Julianne McNamara

Who is Julianne McNamara?

Julianne Lyn McNamara is a former American artistic gymnast, who was born to Australian parents. She was the winner of the U.S. women's first individual event gold medal in Olympic history.

She won the 1980 US all-around title and earned a spot on the Olympic team that boycotted the Moscow Games. A year later, at the World Championships that were coincidentally also held in Moscow, McNamara notched the top U.S. women's world all-around finish at that point in history. She also earned a bronze medal on bars, seventh on floor and finished fifth on beam—she had entered the beam final in first place but went overtime in the final.

At the 1982 World Cup, Julianne fell off the bars to place eighth all-around. In finals, though, she earned a bronze on vault and a seventh place on beam. At the 1983 world championships, she finished 16th all-around, sixth on vault, and seventh on uneven bars.

In 1982, The Flower Council of Holland, headed by namesake Dutch Queen Juliana, christened the Julianne McNamara rose. At the time, the only other American woman to be so honored was the then U.S. First Lady Nancy Reagan.

The climax of her career was at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.