Frank Kriz
American artistic gymnast (1894–1955)
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Frank Josef Kriz (March 26, 1894 – January 11, 1955) was an American gymnast and Olympic champion.[1] A was a member of the New York Sokol and the Bohemian Gymnastic Association. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competed in the 1920, 1924, and 1928 Summer Olympics.[2] In 1924, he received a gold medal in vault.[3] In 1922 and 1924, he won the Amateur Athletic Union national gymnastics title.[4][5] In 1959, he was one of the initial inductees to the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.[6]
| Frank Kriz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Frank Josef Kriz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | March 26, 1894 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | January 11, 1955 (aged 60) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gym | Bohemian Gymnastic Association | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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As a gymnast, Kriz was a member of the Bohemian Gymnastic Association.[7] He worked as a fireman for Hook and Ladder 154 of the New York City Fire Department and required leave to participate in the Olympics.[8] He received special approval, along with Bob McAllister, to make the trip to compete in the 1928 Summer Olympics.[8]
Kriz was the very first U.S. gymnast, male or female, to win a medal of any sort at a Summer Olympic Games or World Championships on foreign soil, and would remain the only one to win any individual medal at those such games on foreign soil for nearly half a century until Cathy Rigby won a silver on balance beam at the 1970 World Championships in Ljubljana and Peter Kormann won a bronze medal on floor exercise at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games.
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