Kurt Thomas, world champion who helped elevate U.S. gymnastics, dies at 64
Kurt Thomas, an electrifying gymnast whose scissor-kicking maneuvers sent crowds into a frenzy and helped him become the first American man to win a world championship, only to see his quest for Olympic gold thwarted by the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Games in Moscow, died June 5. He was 64.
His death was confirmed by USA Gymnastics and first reported by International Gymnast Media, which said he had a stroke on May 24. Additional details were not immediately available.
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At Indiana State University in Terre Haute, he won five individual NCAA titles and led the Sycamores to the 1977 national championship, while ranking behind future basketball Hall of Famer Larry Bird as the school’s second-biggest celebrity. “Pure Gold in the Corn Belt,” Time magazine proclaimed in a dual profile of the athletes.
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