Biography: McNAMARA-ZEILE, Julianne

Julianne McNamara is another of the numerous gymnasts who worked hard and made an Olympic Team only to be denied the chance to compete in the grandest amateur competition in the world. There have been many reasons for this kind of problem, but Julianne’s was straightforward. After training long and hard and competing in a number of elite competitions, Julianne made the 1980 U.S. Olympic Gymnastic Team. But it was to be held in Moscow and was, therefore, boycotted by the U.S. due to Soviet aggression in Afghanistan, an ironic happening in light of today’s events in the Middle East and Afghanistan. However, to her credit, Julianne continued to train hard, finally earning her way onto the U.S. Team in 1984 where her wildest dreams could not have produced such an ending. Well, maybe her “wildest” dreams were realized.

Olympic Games: Team member boycotted games, Moscow, USSR, (1980); Gold: UB [T], Silver-Team & FX, Los Angeles, CA-USA, (1984). World Championships: Silver-UB, Moscow, USSR, (1981); Team member, Budapest, (1983). USAG Jr. National Championships: Silver-UB, (1979. USAG National Championships: Gold-AA & V, Bronze-UB, (1980); Gold-BB, Silver-AA, Bronze-FX, (1982); Gold-UB, Silver-AA, (1983); Gold-UB, Silver-AA & FX, (1984). American Cup: Gold-AA, (1981); Gold-AA, (1982); Silver-AA, (1983); Silver-AA, (1984). World Cup: Bronze-V, (1982). Dual Meet Competitions: USA vs. France/Gold-AA, (1981); USA vs. China/Gold-AA; USA vs. USSR/Silver-Team, (1982); Silver-Team, (1983); USA vs. Canada/Gold-Team, Silver-AA, (1984); USA vs. China/Silver-AA, (1984). Competition Retirement: Following the 1984 Olympics, there are mixed reports about her actual year of retirement, but she did enroll at UCLA where she met her husband to be. According to “Where Are They Now” (See Sources-gymnasticsgreats), Julianne has had several movie roles and appeared in a TV series. She has also done “color” work for sporting events on major networks. Family: (m) Todd Zeile who became a major league baseball player. Children: Garret (11 years old) & Hannah (9 years old) as of this writing, (2007).

Sources: Jerry Wright, author of Gymnastics Who’s Who, 2005 provided most of the major data and background and the photo of Julianne, , , and . Introduction and formatting by Dr. Larry Banner, Web Manager.