Olympic throwback: first female Asian American Olympic gymnastics medalist serving community as pediatrician

The first female Asian American Olympic gymnastics medalist has been serving her community as a pediatrician for the past decade.

A historic win: Amy Chow, now 43, was the first Asian American woman to win an Olympic medal in gymnastics when she competed in the 1996 Atlanta Games, as stated in Vogue.

At the age of 6, Chow made it her goal to become an Olympian after seeing Mary Lou Retton on television.
The gymnast won a silver medal when she was 18 years old for her routine on the uneven bars.
She became the first Asian American gymnast to qualify for the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team, according to Team USA.
Additionally, she was one of the only two members from the 1996 Olympics Magnificent Seven team to make it to the 2000 gymnastics team.
Chow was a three-time Olympian, winning a gold team medal in 1996 and a bronze team medal in 2000 in addition to her individual one.

Gymnastic accomplishments: Not only was Chow an Olympic medalist, she also had two “difficult pirouetting skills” named after her in the code of points.

Chow was inducted into the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame twice: once was in 1998 as a member of the 1996 Olympic team and again in 2005 as an individual gymnast, as noted in her Olympedia biography.
She was also part of the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame and was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2008.
She obtained the nickname “The Trickster” because of her ability to master extremely difficult routines.

Post-Olympics life: The former gymnastics star graduated from Stanford Medical School in 2007 and has been working as a pediatrician with her own practice in Dublin, Calif., according to Biz Journals.

After completing her residency in pediatrics at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, she decided to become a pediatrician because she found that she enjoys working with children.
Chow, who has two children and is married to an orthopedic surgeon, also revealed that her medals have been at the bank since 1996.

Featured Image via VotreAmi (left), Rick Quan (right)

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