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Jay Thornton on rings. Photo courtesy Steve Lange.
Gymnastics did not give former U.S. team member Jay Thornton the Olympic medal he sought. Still, his career cannot be called unfulfilling -- gymnastics won him NCAA stardom, a business great friends. His career even helped him capture something more valuable than gold: his wife's heart.
As the grandson of a Rockette who later started a dance studio in her basement, Thornton would tumble around and show off to her dance classes as a child. After his family moved from San Antonio, Texas, to Augusta, Ga., the young Thornton enrolled at Augusta Gymnastics Training Center. He credits coach Nick Brancheau with "keeping my love of gymnastics intact" as he grew up.
"My coach made it so much fun that I never regretted the sacrifice that I was making," Thornton said.
Like with all elite level gymnasts, those sacrifices were big -- by the time he was in middle school, Thornton was getting up at 5:30 a.m. in order to be at practice by six, returning to the gym after school to do homework, followed by more training.
"The biggest downfall is missing out on some of the social interaction," Thornton said. "In high school you start driving and you want to go out on Friday nights. It would [have been] different if I hated it, but I loved the sport so much and I knew I was doing something good for my body and my mind and I knew it could take me places."
By the time Thornton was a senior in high school, he was placing highly at junior national meets and earned a scholarship to compete for the University of Iowa, which he chose for a combination of its medical program, gymnastics team and laid-back feeling.
At Iowa, he was a two-time NCAA champion, winning floor in 1995 and vault in 1996. Although in the mix to make the 1996 Olympic team, Thornton finished 0.7 behind the seven who made it to Atlanta after a mistake on high bar.
Before the 2000 Olympic Trials, he smacked his head on the floor while training high bar and had a seizure, which prevented him from full training for several weeks. He retired after the 2000 Olympic Trials, but has remained heavily involved in gymnastics, running American Gymnast, which started as a bi-monthly publication when Thornton was training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and expanded to become a provider of gymnastics equipment, mats, grips, supplies and advice, which Thornton dispenses in the online video series called "Ask American Gymnast."
Ask American Gymnast about all things gymnastics:
In this in-depth interview with Examiner.com, Thornton recounts his successes and disappointments in gymnastics, including coming close to making two Olympic teams despite suffering a seizure after a fall before the 2000 Olympic Trials, what should be done for NCAA men's gymnastics and what the U.S. men's team will need in order to challenge for gold in 2012.
The Olympic dream may not have come true, but the Olympic spirit remains.
"I now strive to become an Olympian of life," Thornton said.
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Examiner.com: Can you tell me a little about your childhood in gymnastics?
Jay Thornton: "I was very fortunate to have several a wonderful coaches from the beginning. I was a pretty good twister. I was a little bit bigger as a kid and I had that going against me. I'm about 5'10" and competed at about 170 pounds. I was a bit bigger as a kid and wasn't the most physically gifted, but my first coach, Tim Erwin, started preparing me with sound gymnastics technique from the day one."
Examiner.com: When did you decide you wanted to go to the Olympics?
J.T.: "When I was 10 years old. It was 1984, the year of the Los Angeles Olympics and I, like every other gymnast at the time, was watching the '84 U.S. Men’s Olympic team compete. When I saw them win that gold medal, I knew at that point that I wanted to become an Olympic gymnast."
Examiner.com: Who were your role models in gymnastics?
J.T.: "I kind of had two role models. One was John Roethlisberger. He was a role model for me because of how intense he trained. I loved his work ethic and it inspired me every time I got an opportunity to train with him. I felt like a much better gymnast every time I worked out with him. Every competition with him was a memorable experience because of the heart he brought onto the floor, just how he can could fire you up. He didn't even have to do any gymnastics – he could just lead you by the heart he had for the USA. The other guy was Dmitry Bilozertchev. He had a little bigger physique for a gymnast with such a great bodyline. I admired his style of gymnastics."
Examiner.com: What did you learn during your years of competing in the NCAA?
J.T.: "Training in college really changed the whole way I thought about my role in the sport of gymnastics and I really grew to love the team dynamic of the sport...college gymnastics was a blast for me. I know it's in a precarious situation right now. I hope we can do something to hang onto these programs we have, and eventually even start more men’s collegiate teams, to give our rising junior gymnasts more opportunities to have the same college gymnastics experiences I did."
