnastics Individual All-Around". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. August 17, 2004. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  12. "Hamm rallies for gold in men's all-around". NBC Sports. August 19, 2004. Archived from the original on December 29, 2010. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  13. "2004 Olympic silver-medalist McClure retires from competitive gymnastics". USA Gymnastics. August 29, 2001. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  14. "Former Olympian Brett McClure Joins Men's Gymnastics Coaching Staff". NBC Sports. August 10, 2006. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  15. "Brett McClure Bio". Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
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