Kim Zmeskal

Profile

Family Name: Zmeskal
First Name: Kimberly
Middle Name: Lynn
Nickname: Kim, Kimbo
Date of Birth: February 6th, 1976
Birthplace: Houston, Texas
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Residence: Cincinnati, Ohio
Former Club: Karolyi Gymnastics
Former Coach: Bela and Martha Karolyi
Club: Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy
Coach: Mary Lee Tracy
Began Gymnastics: 1982
Favorite Event: Floor Exercise
Parents: David and Clarice Zmeskal
Siblings: Eric and Melissa
Husband: Chris Burdette
Favorite Book: 'The Horse Whisperer'
Favorite Music: Country
Hobbies: Listening to music, going to movies.
Particularity: She scored 8 perfect 10s in her career

photo by Matthew Barber

Top Achievements

1990 American Cup Champion and Gold Medalist (AA and all events)
1990 U.S. National Champion and Gold Medalist (AA), Silver Medalist (Bars, Beam, Floor) and Event Finalist (5th Vault)
1991 U.S. National Champion and Gold Medalist (AA, Floor) and Silver Medalist (Beam)
1991 World Champion and Gold Medalist (AA), World Championships Silver Medalist (Team), Bronze Medalist (Floor) and Event Finalist (7th Vault)
1992 American Cup Champion and Gold Medalist (AA)
1992 U.S. National Champion and Gold Medalist (AA, Floor, Beam) and Silver Medalist (Vault, Bars)
1992 Individual Event World Championships Gold Medalist (Beam, Floor)
1992 Olympic Bronze Medalist (Team) and Event Finalist (8th Vault, 6th Floor)
1998 U.S. National Championships Event Finalist (4th Beam, 5th Vault) and 11th AA

For complete results, see her USA Gymnastics Official Biography

Biography

Not unlike many of her teammates, Kim was a very active child. She was introduced to gymnastics at the age of six by her babysitter. Actually, the babysitter's daughter was involved in gymnastics, and when Kim went to the gym with her and watched all those kids hopping around, she wanted to do it herself. So she was enrolled at a local gym school in Houston, which soon became Kalolyi Gymnastics, after the arrival of Bela Karolyi in 1982. Bela immediately recognized her ability and placed her in his 'hopes group'. She began training more intensively, and she had so much power that Karolyi compared her to another one of his students, Mary Lou Retton. Mary Lou was training in Bela's elite group at the time, and she was also a great role model for Kim.
At her first Junior National Championships in 1988, Kim tied for 8th place. In 1989, at the age of 13, she became the Junior National Champion, and the year after that, she won her first National title in the senior division (a feat that she would to accomplish three times). If 1990 was Kim coming out party on the international scene (beside Nationals, she also won the prestigious American Cup), 1991 would confirm her ability to perform under pressure. The 1991 World Championships took place in Indianapolis, and not only did Kim lead her team to a silver medal by scoring a perfect ten on her last event, the vault, she also surprisingly won the individual all-around in front of reigning World Champion Svetlana Boguinskaya. Many people, including Boguinskaya herself, believed that Kim had won the gold only because the Championships were held on American soil. But Kim proved them wrong in 1992: at the Individual Event World Championships in Paris, she won two gold medals, on beam and floor.
This performance had its negative effects, since it put a lot of pressure on Kim's shoulders. She finished second to Shannon Miller at Trials, but nevertheless went to the 1992 Olympics as the co-leader of the American team and a favorite to win the all-around gold medal.
Barcelona would be a bitter disappointment for Kim: she fell on compulsory beam, almost didn't make it to the individual all-around and left Spain without a single individual medal. Some people argue that she suffered a stress fracture that diminished her performances, others say that the Karloyi gymnasts peaked too early in 1992.
Anyway, Kim took almost two years off and attempted a comeback in 1994, hoping to make the 1996 Olympic team. But she injured her knee and gave up again. Until 1997. Since Bela had retired (again), Kim decided to take a fresh start with Mary Lee Tracy in Cincinnati, first as a coach, then as a gymnast. She finished an honorable 11th at the 1998 Nationals (with a 4th place on beam), but in 1999, a series of injuries, including a torn Achilles tendon, kept her away from the gym for a while. In the meantime, she married her boyfriend Chris Burdette, a coach at Cincinnati.
She started practising again at the end of 1999. In January 2000, just when she was feeling everything was coming into place, she injured herself again while attempting a round-off double back (the result was a tear between her calf muscle and her Achilles tendon). She told IG that when she took off for the skill, she heard a crack and knew her career was over. Recently, she announced her retirement and her intention to stay in Cincinnati this year to encourage her teammates, and then possibly get involved in training and choreography.

Quotation

"What makes the difference is that Bela makes us work when we don't want to work" (1991)

Links

Kim Zmeskal... Always a Champion
Kim Zmeskal Homepage
Valerie's Kim Zmeskal Tribute Page
USA Gymnastics Official Biography

Photo by Matthew Barber