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Lance Ringnald was born in Des Moines, Iowa on June 13, 1970. The
son of two college gymnasts, Lance was enrolled in gymnastics
from an early age. Like many parents of gymnasts, Lance's parents
desperately hoped that gymnastics would provide an outlet for
their hyperactive son. Little did they know that gymnastics would
lead to much bigger things, namely a spot on the 1988 Olympic
team.
Lance's path to the Olympics was
not without incident. One of Lance's first "flips" was
actually experienced during a serious car accident! Following a
fortunate recovery, Lance became more serious about gymnastics
and began setting his hopes on the 1988 Olympics. Two years prior
to the Games, Lance moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to train at
Gold Cup Gymnastics under Ed Burch. While most successful US male
gymnasts chose to compete and train NCAA gymnastics while
preparing for Seoul, Lance temporarily put his educational goals
on hold, opting to continue his training at his New Mexico club.
Lance went on to become the
youngest member of the 1988 Olympic Team. Taking it one day at a
time, Lance pressed on in the sport, hoping to make it to the
1992 Games in Barcelona. The years ahead were marred with
injuries. For example, at the 1991 World Championships he was
forced to pull out after injuring himself during the compulsory
round. Then, plagued with injury at the 1992 Olympic trials,
Lance earned only a spot as the alternate on the 1992 team.
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Lance Ringnald (bottom, right) poses with fellow 2001 USAG Hall of Fame Inductees at the 2001 US National Congress Celebrity Hour.
Although he participated in the
1992 Tour of Olympic Champions, Lance once again pressed on
towards the 1996 Olympics. A dismal placement at the 1993 World
Championships however, likely contributed to Lance's retirement
soon after. Since retiring, Lance has continued in the
entertainment aspect of the sport, performing in Norwegian Cruise
Line's Sea Legs Circus at Sea. 1996 Olympian Kip Simons is also performing
for this cruise line.
Update.
Lance competed with members of the 2000 TJ Maxx Post-Olympic tour at the 2000
Reese's Cup, tying with Alexei Nemov for first place in the men's division.
Update (August 2001). Lance was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of
Fame at the U.S. National Congress, held in conjunction with the 2001 U.S. National Championships in Philidelphia, PA.
| Lance
Ringnald was born on June 13, 1970 |
© 1999-2002. This page was created on June
7, 1999 and last updated on September 5, 2001.
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