Thornton was the NCAA vault champion in 1996. Photo courtersy Jay Thornton.
Examiner.com: A lot of people think gymnasts are very serious, stoic people. True or not true?
J.T.: "Not true. I think I personally might have more of that personality type. But, in general, I think of gymnasts as kind of the goofy, monkeying around type of people that most of my former teammates and friends are. I would say more the life of the party type people. If you know [John] Roethlisberger and [John] Macready, they certainly are. I think gymnastics gives you such a level of confidence in your abilities that it allows you to be more free and open because that confidence is instilled in you."
Examiner.com: Can you take me through your time at the 1996 Olympic Trials?
J.T.: "'96 was always the year I was shooting for. I knew I would be about 21 years old and prime age for a male gymnast to peak...I finished in 14th place at the U.S. Championships in '96 and barely squeaked into Olympic Trials, but there I had the meet of my life and moved to 11th after day one. Day two, by that time I felt invincible, like I couldn't do anything wrong. I was in eighth going into high bar, my last event. I don't remember ever feeling nervous, just excited, relishing every moment. But during my routine I caught a Geinger in too close and my grip got caught on top of the bar and I had a major form break when swinging out of it...I did stuck my dismount, threw my arms in the air and gave a big smile like I had just done the best routine of my life, but I knew I hadn't...[I finished] 0.7 short of making that Olympic team."
Examiner.com: That must have been awful.
J.T.: "It was devastating for me because I felt that I had put all my eggs in one basket. To fall 0.7 short was a humbling experience. I was quite depressed for a long time and kept reliving that moment over and over in my head.
"When I got back to Iowa City after the ’96 Trials, I got a letter from a girl I'd always wanted to date back in high school but had never been able to. It was just saying she saw me on TV and she'd watched the whole thing and how proud she was of me. That letter meant a lot to me. And so I jumped in a my car and drove to Athens, Ga., where she was in school. I stayed with a friend and asked him, "Where's this address?" And he said, "Oh, it's right near here..." God had a plan, and if I'd made the Olympic team who knows? I maybe would have been on the tour and never gotten that letter."
Jay Thornton, 1996 NCAA Championships, vault:
Examiner.com: What made you decide to continue after 1996?
J.T.: "I still loved the sport and still had the goal of becoming an Olympian, so I applied to the Olympic Training Center and got accepted there. I made the ’97 World Team, won a silver medal at the ’98 Goodwill Games and was the alternate for the '99 World team. I was focused again on the 2000 Olympics, but it just wasn't in the cards. I placed 11th that year and missed the team by five spots. I was devastated, but I was able to deal with it better. I trained as hard as I possibly could, and I realized that the sun was still rising the next day...
"I have no regrets on what I did in my gymnastics career. I carry that with me and now use it in striving to become an Olympian of life."
Examiner.com: Did you ever think about making a run for 2004?
J.T.: "The thought kind of crossed my mind for 2004, but I was kind of at the point in my life where I was ready to move on. The biggest injury I had in my life was about 1.5 months before the [2000] Olympic Trials. I was training my high bar routine when I peeled off high the bar, missing the mat, and smacked my head on the ground, knocking me unconscious and having a seizure. I remember when I woke up just not knowing what had happened. For a couple of weeks after that happened, I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even do a circle on pommel horse. My balance was off. I tried to compete at the National Qualifier and ended up hitting my head again, this time on a 2.5 twist on floor. I felt like I lost that mental edge. If you don't have that edge, that feeling, it’s dangerous to be out there. I had never gotten lost on a 2.5 twist before."
Thornton on floor at the 2000 Olympic Trials, weeks after a fall that caused a seizure:
Examiner.com: How did you stay tough and motivated while you were dealing with that, especially with the Olympic Trials looming so closely?
J.T.: "It was very hard, very frustrating, especially at that point, so close to the biggest time in my career. Luckily, I really think one of the things I was best at throughout my career was mentally being able to visualize my routines over and over again in my head. In college, I would try to get all six routines visualized in between classes. I would visualize them before I was going to bed. I would do it in the shower, anywhere I had a few spare minutes. So, visualization, and then just focusing on basics. Just trying to get back and do anything that I could physically, just to start building my confidence again, one trick at a time, just gradually getting one little success after another, starting with basic circles and then with a little routine I could do each day...it was a tedious process but I got back into it. It's not necessarily the ideal type of training you want to do leading up to the Olympic Trials, but you just learn to deal with adversity.
