The first female Asian American Olympic gymnastics medalist has been serving her community as a pediatrician for the past decade.
A historic win: Amy Chow, now 43, was the first Asian American woman to win an Olympic medal in gymnastics when she competed in the 1996 Atlanta Games, as stated in Vogue.
- At the age of 6, Chow made it her goal to become an Olympian after seeing Mary Lou Retton on television.
- The gymnast won a silver medal when she was 18 years old for her routine on the uneven bars.
- She became the first Asian American gymnast to qualify for the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team, according to Team USA.
- Additionally, she was one of the only two members from the 1996 Olympics Magnificent Seven team to make it to the 2000 gymnastics team.
- Chow was a three-time Olympian, winning a gold team medal in 1996 and a bronze team medal in 2000 in addition to her individual one.
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Gymnastic accomplishments: Not only was Chow an Olympic medalist, she also had two “difficult pirouetting skills” named after her in the code of points.
- Chow was inducted into the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame twice: once was in 1998 as a member of the 1996 Olympic team and again in 2005 as an individual gymnast, as noted in her Olympedia biography.
- She was also part of the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame and was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2008.
- She obtained the nickname “The Trickster” because of her ability to master extremely difficult routines.
Post-Olympics life: The former gymnastics star graduated from Stanford Medical School in 2007 and has been working as a pediatrician with her own practice in Dublin, Calif., according to Biz Journals.
- After completing her residency in pediatrics at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, she decided to become a pediatrician because she found that she enjoys working with children.
- Chow, who has two children and is married to an orthopedic surgeon, also revealed that her medals have been at the bank since 1996.
