Jimmy Cinnabon 117 Report post Posted January 30 (edited) Interesting tidbit I came across.: Casey Cunningham, National Champ and 1x National runnerup, 2008 Pan American Games silver medal and was two time U.S. Nationals and World Team Trials runner-up isn't even the best athlete in his family! His wife, Tara Cunningham (nee Nott) is an Olympic gold medalist in weightlifting, 2x Pan American Games gold medalist, and the only athlete to have trained for three different sports at the United States Olympic Training Center (gymnastics, soccer, and weightlifting). That is seriously impressive! Their kids must be athletic! Edited January 30 by Jimmy Cinnabon 1 MikePorcelli reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shells9 16 Report post Posted January 30 And even better - she's incredibly humble. And yes, their kids are ridiculously athletic. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fletcher 466 Report post Posted January 30 Wrestling, gymnastics, soccer, weightlifting = the last refuge for those who suck at football, basketball and baseball. Just saying... 1 leshismore reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NJDan 369 Report post Posted January 30 women's gymnastics and weightlifting is a surprising combo. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jimmy Cinnabon 117 Report post Posted January 30 1 minute ago, NJDan said: women's gymnastics and weightlifting is a surprising combo. I'd be more surprised by the combo of weightlifting and soccer. Soccer plays are known more for endurance and agility rather than power. Gymnasts and weightlifters both have insane strength to weight ratios. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wrestlingnerd 2,217 Report post Posted January 30 (edited) Wow. It’s hard to imagine a guy with Casey’s pedigree would be the “unathletic” one of any family. His kids definitely hit the genetic jackpot. Edited January 30 by wrestlingnerd Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TBar1977 2,994 Report post Posted January 30 Tara is the last (most recent) weightlifting Olympic gold medalist from the USA. 2 Perry and Housebuye reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jimmy Cinnabon 117 Report post Posted January 30 And the only female weightlifting gold medalist from the USA, ever. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Housebuye 1,662 Report post Posted January 30 Truly insane. Plus, from all accounts Casey is a good person. I'm sure his wife is too. Those kids are super lucky. I hope they make the most of it. Great genetics, good parents, and a huge amount of access. Pretty cool stuff. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swoopdown 443 Report post Posted January 30 Truly insane. Plus, from all accounts Casey is a good person. I'm sure his wife is too. Those kids are super lucky. I hope they make the most of it. Great genetics, good parents, and a huge amount of access. Pretty cool stuff.If she tells him to shut up he'd be wise to listen.Sent from my moto e5 play using Tapatalk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TBar1977 2,994 Report post Posted January 31 1 hour ago, swoopdown said: If she tells him to shut up he'd be wise to listen. Sent from my moto e5 play using Tapatalk Ha ha. Happy wife, happy life. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PSUMike 423 Report post Posted January 31 5 hours ago, NJDan said: women's gymnastics and weightlifting is a surprising combo. I mean gymnastics takes a ridiculous amount of strength so I don't see it as that odd. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cornercoach 447 Report post Posted January 31 ......Mrs. and Mr. are both top notch individuals............. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTG119 764 Report post Posted January 31 15 hours ago, PSUMike said: I mean gymnastics takes a ridiculous amount of strength so I don't see it as that odd. and Olympic weightlifting takes a lot of flexibility and agility, so agreed, not really odd at all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zebra 545 Report post Posted January 31 11 minutes ago, KTG119 said: and Olympic weightlifting takes a lot of flexibility and agility, so agreed, not really odd at all. I don't know, it does seem kind of odd since gymnasts are like 4'10" and weigh 95 pounds. Not exactly the kind of person you think of when you picture a weight lifter. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TobusRex 1,287 Report post Posted January 31 22 hours ago, Fletcher said: Wrestling, gymnastics, soccer, weightlifting = the last refuge for those who suck at football, basketball and baseball. Just saying... Not suck. Too SMALL for football or basketball.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TobusRex 1,287 Report post Posted January 31 5 minutes ago, Zebra said: I don't know, it does seem kind of odd since gymnasts are like 4'10" and weigh 95 pounds. Not exactly the kind of person you think of when you picture a weight lifter. Gymnasts are the greatest athletes in the world when it comes to strength/balance. Nobody else comes close, not even adherents of the noble sport of wrestling. How many wrestlers do you know that could do an "Iron Cross"? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TobusRex 1,287 Report post Posted January 31 (edited) 22 hours ago, NJDan said: women's gymnastics and weightlifting is a surprising combo. Not at all. Gymnasts are strong as F###! I guess it could be surprising because 1) female gymnasts are usually "girly girls" (aka: made up to look cute during their performances) and 2) weightlifters couldn't give less of a damn how cute they are. Mark Schultz was a state champion gymnast before he started his wrestling career. We all saw how that played out. Wonder why he left gymnastics: was he getting too big? Edited January 31 by TobusRex Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jimmy Cinnabon 117 Report post Posted January 31 24 minutes ago, Zebra said: I don't know, it does seem kind of odd since gymnasts are like 4'10" and weigh 95 pounds. Not exactly the kind of person you think of when you picture a weight lifter. They have different weight classes, just like they do in wrestling. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTG119 764 Report post Posted January 31 one of the greatest male weight lifters ever, Naim Suleymanoglu, was only 4'10". He won Olympic Gold in 3 straight Games ('88, '92, '96). at a body weight of 132 he was able to clean and jerk over 400 lbs. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTG119 764 Report post Posted January 31 28 minutes ago, TobusRex said: Gymnasts are the greatest athletes in the world when it comes to strength/balance. Nobody else comes close, not even adherents of the noble sport of wrestling. How many wrestlers do you know that could do an "Iron Cross"? I could back in the day but I also competed in gymnastics a bit. I was a pretty good HS wrestler and a pretty bad gymnast, yeah could do the cross and a few other muscle moves but sucked at basically everything else. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
southend 89 Report post Posted January 31 28 minutes ago, Zebra said: I don't know, it does seem kind of odd since gymnasts are like 4'10" and weigh 95 pounds. Not exactly the kind of person you think of when you picture a weight lifter. Tara lifted in the 53k weight class I think at that time, so 111 lb , or so. I use to see her off and on at meets , around that time, as I had a 19 year old daughter lifting in the 57k class also. Weight lifters are rated by their eight and how much they can lift for their size, and she was always up 1 or 2 for woman in the USA at that time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Threadkilla 98 Report post Posted January 31 When even Penn States assistant coaches wife could kick your aZZ, you may have a problem. 1 KTG119 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zebra 545 Report post Posted January 31 Guys, I get there are weight classes but the only weight lifting women they ever seem to show from the Olympics don't exactly look like could have ever been gymnasts, hence the visual image and initial "strangeness" at thought of the combo. Yes, I get this is a stereotype, but if you are not in that world this is the kind of image which initially comes to mind. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NJDan 369 Report post Posted January 31 23 hours ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said: I'd be more surprised by the combo of weightlifting and soccer. Soccer plays are known more for endurance and agility rather than power. Gymnasts and weightlifters both have insane strength to weight ratios. Yes, but very different body-types Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
