Steven Gluckstein is an American gymnast and trampolining world record holder who will represent Team USA in his first Olympics at the 2012 London Games.

Gluckstein (born June 24, 1990) was born and raised in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. He began his career practicing taekwando at his school until the school's closure forced him out of martial arts at which time his mother signed him up for gymnastics. He immediately struck with the trampoline and within his first year of picking up the sport Gluckstein competed at national level, finishing sixth overall.

Gluckstein captured the first US Champion title of his career at the Visa Championships in August 2009, prevailing over the defending US Champion Chris Estrada with 108.8 points. At the 2009 Trampoline World Cup in Belgium, Gluckstein and his partner, Logan Dooley, earned the first US gold medal in trampoline at a World Cup event by winning the synchronized trampoline title. They took top honours for the seven-event series based on their one silver medal and two gold medal finishes over a number of the series titles in Portugal, Switzerland and Spain. In the individual trampoline, Gluckstein finished 12th.

After missing out on the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Gluckstein won a spot with Team USA at the 2012 London Olympics by qualifying in trampoline with a score of 61.020. Although he admitted that the Olympic trials put him under “the most pressure I’ve ever experienced in my life,” he won all three selection events, even edging out his 19-year-old brother Jeffrey.

Sources: Wikipedia; Jewish Chronicle Online; NBC Olympics

Steve Gluckstein