High-flying

High-flying

legend

Despite not being

highly recruited, Mitch

Gaylord came to UCLA

in 1979 and returned in

1995 as a Hall of Famer

Former UCLA star gymnast Mitch Gaylord can add another award to
his collection.

Gaylord is part of the 1995 class of inductees to UCLA’s Hall of
Fame. It was only fitting that the Hall of Fame’s newest members
were presented at Pauley Pavilion, the site of many of Gaylord’s
great accomplishments. The prerequisites for being a member of the
Hall of Fame are great leadership and outstanding athletic
achievement. Gaylord has more than fulfilled these
requirements.

The Los Angeles native played a variety of sports when he was
younger such as football, basketball and baseball, but he soon
realized that gymnastics was his true calling because of the
freedom he felt while airborn.

"I loved the feeling of flipping through the air,"said Gaylord,
who started out jumping on the trampoline. "I loved the feeling of
freedom it provided and it just expanded from there. I was also
very short for my age. So the other sports ­ the main
baseball, basketball, football stuff ­ was kind of tough for
me to compete with the other guys."

However, Gaylord excelled in his chosen sport. He was named the
Los Angeles High School Student Athlete of the Year by KABC-TV, and
was the Los Angeles City High School All-Around champion. Although
he had great achievements in high school, he was not a highly
recruited athlete.

"I was not very highly recruited out of high school," Gaylord
said. "I was considered a naturally gifted athlete, but I wasn’t
disciplined at all. My all-around scores did not reflect the talent
that I had."

He was, however, recruited by UCLA, which proved to be very
fortunate for the Bruins. Gaylord chose UCLA because he knew that
UCLA was building a strong program and he wanted to be part

of it. In 1979 Gaylord became a freshman at UCLA with another
gymnastic standout, Peter Vidmar. In 1980, UCLA’s most outstanding
trio of gymnasts was completed with the entrance of Tim
Daggett.

"Mitch came in with lesser credentials than either Peter Vidmar
or Tim Daggett," said UCLA head coach Art Shurlock, who was also
the coach during Gaylord’s years here. "But he probably made the
biggest strides in advancement."

Gaylord agrees.

"I really started training hard once I got to college," Gaylord
said. "I got more disciplined. I decided to go a long way."

And a long way he went. During his years as a Bruin, Gaylord won
the NCAA all-around title. Becoming only the second Bruin to do so
(Vidmar was the first). Gaylord also helped lead the team to its
first NCAA championship in men’s gymnastics in 1984. Gaylord still
holds many of UCLA’s records with scores of 10.0 on the rings, the
parallel bars and the high bar. Gaylord is the sole owner of the
school record for the all-around with a score of 59.35.

"Mitch is probably the most talented gymnast UCLA has ever had,"
Shurlock said. "Mitch is an extremely gutty, courageous and
confident in his gymnastics. He did many, many daring things."

Gaylord’s boldness helped him develop two new release moves on
the high bar, his favorite event. The Gaylord I, also know as the
"Gaylord Flip," and the Gaylord II are two of the riskiest moves on
the high bar. The Gaylord Flip is a one-and-a-half forward
somersault above the high bar and then a regrasp on the opposite
side with an underbar grip. The Gaylord II is a one-and-a-half
backwards somersault with a half turn over the top of the bar to a
regrasp. Not only did he develop two moves, but he developed them
on an apparatus he once feared.

"I was afraid of the high bar when I first started out," Gaylord
said. "But it ended up being my favorite event and the one I am
most known for in gymanstics. I created two moves that people are
now doing. I think I have always been creative, and I like the idea
of doing something that no one has done before and kind of making
my mark on the sport."

However, what made Gaylord a household name was the 1984
Olympics. The gymnastics competition was held at UCLA’s Pauley
Pavilion. It was at the ’84 Olympics where Gaylord helped the
United States team to its first gold medal in men’s gymnastics
competition by being the first American to score a perfect 10.0 in
the Olympics, which he obtained in the parallel bars competition.
Aside from winning a gold in team competition, he also won a silver
for the vault and bronzes for the parallel bars and rings.

Among all his accomplishments the three he feels stand out the
most are his NCAA championship, the 1984 Olympics and achieving the
number one ranking in men’s gymnastics in 1983. He also regards his
UCLA experience as some of his happiest days.

"When I look back on it, that is something that I will look upon
as the happiest days of my life," Gaylord said. "Being with your
friends and competing together, traveling around the country, it
was just an incredible experience all-around. I look back upon it
with great fondness."

Gaylord attributes his success to his tenacious effort.

"I had an incredible drive towards what I wanted to do," Gaylord
said. "The focus of that energy is what made it happen. I think we
all have the ability to achieve greatness, but I don’t think
everybody puts 100 percent of their body and soul and spirit into
it. I think you need to do that in order to hit the heights."

Currently, Gaylord has moved away from the gymnastic scene and
is now pursuing an acting career.