Betty Okino

Betty Okino
Betty Okino
Full name	Elizabeth Anna Okino
Nickname(s)	Betty
Country represented	United States
Born	June 4, 1975 (age 49); Entebbe, Uganda
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team	1990-1992 (USA)
Club	Karolyi Gymnastics
Head coach(es)	Béla Károlyi
Eponymous skills	Okino (balance beam and uneven bars)
Retired	1992
Medal record
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
World Championships

Elizabeth Anna Okino (born June 4, 1975, in Entebbe, Uganda) is a retired American gymnast, a member of the famous "Károlyi Six-Pack" who in 1992 helped the United States win its first Olympic team medal in a non-boycotted Olympic Games. She is also the first Black woman of any nationality to win multiple individual World Championship medals in gymnastics.

Career

Born in Entebbe, Uganda, Okino moved to the United States with her family and began gymnastics at the age of 9. Four years later, in 1988, she had progressed to the elite level, placing 17th at that year's junior U.S. National Championships. In 1990, Okino moved to Houston to train with Marta and Béla Károlyi. She placed second in the all-around and won the balance beam title at the 1990 U.S. Nationals; and represented the United States at several major international meets, including the Goodwill Games, where she won a silver medal with the American team and finished fourth in the all-around and uneven bars finals. Okino was part of the U.S. team for the 1991 World Gymnastics Championships, winning a silver medal in team finals and a bronze on the balance beam. She also won the 1991 American Cup.

Okino continued to succeed in 1992, winning a silver medal on the bars at the 1992 World Championships. However, serious injuries to her spine forced her to miss both the 1992 U.S. Nationals and Olympic Trials. In spite of this, she was added to the U.S. team for the 1992 Olympics based on her performance at a second, private trial for U.S. Gymnastics Federation officials and coaches. With Okino on the team, the US won their first Olympic team medal, a bronze, in a fully attended Games; she also qualified for the balance beam event final, and placed 12th in the all-around.

Personal life and recent activities

Her mother, Aurelia Matei, is a native of Romania and her father, Francis Okino, is Ugandan. Her father met her Romanian mother while studying veterinary medicine in Bucharest.^[2] Betty is fluent in Romanian. This skill came in handy in the gym and international competitions, where she could tell her teammates what was being said about them by their coaches and the Romanian gymnasts. When the Karolyis discovered Okino understood Romanian, they switched to speaking Hungarian in the gym.

Following her retirement from gymnastics, Okino became involved in show business. She has performed with SeaWorld and has appeared in many television shows and films, including Moesha, The District, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Æon Flux and Everybody Hates Chris.

Currently Betty lives with her husband in southern California where she teaches dance, choreography and artistry as part of the USAG National Staff, is a sought after motivational speaker, and also owns and operates Betty O Choreo which provides gymnastics camps, clinics and choreography around the world.

Eponymous skills

Okino has two eponymous skills listed in the Code of Points.^[3]

Apparatus	Name	Description	Difficulty^[a]
Uneven bars	Okino	Clear hip with half turn to backwards salto laid out	D
Balance beam	Okino	Triple turn with leg below horizontal	E

^ Valid for the 2022-2024 Code of Points

References

^ Phil Hersh, "For Moves, Local Gymnast Special", Chicago Tribune, July 18, 1990.
^ Kenny Moore, "Balance Of Power" Archived 2012-11-03 at the Wayback Machine, Sports Illustrated, August 6, 1990.
^ "2022-2024 Code of Points Women's Artistic Gymnastics" (PDF). International Gymnastics Federation. pp. 100, 127, 208–209. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.

External links

Official website
Betty Okino at the International Gymnastics Federation
Betty Okino at the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame
Betty Okino at Olympics.com
Betty Okino at Olympedia
Betty Okino at Gymn Forum
Sports Hollywood: Ten Questions with Betty Okino at the Wayback Machine (archived March 23, 2006)
Betty Okino at IMDb

[difficulty-4] Valid for the 2022-2024 Code of Points

[1] Phil Hersh, "For Moves, Local Gymnast Special", Chicago Tribune, July 18, 1990.

[2] Kenny Moore, "Balance Of Power" Archived 2012-11-03 at the Wayback Machine, Sports Illustrated, August 6, 1990.

[3] "2022-2024 Code of Points Women's Artistic Gymnastics" (PDF). International Gymnastics Federation. pp. 100, 127, 208–209. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.

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