Hall of Fame

Abraham Israel “Abie” Grossfeld is a U.S. former gymnast, coach and judge. He set a national record, after winning 20 medals and 14 gold medals throughout his three Pan American Games appearances in 1955, 1959 and 1963. Born in New York City, Grossfeld started out first as a cyclist, winning two titles in in the U.S. Junior Olympics before switching to gymnastics and competing for the University of Illinois. Grossfeld won seven Big 10 titles and four national championships. Grossfeld eventually turned to coaching full-time, spending 41 years as a coach at the Southern Connecticut State University, where he led his teams to three Division II championships. Grossfeld was also asked to coach the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team across seven Olympic Games and seven world championships, first serving as an assistant coach in 1964 and later a head coach at the 1972, 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. He coached some of the most prominent U.S. gymnasts, including Olympic gold medalists and fellow U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame inductees Peter Vidmar and Bart Conner. Grossfeld remained active in the gymnastics community upon retiring from coaching, also serving as a gymnastics judge at all levels for over five decades.