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Thornton for America
"Gymnastics has really become my way of life. Immediately after I retired I took a year off where I didn't have anything to do with the sport. I was trying to figure out who I was and what I wanted to do with my life. I had started out college thinking premed, but changed my major to economics and then took premed courses as my electives. After 2000, I toyed around with a couple of different careers -- studying for the MCAT for medical school, coaching gymnastics and financial consulting. For a little while I was even working in a genetics lab, but I ended up contaminating a whole bunch of petri dishes that we had been working on for weeks. Science just wasn't my destiny."
Examiner.com: As an elite, you got to compete with some of the best in the U.S. at the time. Did you see yourself as a mentor to anyone?
J.T.: "Hopefully in some regard I was a mentor to some of the guys. During my time at the Olympic Training Center there were some of the younger guys like Brett McClure and Jason Gatson coming along. Those guys far surpassed me in their gymnastics careers and with their accomplishments, but I felt like I kind of had a big brother type of role with them."
Examiner.com: How did American Gymnast get started?
J.T.: "I had started this business in 1999 as a hobby, but eventually I decided to stop everything else and do it full time...It actually started as a publication that I wrote with a teammate at the Olympic Training Center, bi-monthly, and started marketing it online. We then started selling products online somewhere after 2000, shortly after I retired from gymnastics -- small gymnastics goods, grips, tumbling shoes and wrist supports, and gradually moved into selling the larger gymnastics equipment, mats and supplies so that we now provide a full-range of gymnastics products.
"What sets us apart from our competitors is the amount of gymnastics expertise and knowledge we are able to provide customers to support the gymnastics products we sell. For, example, if a parent is looking to buy their gymnast their first pair of gymnastics grips, you definitely want to buy them from American Gymnast because we'll give you the most information on what grips are best for you. Everyone has different needs as a gymnast, as an athlete. I give zero thought about how much money I make on one pair of grips versus another. I give every thought to which grips best suit each particular customer.
"The informational videos we provide have helped tremendously. 'Ask American Gymnast' is something I just started recently. I felt like the best way to provide good quality information on our website is to ask people what information they're looking for. 'Ask AG' gives our website visitors the opportunity to ask the questions they don't have anyone else in the industry to ask."
Examiner.com: What do you think should be done to make NCAA men's gymnastics more palatable for fans?
J.T.: "First I think we've got to fix the Title IX and 'gender equity' stuff at the schools because it's killing men's gymnastics. I don't think it was ever the intention of Title IX to cut existing men's programs, but that's been the effect. Doing away with the 10...everyone in the gymnastics world is understanding it better, but I think for the fans, we need to be educating them better on the scoring system so they can feel more involved during the competition. I don't know what the perfect solution for that is. I think our men's national gymnastics team is doing fantastically on the international scene. We've built a great foundation. We've been a major player in the last two Olympic Games, and we have more heart and desire on that competition floor to win a medal than any other country in the world. That's what makes us successful. I think [U.S. National team coordinator] Kevin Mazeika is going to be a great leader for the guys going into 2012."
Examiner.com: The U.S. men during the 1990s really struggled to make a reputation for themselves internationally, something the new generation has accomplished. What has happened during the past 10 years to make U.S. success possible in the international arena? What has evolved to allow the U.S. men to have a lot of success?
J.T.: "I think it’s the contribution of a lot of guys from a lot of years. Since 1984, we weren't able to get back on the podium for a long time. But we fought a lot of years to get close. We got close several times, and we kept building that heart and desire, getting closer and closer and we started to taste it. The guys now, they've tasted it. They've got a silver [from the 2004 Olympics] and a bronze [from 2008] and the only color left is gold. I think the foundation's been set internationally. We've got some difficulty issues we've got to catch up on, but I think if we can catch up a bit more on our difficulty with China and Japan, our USA guys are going to be competing for the gold in 2012."
Thornton shows a planche on floor. Photo courtesy Steve Lange.
Related: The American Gymnast website. Thornton's younger brother Andy, who also competed for the University of Iowa, has an exceptional blog, Andy's Angle, on American Gymnast as well.
Follow Gymnastics Examiner Blythe Lawrence on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GymExaminer or click the "Subscribe" button to receive the latest gymnastics news and results via e-mail.
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