Bill Roth (gymnast)

{{Infobox gymnast

| name = Bill Roth

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| full_name = William Roth

| country = United States

| formercountry =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|08|21}}

| birth_place = Yonkers, New York, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| spouse =

| training =

| height = 5 ft 7 in

| discipline = MAG

| natlteam = 1990–1996

| gym =

| collegeteam = Temple Owls

| headcoach = Fred Turoff

| assistcoach =

| formercoach = John Roth

| eponymousskills = Roth (pommel horse)

| retired = 1996

| worldranking =

| show-medals = yes

| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's artistic gymnastics}}

{{MedalCountry|{{USA}}}}

{{MedalCount

|Pan American Games|1|2|0

| total = yes

}}

William Roth (born August 21, 1970) is a retired American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and won a gold and two silver medals at the 1995 Pan American Games.

Early life and education

Roth was born on August 21, 1970, in Yonkers, New York, and was raised in Mohegan Lake, New York. His father, John, coached him in gymnastics.{{Cite news |last=Pearlman |first=Skip |date=November 26, 1983 |title=Lakeland leads gymnastics pack |url=https://newspapers.com/image/911277112/ |newspaper=The Reporter Dispatch |location=White Plains, New York |page=C5 |access-date=October 25, 2024}} He attended Lakeland High School where he was a member of the boys gymnastics team coached by his father.{{Cite news |last=Shustack |first=Mary |date=November 16, 1986 |title=Roth only double winner in states |url=https://newspapers.com/image/911348282/ |newspaper=The Reporter Dispatch |location=White Plains, New York |volume=67 |number=262 |page=D11 |access-date=October 25, 2024}}{{Cite news |date=June 24, 1987 |title=The WRN Top Ten Scholastic Athletes |url=https://newspapers.com/image/717032032/ |newspaper=The Daily Item |location=Port Chester, New York |volume=87 |number=115 |page=B5 |access-date=October 25, 2024}}{{Cite news |last=Heyman |first=Brian |date=December 8, 1986 |title=Lakeland received lift from lesser knowns |url=https://newspapers.com/image/911685971/ |newspaper=The Reporter Dispatch |location=White Plains, New York |volume=67 |number=284 |page=B8 |access-date=October 25, 2024}} A standout as a youth athlete, Roth considered pursuing higher education and gymnastics at Ohio State, Iowa, and Western Michigan before enrolling at Temple University to be trained by coach Fred Turoff.{{Cite news |last=Silary |first=Ted |date=February 28, 1990 |title=This Owl's A Very Rare Bird |url=https://newspapers.com/image/186480659/ |newspaper=Philadelphia Daily News |volume=65 |number=279 |page=76 |access-date=October 25, 2024}}

Gymnastics career

Roth competed collegiately for the Temple Owls men's gymnastics team. He was an All-American in multiple disciplines and led Temple to three Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League championships before graduating in 1992.{{Cite web |url=https://owlsports.com/honors/hall-of-fame/bill-roth/165 |title=Hall of Fame Bill Roth |website=owlsports.com |access-date=October 25, 2024}}

While at Temple, Roth competed at the USA Gymnastics National Championships. He was the United States national vault champion at the 1989 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships.{{Cite web |url=https://static.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/nationals_artistic_1989.pdf |title=1989 Men's Gymnastics Championships of the U.S.A. |date=July 8, 1989 |website=usagym.org |access-date=October 25, 2024}} He placed second in vault at the 1990 and after the event Roth was named to his first United States men's national artistic gymnastics team.{{Cite web |url=https://static.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/nationals_artistic_1990.pdf |title=1990 National Championships Results |date=June 9, 1990 |website=usagym.org |access-date=October 25, 2024}} In the following years, injuries took their toll on Roth, who underwent reconstructive knee surgery and pectoral tendon surgery causing him to miss the 1992 United States Olympic trials.{{Cite news |date=November 4, 1995 |title=ROTH’S GOAL IS A BERTH ON U.S. TEAM |url=https://www.mcall.com/1995/11/04/roths-goal-is-a-berth-on-us-team/ |newspaper=The Morning Call |location=Allentown, Pennsylvania |access-date=October 25, 2024}}

On the international stage, Roth was a member of the 1994 World Artistic Gymnastics Team Championships delegation for the United States in Dortmund. He later represented the United States at the 1995 Pan American Games and won a team gold medal and two individual silver medals.

After his performance at the 1996 United States Olympic trials resulted in not being selected for the team, Roth retired.{{Cite web |url=https://www.fox.temple.edu/news/career-gymnast-helps-fox-school-alumnus-jump-new-venture |title=Career as a gymnast helps Fox School alumnus jump into new venture |date=December 2, 2015 |website=fox.temple.edu |access-date=October 25, 2024}}

Post-competition career

Upon retiring from gymnastic competition, Roth worked for the Atlanta Hawks doing acrobatics before he joined the Philadelphia 76ers as their mascot Hip Hop.{{Cite news |last=Teirstein |first=Mark Alan |date=February 28, 2001 |title=Roths achieve perfect balance |url=https://newspapers.com/image/915309026/ |newspaper=The Journal News |location=White Plains, New York |volume=3 |number=139 |page=6C |access-date=October 25, 2024}} He played the character for 14 years until a new ownership group selected a different mascot.{{Cite magazine |last=Donahue |first=Bill |date=July 2012 |title=Unmasked |url=https://www.suburbanlifemagazine.com/article/578/Unmasked |magazine=Suburban Life |access-date=October 25, 2024}} He later became a co-owner and head coach at Delco Gymnastics Training Center in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania.

Roth and his wife, Christina, opened their 20,000 square-foot gym, Crosspoint Gymnastics, in September 2015 where he is involved with coaching youth gymnastics.{{Cite web |url=https://crosspointgymnastics.com/our-history |title=Our History |website=crosspointgymnastics.com |access-date=October 25, 2024}}

Awards and honors

Roth was inducted into the Temple Owls Hall of Fame in 2006.

Eponymous skills

Roth has one element named for him on the pommel horse.{{Cite web |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/pdf/mag_named_elements.pdf |title=Table of Named Elements Men's Artistic Gymnastics |date=December 2023 |website=gymnastics.sport |access-date=October 25, 2024}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/rules/files/en_1.1%20-%20MAG%20CoP%202025-2028.pdf |title=Men's Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points 2025–2028 |date=July 3, 2024 |website=gymnastics.sport |access-date=October 25, 2024}}

class="wikitable" \|+Gymnastics elements named after Bill Roth
scope="col"\| Apparatus !scope="col"\| Name !scope="col"\| Description !scope="col"\| Difficulty{{efn\|name=difficulty\|Valid for the 2025–2028 Code of Points}} !scope="col"\| Added to Code of Points
Pommel horse \| *Roth* \| "Russian wendeswing with 360° t. and 3/3 travel." \| align=center\|D, 0.4 \| Originally introduced in 1993, renamed in 2006.

class="wikitable"

|+Gymnastics elements named after Bill Roth

scope="col"| Apparatus

!scope="col"| Name

!scope="col"| Description

!scope="col"| Difficulty{{efn|name=difficulty|Valid for the 2025–2028 Code of Points}}

!scope="col"| Added to Code of Points

Pommel horse

| Roth

| "Russian wendeswing with 360° t. and 3/3 travel."

| align=center|D, 0.4

| Originally introduced in 1993, renamed in 2006.