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Joe Kotys

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Joe Kotys
Kotys in 1949
Personal information
Full nameJoseph Kotys
Born(1925-10-31)October 31, 1925
Olyphant, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedAugust 21, 2012(2012-08-21) (aged 86)
Florida, U.S.
Gymnastics career
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Country representedUnited States
College teamKent State Golden Flashes
GymSwiss Turners
Medal record
Representing  United States
Men's artistic gymnastics
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Pan American Games 2 2 2
Total 2 2 2
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1955 Mexico City Team
Gold medal – first place 1955 Mexico City Vault
Silver medal – second place 1955 Mexico City All-Around
Silver medal – second place 1955 Mexico City Floor
Bronze medal – third place 1955 Mexico City Pommel Horse
Bronze medal – third place 1955 Mexico City Horizontal Bar
Representing Kent State Golden Flashes
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
NCAA Championships 6 0 0
Total 6 0 0
NCAA Championships
Gold medal – first place 1949 Berkeley All-Around
Gold medal – first place 1949 Berkeley Parallel Bars
Gold medal – first place 1950 West Point All-Around
Gold medal – first place 1950 West Point Parallel Bars
Gold medal – first place 1950 West Point Horizontal Bar
Gold medal – first place 1951 Ann Arbor Pommel Horse

Joseph Kotys (October 31, 1925 – August 21, 2012) was an American artistic gymnast. He won a team gold medal and three individual medals at the 1955 Pan American Games. At the 1948 Summer Olympics, he placed seventh with the team and had his best individual result of 23rd place on pommel horse.

Kotys fought in World War II as a gunner on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and completed 22 missions. He attended Kent State University and was a member of the Kent State Golden Flashes men's swimming and diving and men's gymnastics teams. As a diver he won the Ohio Conference three times, and as a gymnast, he won National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles in the all-around in 1949–50, on parallel bars in 1949–50, on the horizontal bar in 1950, and on the pommel horse in 1951. He also won three Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) titles, in the vault in 1948 and on parallel bars in 1948 and 1951. While competing on rings at the 1956 U.S. Olympic Trials he crashed to the floor due to a failed support mount. He retired soon after that to become a gymnastics coach in Ohio. In 1978 he was inducted into the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame. He was the gymnastics coach in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, in the early 1960s.

Kotys was a member of Swiss Turners of Cleveland.[1]

Kotys died of pancreatic cancer on August 21, 2012.[2]

References

  1. ^ McCarron, Rosemary (May 2, 1948). "Bordo, Bonsall On Olympic Team". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. S3. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  2. ^ Normile, Dwight (August 24, 2012). "Former U.S. Olympian Joe Kotys Passes Away". International Gymnast Magazine. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
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