Wild Child
Jonathan was born to Al and Margo Horton on December 31, 1985 in Houston, Texas.  He began his gymnastics career at the age of 4.  “I was a wild child. I once climbed a pole in the middle of Target all the way to the ceiling. I used to do back flips on my parents' bed and I rode a garage door to the top when I was 3 years old.” That wild energy needed an outlet and so Jonathan enrolled in the Cypress Academy of Gymnastics where he was coached by Colby Vancleave, Tom Meadows, and Mike Dutka. 

Jonathan worked his way up in the Junior rankings competing in Junior Olympic National Championships, Junior International Invitational, and was part of the U.S. Junior National Team.   The Junior Olympic National Championships went very well for Jonathan.  In 2000, he took 2nd place in the all around and 3rd on still rings and vault.  Jonathan’s performance at the 2002 JO National Championships was even more successful!  He received 1st place in the all around, 2nd onfloor exercise, still rings, parallel bars, vault, and 3rd place on high bar.  At the 2003 National Championships, Jonathan took 1st in the all around for Junior Division.

“Went out there and did my job”
The 2003 Pan American Games would be the first of many great international performances for Jonathan.  After teammate, Clay Strother fell ill the night of event finals, Jonathan was called up by his coach to compete.  Jonathan finished 4th at the Pan Am games.

“My teammate (Strother) got sick and my coach was like ‘hurry up, get ready.’ I’ve never warmed up that fast in my life. I just got what I needed to get done and went out there and did my job.”

"I wasn't even supposed to be here. My teammate Clay [Strother] dropped out and I had to get ready real fast. It was the greatest meet of my life. That was fun. I love it here. It was my first international competition. The crowd was wild. They helped me do better and better."

This courageous and clutch performance from Jonathan would be the start of an impressive international career. At the 2003 Junior International Invitational at Yokohama, Japan, Jonathan finished 2nd in the all around and 3rd on high bar.

Olympic Trials
Jonathan finished 10th in the all around at 2004 National Championships.  He earned a spot to compete at the 2004 Olympic Team trials in Anaheim, California. Jonathan was the youngest gymnast to compete at trials.  His scores were an 8.6 on pommel horse, 9.35 on still rings, 9.425 on vault, 8.95 on parallel bars, 8.1 on high bar, and a 9.050 on floor exercise. Though, he did not qualify for the selection camp, the experience he earned was great. 

Boomer Sooner
In the fall of 2004, Jonathan started his freshman year at Oklahoma University (OU). During his four seasons as a member of their team, Jonathan received many accolades individually and the OU Men’s gymnastics won three national championships in 2005, 2006, and 2008.  During the 2005 season, Jonathan received over 10 event titles and two all around titles.  He was the only freshman all around champion as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) . At the 2005 NCAA Championships, Jonathan’s first of four appearances at the championships was a snapshot of what was to come from this talented freshman.  He finished 4th on Floor exercise, 3rd place on high bar, and 3rd place in the all around.

Sophomore year at OU was another great season for Jonathan and the team.  He received 13 event titles and 6 All-Around titles!  The MPSF named Jonathan gymnast of the week multiple times during the season.  The 2006 NCAA Championships was a great one for the OU team and Jonathan.  The team received its 6th championship and Jonathan was awarded as the all around champion. 

Jonathan’s 3rd season as a Sooner would break university records.  He broke Bart Conner’s record for NCAA titles with 5 and career All-American honors with 15 titles.  Jonathan tied OU’s record for All-American honors within a single season!  At the 2007 MPSF Championships Jonathan received the all around title. 

The 2008 season for Jonathan and the OU team encompassed tenacity and leadership.  He won the MPSF all around title and placed 1st in still rings.  Jonathan was nominated for the AAU James E. Sullivan awards and was named 1 of 5 finalists. He was the 6th OU men’s gymnast to be named for the Nissen-Emery Award!  The 2008 NCAA Championships would give OU its 8th National title. At the competition, Jonathan finished 2nd in all around and 1st on still-rings. 

Leading the Way
The 2004 Olympic Trials was the highlight at the start of Jonathan’s Senior Elite career.  Following that great event, Jonathan would become one of the best all around gymnasts in the U.S.!  In 2005, he finished 8th at Winter Cup and was selected for the U.S. National team. He also competed at the 2005 World Cup in Paris, France.  Jonathan’s 2nd place all around finish was a great start to his 2006 season.  He won the 2006 Tyson American Cup All around Championship.  The Visa Championships that season resulted in a great meet for Jonathan! He finished 2nd in all around, placed 4th on rings, and tied for 3rd on high bar. Jonathan’s outstanding finish at Visa Championships allowed him to qualify for his first World Team! With his teammates, Jonathan traveled to Aarhus, Denmark for the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.  The U.S. team finished 13th but teammate Alexander ‘Sasha’ Artemev finished 3rd on the Pommel Horse event finals.

