Horse Vault, Men

Until the late 1970s, it was very rare for American gymnasts to be competitive at the international level. Their only Olympic gold medals until then occurred at the 1904 and 1932 Olympics, held on US soil – with one exception, this event. Frank Kriz was completely unknown in Europe, but won the horse vault narrowly over Czechoslovakian Jan Koutný. Kriz finished only 19th in the individual all-around, and made the top 10 only in rope climbing and on the side horse, other than the horse vault. He was helped because the event was not held under standard international rules, but was more of a high jump- or high vault-type event. Kriz also competed at the Olympics in 1920 and 1928. Before 1976, the only other USA gymnastic medal at a non-domestic Olympics would come when the women’s team won a bronze medal in 1948. Koutný competed at the 1928 Olympics, where he won a silver medal in the team event, but this was his only individual Olympic medal.