USA Gymnastics announces 2024 Hall of Fame class

Per USA Gymnastics:

USA Gymnastics announces 2024 Hall of Fame class

USA Gymnastics announced today the six individuals who will be inducted as part of the USAG 2024 Hall of Fame Class. The illustrious group of inductees include Olympians World medalists, a coach and an influential gymnastics community member across four disciplines.

Members of the 2024 Hall of Fame class will be inducted Saturday, June 29 in Minneapolis as part of Gymnastics City USA, which includes the USA Gymnastics National Congress, USA Gymnastics Championships, Gymnastics for All National Championships and Gymfest, and the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Gymnastics.

The 2024 inductees are:

• Alexander “Sasha” Artemev – Men’s artistic Olympic team bronze medalist, two-time World Championships bronze medalist, five-time U.S. champion
• Jana Bieger – 2008 Olympic alternate, three-time World Championships silver medalist in women’s artistic
• Ivana Hong – 2008 Olympic alternate, World bronze medalist in women’s artistic
• Dr. William “Bill” Sands – longtime professor and sports scientist, former Director of Research and Development for USAG, Lifetime Achievement Award
• Savannah Vinsant – 2012 Olympian, three-time U.S. trampoline champion
• Youri Vorobyev – Coach of multiple World champions and medalists, six-time USAG Acrobatic Coach of the Year honoree

Bios of each inductee are below. For more information about the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame, visit usagym.org/halloffame.

Alexander “Sasha” Artemev – Men’s Artistic

Before his success as a coach for Olympians, World Championships medalists and National Team members, Artemev was one himself, claiming Olympic team bronze with the 2008 U.S. men’s team and World team and pommel horse bronze in 2006. The five-time U.S. champion and seven-time medalist was a part of the 2006 and 2007 World Championship teams and advanced to the pommel horse and all-around final at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Artemev began coaching in 2010 and has been a mentor to National Team athletes, including Olympian, two-time World medalist and four-time U.S. champion Yul Moldauer. Artemev currently coaches at 5280 Gymnastics in Colorado where he resides with his wife Bailey Artemeva and daughter Amira.

Jana Bieger – Women’s Artistic

Bieger was a National Team member from 2003-09 and was selected as an alternate to the 2008 Beijing Olympics for the U.S. women’s team. Bieger was successful on the international stage, securing three silver medals at the 2006 World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark in team, all-around and floor exercise competition. She also won five World Cup medals in 2006 and took four medals at the 2008 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships in San Jose, Calif. Domestically, Bieger was a six-time U.S. medalist and was sixth in the all-around at the 2008 Olympic Team Trials. She received a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and lives in Florida with her husband and two children. Bieger is still a part of the gymnastics community, having served as an FIG Brevet judge. She currently coaches at Genie’s Gymnastics in Florida.

Ivana Hong – Women’s Artistic

An Olympic alternate for the women’s team in 2008, Hong also touts two World Championship medals in her USA Gymnastics career. She was a part of the U.S. women’s team that won gold at the 2007 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany and two years later claimed balance beam bronze at the 2009 World Championships in London. She also won the balance beam and was second in the all-around at the 2009 U.S. Championships, and won team gold and all-around bronze at the 2007 Pan American Games. Following her elite career, Hong competed for Stanford University from 2012-16, where she was the balance beam silver medalist at the 2015 NCAA Championships, a five-time All-American, and a two-time team captain. She double majored in Human Biology and Sociology at Stanford and resides in California. She was the former USAG Athletes’ Council Chair (2018-21) and was an athlete rep on the USA Gymnastics Board of Directors. Currently she works at Apple as a product manager, is a Barre3 instructor and works with NBC production for the Summer Olympics. 

Dr. William “Bill” Sands – Lifetime Achievement

As a longtime professor and sports scientist in multiple Olympic sports, Dr. Bill Sands was an integral part of the sport of gymnastics as an athlete, coach, academic, author and scientist. He was the Director of Research and Development for USA Gymnastics from 1987 to 1995, served on the Scientific Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) from 2009 to 2016, and has authored 13 books, 50 book chapters, and over 100 peer-reviewed research articles. He also was Director of Education for the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Senior Physiologist and Head of Sport Biomechanics and Engineering at the USOPC, and the developer and leader of the USOPC Recovery Center. Dr. Sands served as Department Chair of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine at California Lutheran University, a sports science professor at East Tennessee State University and served as chairman of the U.S. Elite Coaches Association for Women’s Gymnastics for 31 years. During the 1980s as an international coach, Dr. Sands coached many National Team members, including Olympian Kathy Johnson Clarke, 1984 Olympic alternate Marie Roethlisberger, and two-time World team member Christa Canary, and he served as the assistant coach for the 1979 World Championships. As a collegiate coach at the University of Utah from 1983 to 1988, he was part of four NCAA National Championships. Before his academic career, Sands was an accomplished gymnast, earning All-American, MVP, Co-captain, and NAIA Gymnast of the Year honors at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Now semi-retired, Dr. Sands has one daughter, Hailey, and he lives in Colorado with his partner, Chere, and dog, Zellie. Dr. Sands remains connected to the gymnastics community by teaching and mentoring coaches on the science of gymnastics.

Savannah Vinsant – Trampoline and Tumbling

Vinsant holds a place in U.S. history as the first American to make an Olympic trampoline final, accomplishing the feat at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, where she placed sixth.  Vinsant was an experienced National Team member, appearing in more than 10 international competitions throughout her career as a senior, and she won two U.S trampoline titles, in 2012 and 2018. Born and raised in Louisiana, Vinsant received her associate degree at South Louisiana Community College and now lives in Louisiana with her husband, Christopher, and two sons, Axel and Kash. Vinsant also owns and founded Hangtime TNT Gymnastics in Louisiana.

Youri Vorobyev – Acrobatic

Since joining the USAG acrobatic community as a coach in 2002, Realis Gymnastics head coach and owner Vorobyev has made an indelible impact on the discipline. He coached U.S. mixed pair Arthur Davis and Shenea Booth to their first and second World Championship gold medals in 2002 and 2004, the first acro athletes to do so for the country. He most recently coached men’s pair Angel Felix and Braiden McDougall to the first World men’s pair gold medal for the U.S. in 2022. In World Cup competition, Vorobyev coached two sets of the country’s first World Cup Series title winners in mixed pair Ryan Ward and Kyley Boynton, and in men’s pair Felix and McDougall. He has coached junior and senior gymnasts to more than 60 U.S. titles since 2002 and has coached four sets of World gold medalists, six sets of World silver and bronze medalists, two sets of The World Games medalists, seven sets of World Cup gold winners, and three sets of World Cup silver and bronze medal winners. Vorobyev has been named the Acrobatic Coach of the Year six times and has also held the position of National Team coach in the discipline from 2013-19. He is married with one daughter and two grandchildren. Before immigrating to the United States, Vorobyev received a master’s degree in Gymnastics & Acrobatics from Pedagogical University of Ushinskiy in Odessa.

Photos by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics.

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