The 2007 season would be the start of Jonathan’s journey to Beijing.  He won the all around title at the 2007 Tyson American Cup, joining gymnast Blaine Wilson as the 2nd gymnast to win back-to-back American Cup all around titles!  Jonathan finished 6th at the 2007 Visa Championships allowing him to be selected for the World team. 

Defying Expectations
Stuttgart, Germany was the location of the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and acted as a qualifier for the Olympic teams.  Any country that finishes 12th place or better can have a team compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  The U.S. Men’s team had to perform better than their 13th place finish in the 2006 World Championships.  Jonathan as well as Sean Golden, Kevin Tan, Sasha Artemev, Guillermo Alvarez, and David Durante showed the world that the U.S. that they could place high than 13th by finishing finished 4th.  The U.S. team qualified two men to the all around; Jonathan Horton and David Durante.  The competition was packed with outstanding talent such as China’s Yang Wei and Germany’s Fabian Hambüchen.  Jonathan finished 4th in the all around following 1st place Yang Wei, (2) Fabian Hambuchen, and (3) Hisashi Mizutori; the strongest finish of his career and of any U.S. male gymnast!

Road to Beijing
The year of the 2008 Beijing Olympics would consist of four major competitions for Jonathan.
Winter Cup started off the year with a 3rd place finish in still rings. Following that was the notable Tyson American Cup Championships at Madison Square Garden in New York City where Jonathan finished 5th in the all-around, 2nd on Parallel Bars, and 3rd in floor exercise.  2008 Visa Championships took place in Jonathan’s home town of Houston, Texas.  He had a strong showing at the meet, with a 2nd place all around finish as well as 3rd in floor exercise and 2nd on still rings.

The 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials took place in the Wachovia Center at Philadelphia, PA and consisted of two days of competition. The scores are made up of three results: 1st day of trials, 2nd day of trials, and the 2008 Visa Championship results.  Jonathan went into trials as one of the strongest all around gymnast in the country and he did not disappoint!  His results from trials were 2nd in the all around on day 1 and 1st at the all around on day 2. With the National’s results added to that, Jonathan finished in 1st place on both days!  He was named first to the team followed by Paul Hamm.

Against all Odds
The 2008 Beijing Olympics for the US Men’s Artistic Gymnastic team would start off rough with Paul Hamm withdrawing two days before the team left for Beijing and Morgan Hamm withdrawing two days before competition from injuries.  Sasha Artemev replaced Morgan and Raj Bhavsar replaced Paul.  The six men that competed for Team USA were Jonathan Horton, Sasha Artemev, Raj Bhavsar, Justin Spring, Joseph Hagerty, and Kevin Tan.  Qualifications went very well for the team, who qualified 4th after two subdivisions for the team final and Jonathan qualified for the High Bar event final.

China was one of the biggest competitors for the team competition as well as Japan and Germany.  Jonathan and his teammates were confident that despite not having the Hamm brother’s on their team they would still take home a medal.  "We had a don't-hold-back mantra today, and it lit us on fire," Jonathan said. "We didn't hold back for one moment. We competed like it was our last day." The day of the team final, Jonathan and Team USA gave rock solid routines, sticking their dismounts and showing an unwavering confidence that many spectators thought they didn’t have.  Jonathan and teammate Justin Spring both stuck their dismounts from their electrifying high bar routines and Sasha Artemev did a signature, beautiful pommel horse routine!  The result of such this remarkable performance was a bronze medal!  Jonathan said, "We went out there and competed with our hearts. I think that made the difference. I this this team has the biggest heart here. Maybe not the most talent. But we did our jobs. We stayed fired up. And we fed off each other the whole time.”

"Best I can do"
On August 18th Jonathan competed in the High Bar event finals among some great gymnasts in the apparatus such as Igor Cassina, Hiroyuki Tomita, and Fabian Hambuechen.  Jonathan qualified 6 out of 8 gymnasts for high bar.  2004 Olympic Gold medalist in high bar Igor Cassina and 2007 World Champion in the same event Fabian Hambuechen both had errors in their routines.  Jonathan’s routine solidified his nickname, “X-games” with three high flying releases: a Kovacs, Cassina, and Kolman. With that routine Jonathan earned a silver medal!

First two images - credit Jonathan-Horton.com

Biography researched and written by the webmaster - Theresa