NEED TO KNOW
- Former U.S. Olympic gymnast and Nebraska gymnastics coach Jim Hartung has died at the age of 65
- Hartung helped lead Nebraska to four national championships as a collegiate gymnast before later helping Team USA win the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics
- Hartung was the assistant gymnastics coach for Nebraska for the last 19 years
The U.S. gymnastics community and the University of Nebraska are mourning the death of former Olympic gold medalist and Cornhuskers gymnastics coach Jim Hartung, who died on Saturday, Jan. 10.
Hartung was 65 years old.
The Nebraska Athletic Department announced Hartung’s death on Sunday, Jan. 11, calling him “a true Husker legend” whose “impact on the sport of gymnastics will carry on for decades to come” in a statement shared to social media.
“The Nebraska Athletic Department is deeply saddened to announce the passing of assistant men’s gymnastics coach Jim Hartung on Saturday night,” the school’s athletic department said. “Our condolences go out to Jim’s family, friends, and everyone he has impacted during his remarkable life in gymnastics from a national champion athlete at Nebraska to an Olympic gold medalist to a successful coach.”
The school’s statement continued: “Jim is a true Husker legend and his impact on the sport of gymnastics will carry on for decades to come. Our department will provide all available resources and support for our men’s gymnastics student-athletes and coaching staff during this very difficult time.”
Hartung was a two-time member of the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team, helping lead the squad to a gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
As a member of the Nebraska men’s gymnastics team, Hartung helped lead his college squad to four straight national championships from 1979 through 1982.
The former gymnast-turned-coach was also an inaugural member of the Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015, according to local NBC affiliate WOWT, and was later inducted into the College Gymnastics Association Hall of Fame Class in 2024.
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Hartung worked as the assistant gymnastics coach at Nebraska for the last 19 years, according to the school.
“In true Jim fashion, he was in the gym on Friday doing what he loved most, coaching, teaching, and spending time with the current generation of gymnasts,’’ Nebraska head gymnastics coach Chuck Chmelka wrote on Facebook, according to the Lincoln Star Journal.
Chmelka added, “That dedication to the sport and to the people in it defined who Jim was. He loved gymnastics, he loved sharing his knowledge, and most of all, he loved the relationships that came with it.”
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Former First Alert 6 sports director Ross Jernstrom told WOWT that Hartung, an Omaha native, was one of the best athletes to ever come out of the Midwestern city.
“Jim is in the top 10 of the greatest athletes to come out of the city of Omaha and the state of Nebraska — that’s how good he is,” Jernstrom added. “He is in that class…he’s one of the greatest athletes of all time to come out of the city of Omaha.”
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Jernstrom added: “He was the ambassador for gymnastics in the state, and he carried on that tradition in a great way.”
Hartung is survived by his four children – Jim, Nick, Jake and Hannah – according to Central Nebraska Today.
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