Athletes - Julissa Gomez

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	Athletes - Julissa Gomez

Julissa Gomez (1972-1991) was an American gymnast.

Trained by Bela Karolyi and, later, Al Fong, Gomez was an up-and-coming international elite gymnast in the mid-1980's. At the 1986 US Championships, she placed fourth in the all-around in the junior division; by 1987 she was representing the United States in international meets. Especially strong on the uneven bars and balance beam, Gomez was considered a legitimate contender for the 1988 US Olympic team.

However, several months before the Olympics, Gomez was sent to Japan to compete in the World Sports Fair. During warmups for the vault event final, Gomez' foot slipped off the springboard on her practice run. The resulting crash paralyzed her. A subsequent accident at a Japanese hospital resulted in severe brain damage and left her in a catatonic state. Gomez's family cared for her for three years before she succumbed to an infection and passed away in 1991.

The Gomez tragedy stands as one of the most serious accidents ever to occur in artistic gymnastics, and helped prompt changes in the sport. In 1989, the International Gymnastics Federation decided to increase vaulting safety by allowing U-shaped springboard mats, traditionally utilized in practice to give gymnasts a greater margin of error in preflight, to be used during competitions. The mat is now mandatory: under the new 2006 Code of Points , performing a Yurchenko-style vault without the safety mat results in an automatic score of zero. In 2001, the traditional horse was completely phased out replaced by a larger, more stable vaulting table to provide gymnasts with additional security.

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