Kurt Thomas has sadly died. The gymnast, who made history as the first American male gymnast to win a gold medal at the world championship, died at 64 on Friday (June 5), his family confirmed to International Gymnastics Magazine.
He had previously suffered a tear of the basilar artery in the brain stem, causing a severe stroke towards the end of May. “Yesterday I lost my universe, my best friend and my soul mate of twenty-four years. Kurt lived his life to the extreme, and I will be forever honored to be his wife,” wife Beckie Thomas told the publication.
In addition to winning the first world championship gold medal for the U.S. men’s gymnastics program in 1978 and winning additional medals the next year, he also worked as a TV analyst
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