Biography of US Gymnast: Betty Okino

Elizabeth Anne (Betty) Okino was born in Uganda, Africa to a Ugandan father and Romanian mother. Her family relocated to Chicago early in Betty’s life, but her international background would soon become an enormous factor in her life, as she triumphed time and again, making hers a household name is homes of gymnasts the world over.

Already a budding dancer, young Betty’s interest in gymnastics began when she witnessed Mary Lou Retton’s 1984 Olympic Performance. She began, almost immediately, to train in her home city of Chicago, and was an elite gymnast at age 13, a miraculous accomplishment given the short history of her training. At 15, Betty and her family moved to Houston, where she began to train with Bela and Marta Karolyi, joining a team of talented athletes who would, two years later, accompany her to the Olympics.

Two weeks before Olympic trials, Betty suffered stress fractures in two vertebrae, the kiss of death for most gymnasts. Instead of retiring as her doctors recommended, Betty continued training, determined to prepare for the Olympics and avoid the single mistake that could break her back. Her international standings were enough to qualify Betty for the 1992 Olympics, where, still injured, she helped her team win a Bronze medal and placed 6th in the balance beam, her chosen event.

Overall, Betty Okino has won the following awards and honors:

1990 U.S. National Championships: Silver Medalist (AA), Gold Medalist (Beam) and Event Finalist (5th Bars, 4th Floor)
1991 World Championships: Silver Medalist (Team), Bronze Medalist (Beam) and 4th AA
1991 American Cup: Champion and Gold Medalist (AA, Vault, Bars)
1992 World Championships: Silver Medalist (Bars) and Event Finalist (8th Beam)
1992 Olympics: Bronze Medalist (Team) and Event Finalist (6th Beam)
2002: Inducted into the U.S.A. Gymnastics Hall of Fame

While not as award-heavy as several of her contemporaries (she trained with Kim Zmeskal and Dominique Dawes in the top gym in the country, after all), Betty has nonetheless left her mark on the sport of gymnastics with her personality and dedication to her personal best. Known for her complex routines, she has a balance beam skill named for her-The Okino, a triple pirouette while on the beam, which is rated in the Code of Points as a high-difficulty skill. She is also the namesake of a less well-known uneven bars dismount.

Since her time in the Olympics, Betty Okino has returned to her first love-acting. She has appeared in several television shows, including Popular, The District, and Moesha, and had a long stint on MTV’s Undressed and then continued on to a role in the studio’s live-action version of Aeon Flux. She has also performed at Sea World and was a regular on the Disney series “Z-Games,” where she was among the cast of athletes working to get kids off the couch and back into activity.