University of Illinois Athletics

MEN'S GYMNASTICS • 1956-57, 1959

Don Tonry was a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic Team, competing in eight events. He was the NCAA Champion in all-around in 1956 and was the floor exercise champion in 1959. Tonry was a nine-time All-American, with three in the parallel bars, all-around and high bar in 1956, and six in 1959 in the all-around, floor exercise, side horse, high bar, parallel bars and still rings. He was the 1956 Big Ten all-around champion and 1959 floor exercise champion. He won seven AAU titles, winning the all-around, parallel bars, and floor in 1956 and 1962 and the vault in 1958. Tonry competed for the U.S. at three World Championships in 1958, 1962 and 1966, and at the Pan American Games in 1959 and 1963, winning four individual bronze medals and a team gold in 1959. In 1963, he again won team gold, won gold on the parallel bars, and added a silver and two bronze medals. After coaching briefly at West Point, Tonry became coach at Yale in 1962 and stayed there as coach for 43 years. He was inducted as a member of the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1980. Tonry died in 2013 at the age of 77.