| Paul O'Neill | |
| Birth Date: | 8 May 1965 |
| Hometown: | Denver, Colorado |
| Discipline: | MAG |
| Club: | U.S. Olympic Training Center |
| Headcoach: | Ron Brant & Jim Holt |
| Eponymousskills: | O'Neill (rings) |
Paul O'Neill (May 8, 1965 – January 22, 2021) was an American gymnast most noted for his work on rings.
O'Neill was born to Evelyn and John O'Neill, the third of four sons.[1] He attended Abraham Lincoln High School for two years and Aurora Central for one. He was a two-time Colorado high school wrestling champion and started gymnastics before his junior year. He was State Champion on rings in 1983.
O'Neill went to Houston Baptist University from 1985 to 1987 and the University of New Mexico from 1987 to 1989. He was a three-time NCAA champion on rings, winning in 1987, 1988, and 1989,[2] as well as holding the highest qualifying average record (9.93) in 1987 and 1989. After college, he went on to compete internationally.
O'Neill tore his bicep in 1990 and required an eight-month recovery period. He came fourth at the 1992 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, the highest American male finisher, then became the first American man to win a medal at the world championships in 15 years when he won the silver medal in men's rings at the 1994 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Brisbane.[3] He won the national rings title at the 1995 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships.[4]
He retired from competition in 1997.[5]
He was the owner and coach at Dakota Star Gymnastics in Mandan, North Dakota.[6] In July 1997, he became program director at Technique Gymnastics outside of Sacramento, California which had 118 competitive team members and 850 total gymnasts.[1]
O'Neill was USA Gymnastics' male athlete of the year in 1994 and The Bismarck Tribune's Sportsman of the Year in 1995.[7]
USA Gymnastics placed O'Neill on its permanently ineligible list between early-2000 and May 2001.[8] [9] [10]
O'Neill has one named element on the rings.[11] [12] It was initially given an E (0.5) difficulty score, but was lowered to a D (0.4) in 2024.
O'Neill was married to Kristi Kasprzak O'Neill and had three children.[1]
He owned his own personal training company, and he has also done some acting and modeling. His hobbies include singing in a band. Paul died 01/22/2021.