Joseph Ray (born ) is a retired American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and won a silver medal at the 1983 Pan American Games.
Early life and education Ray was born around and was a native of Morton Grove, Illinois. He started gymnastics at 9 years old after seeing other children performing flips and taking an interest. Practicing 3 hours a day, he was a top youth gymnast at Maine East High School and the American Academy Gymnastics Club, and won the Class AA state title on parallel bars and horizontal bar. He was a member of the United States junior national team. He later enrolled at the University of Minnesota.
Gymnastics career While a student at the University of Minnesota, Ray was a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's gymnastics team from 1981 to 1984. He was the Big Ten Conference all-around champion in 1983. He was a four-time conference champion on parallel bars (1981 through 1984) and won the pommel horse title in 1981. He was an All-American on the parallel bars in 1981. He was awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1984.
While in college, Ray was first named to the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team in 1981. He represented the United States at the 1983 Pan American Games and won a silver medal in the team all-around and placed fifth in the pommel horse.
He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1984, but continued training and later joined the Golden Gophers as an assistant coach. He remained a member of the US National Team until 1986, but continued coaching and began judging gymnastics.
Ray was inducted into the Minnesota Golden Gophers "M Club Hall of Fame" as a member of the class of 2015.
References
External links
Joey Ray at Minnesota Golden Gophers Hall of Fame