ALLEN, Kristin / RODRIGUES, Michael
Inducted: 2015
Inducted as a team
Acrobatic Gymnastics: Mixed Pair
Allen and Rodrigues trained together at West Coast Training Center under head coach Marie Annonson. They won the USA’s first World Games gold medal in acrobatic gymnastics as a mixed pair in 2009. In 2010, they again proved to be the best in the world, taking the gold medal at the World Championships. Previously, they captured the silver medal at the 2008 World Championships.
Domestically, the duo won national titles in 2008 and 2010. Following the 2010 Worlds, Allen and Rodrigues were a featured hand-to-hand act in Cirque du Soleil’s “Viva Elvis” in Las Vegas. They were the U.S. acro Athletes of the Year in 2009.
Allen has recently appeared on the BBC show “Tumble,” as well as on Broadway in “Pippin.” Rodrigues, who has been on the USA Gymnastic’s Board of Directors as an athlete representative since 2009, recently resumed training and plans to compete at the 2016 World Championships.
Kristin Allen and Michael Rodrigues
Kristin and her partner Michael Rodrigues made history by becoming the first American mixed pair to win a gold medal from the World Games in 2009 and the second American pair to win the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships in 2010. Domestically, the pair have won national titles in 2008 and 2010.
She competed for the United States of America Gymnastics from 2001 until her retirement in August 2010 and spent five of those years on the Senior National Team. Following the 2010 Worlds, Allen and Rodrigues were a featured hand-to-hand act in Cirque du Soleil’s “Viva Elvis” in Las Vegas. She gained further fame by competing in, and winning season 1 of the BBC show Tumble with partner Bobby Lockwood. After her Tumble appearance, she went on to perform in “Pippin” on Broadway. On December 9, 2014, she was announced as a member of the 2015 USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame class.
Personal Life
Allen was born in Livermore, California and started doing acrobatic gymnastics in 2001 after watching her best friend from elementary school practice acrobatic gymnastics. Kristin and her partner Michael Rodrigues both trained at the West Coast Training Center in Livermore, California.
National Competitions
2010 National Championships, Kissimmee, Florida: 1st-AA,DY,BL; 2009 Visa Championships, Dallas Texas: 2nd-AA; 2008 National Championships & J.O. Nationals, Des Moines, Iowa: 1st-AA,DY,BL; 2007 Visa Championships, San Jose, California:1st-DDY; 2nd-AA, BL; 2007 Junior Olympic National Championships, Palm Springs, California: 2nd-AA, DY, BL; 2006 , Kansas City, MO: 3rd-AA; 2004 National Championships, Palm Springs, California: 1st-AA; 2003 National Championships, Jacksonville, Florida: 1st-AA.
World Championships
2010 Wroclaw, Poland: 1st-AA; 2008 Glasgow, Scotland: 2nd-AA; World Games: 2009 Kaosiung, Taiwan: 1st-AA.
Other International Competitions: 2009
Freedom Cup, St. Paul, Minn: 1st-AA, BL; 3rd-DY; 2009
Acro Cup, Albershausen, Germany: 1st- DY; 2nd- AA, BL; 2006
British Open Tournament, Stoke-on-Trent, Great Britain: 2nd-AA; 2006
Flanders International Acro Cup, Puurs, Belgium: 1st-AA
Legend: DY= Dynamic, BL= Balance, AA= All Around
Honors and Awards
Kristin Allen holds many awards beyond her medals, including USA Gymnastics’ Athlete of the Year award, Sportsperson of the Year award, Best Choreography award, and the Glen Sundby Outstanding Pair Performance award.
She was designated as a World Class Gymnast by the Federation of International Gymnastics in 2008. In 2009, she and her gymnastics partner, Michael, were named U.S. acro Athletes of the Year. On December 9, 2014, USA Gymnastics announced that Kristin would be a member of their 2015 Hall of Fame class.
Michael Rodrigues
Rodrigues was a member of the U.S. Senior National Team from 2002–11. Prior to competing with Allen, Rodrigues was the base of an elite mixed pair with now-retired acrobatic gymnast Clare Brunson, and they trained together at Empire AcroGymnastics in Riverside, California and Mission Hills Gymnastics, also in Riverside. The pair was trained by Russian coach Youri Vorobyev.
In 2006, Michael Rodrigues and Clare Brunson won the mixed-pair all-around bronze medal at the 2006 World Championships in Coimbra, Portugal, and were designated World Class Gymnasts by the Federation of International Gymnastics (FIG). They also won the all-around silver medal at the 2006 World Cup in Puurs, Belgium. In 2005, Rodrigues and Brunson placed fourth all-around at the 2005 World Games in Duisburg, Germany.
World Championships: Gold( 2010) Wroclaw, Poland; Silver (2008) Glasgow, Scotland; Bronze (2006) Coimbra, Portugal;
World Games: Gold (2009) Kaohing, Taiwan;
World Cup: Gold (2009) St. Paul; Silver (2006) Puurs, Belgium;
Other International Competitions
Acro Cup: Silver (2009), Albershausen, Germany;
Freedom Cup: Gold (2005) Landover, MD;
Machuga Cup: Gold (2005) Krasnodar, Russia;
Flanders International Acro Cup: Bronze (2004) Puurs, Belgium;
Freedom Cup: Bronze (2003) Jacksonville, FX;
Winterthur Cup: Silver (2002) Winterthur, Switzerland.
National Championships: Gold (2010) Kissimmee, Silver (2009) Dallas; Gold (2008) Des Moines; Gold (2006) Kansas City; Gold (2005) Louisville, Bronze (2004) Palm Springs; Bronze (2003) Jacksonville; Bronze (2002) New Orleans.
Honors
2009 U.S. Athletes of the Year with Kristin Allen; 2008 Glen Sundby Award winner for outstanding performance by a pair or group; 2006 U.S. Athletes of the Year with Clare Brunson; 2006 U.S. Acro Sportsperson of the Year. USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame class of 2015.