Kurt Thomas, a breakthrough American Olympic gymnast, has died at the age of 64 due to a stroke, which occurred on May 24, caused by a tear in the basilar artery in his brain stem, according to the Associated Press. While Thomas’s legacy will undoubtedly be defined by gold medal wins, connoisseurs of campy action films best remember him from his high-flying starring role in 1985 cult classic Gymkata.
Thomas was an initially a multi-sport athlete with accomplishments on the basketball courts, having led the Indiana State Sycamores to an Ncaa team title in 1977. However, he rose to fame in the late-1970s, hitting the talk show circuit as a bellwether star in men’s gymnastics, a category that had been mostly associated with its women’s division. After having competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Thomas broke big in the 1978 Strasbourg, France World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, in which he became the first U.
Thomas was an initially a multi-sport athlete with accomplishments on the basketball courts, having led the Indiana State Sycamores to an Ncaa team title in 1977. However, he rose to fame in the late-1970s, hitting the talk show circuit as a bellwether star in men’s gymnastics, a category that had been mostly associated with its women’s division. After having competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Thomas broke big in the 1978 Strasbourg, France World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, in which he became the first U.
- 6/8/2020
- by Joseph Baxter
- Den of Geek
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