Joey Ray
American artistic gymnast
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph Ray[1] (born 1962 or 1963[2]) is a retired American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and won a silver medal at the 1983 Pan American Games.
represented
United States (1981–1986)
| Joey Ray | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Joseph Ray | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1962 or 1963 (age 63–64) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country represented | United States (1981–1986) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team | Minnesota Golden Gophers (1981–1984) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Head coach | Fred Roethlisberger | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | c. 1986 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Awards | Big Ten Medal of Honor (1984) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life and education
Ray was born around 1962 or 1963 and was a native of Morton Grove, Illinois.[2] He started gymnastics at 9 years old after seeing other children performing flips and taking an interest.[2][3] Practicing 3 hours a day, he was a top youth gymnast at Maine East High School and the American Academy Gymnastics Club, and won the Class AA state title on parallel bars and horizontal bar.[2][4] He was a member of the United States junior national team.[2][4] He later enrolled at the University of Minnesota.
Gymnastics career
While a student at the University of Minnesota, Ray was a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's gymnastics team from 1981 to 1984.[5] He was the Big Ten Conference all-around champion in 1983.[6] He was a four-time conference champion on parallel bars (1981 through 1984) and won the pommel horse title in 1981.[6] He was an All-American on the parallel bars in 1981.[7] He was awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1984.[1][8]
While in college, Ray was first named to the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team in 1981.[9] He represented the United States at the 1983 Pan American Games and won a silver medal in the team all-around and placed fifth in the pommel horse.[10]
He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1984, but continued training and later joined the Golden Gophers as an assistant coach.[9][3] He remained a member of the US National Team until 1986, but continued coaching and began judging gymnastics.[9]
Ray was inducted into the Minnesota Golden Gophers "M Club Hall of Fame" as a member of the class of 2015.[11]