Brian Babcock

Brian Babcock (July 11, 1960 – October 18, 1998) is a former American artistic gymnast and member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team. He was the 1985 U.S. National Gymnastics Champion.

Born in Garden City, Kansas, Babcock attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale and was a member of the Southern Illinois Salukis men's gymnastics team.[1] In 1981, Babcock was the NCAA silver medalist on the horizontal bar.[1][2] In 1983, he tied for the NCAA silver medal on parallel bars and won the bronze on horizontal bar en route to a bronze medal finish in the all-around.[1][2] He earned a bachelor's degree in 1983 and a master's in 1989 and served as an assistant coach for the gymnastics team once his eligibility expired.[3]

Babcock was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and won a silver medal on the pommel horse and all-around at the 1983 Pan American Games. He overcame knee injuries and was champion of the 1985 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships.[4][5] In 1986, Babcock was a member of the United States delegation for Gymnastics at the 1986 Goodwill Games, the first time the games were held, where he placed 6th on the pommel horse.

In 1989, Babcock joined Dan Hayden and Dennis Hayden to coach at Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center.[6] He coached at the organization for 7 years before joining Kevin Mazeika to start Texas Sports Ranch in Houston.[7]

On October 18, 1998, Babcock passed away due to complications from a bone marrow transplant to fight Myelodysplastic syndrome at his home in Webster, Texas.[1][7]