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Marcia Frederick and Kurt Thomas made history for U.S. gymnastics with their breakthrough victories at the 1978 World Championships
25 years later, Marcia Frederick is still striking it rich
A quarter century after she became the first American woman to win a world title, Marcia Frederick measures her monumental gymnastics achievement then against the less sensational but equally satisfying triumphs in her life since.
"At the time, I simply realized that I was better than anyone else and recognized as such,'' recalls Frederick, whose revolutionary routine on uneven bars earned her the gold medal at the 1978 World Championships in Strasbourg, France. "That was a very simple and pure honor. The full complexity of the situation wasn't really apparent until many years later. I was only aware of what lay ahead of me in terms of training."
What also awaited her were a disappointing title defense in 1979; the controversial U.S. boycott of the 1980 Olympics that would squelch her competitive incentive; and a serious car accident in early 1981 after which she somehow competed six weeks later. During the past 22 years since retirement, however, Frederick has more than compensated for those frustrations.
Frederick, now the mother of two children, has been working as a certified personal trainer and aerobics instructor for more than two decades. Within the first few years of retirement, she appeared in print ads and commercials, doubled as Nadia Comaneci in the 1984 television film "Nadia," and performed in her own New York nightclub act. She still coaches gymnastics part-time. For the past four years. Frederick has also been thriving as a Pilates instructor. Someday, she plans to have her own business in rehabilitative Pilates, her latest specialty.
I'll have something that's all my own, and that I've succeeded in," says the 40-year-old Frederick, who resides in Assonet, Mass. "I'm the kind of personality that needs to succeed on a personal basis, over and above being a mom and having a clean house and all that life entails."
Originally coached by Leo Leger in Springfield, Mass., Frederick relocated to Muriel Grossfeld's club in Connecticut in 1977. Her immaculate technique and innovative combinations (including the Stalderfull later named the "Frederick") helped her score a 10.0 and win her first...