Olympic Champion Visits Green Chimneys

Right: Olympic gold medal champion Isao Yoneda allows Green Chimneys students Roman and Hunter to try on his medals while colleague Mariko Ukiyo of Tokyo looks on. Photo by ERIC GROSS. Students at Green Chimneys had a rare opportunity when 2004 Olympic gymnastics gold medal winner Isao Yoneda, of Japan, visited Putnam County.

Yoneda, who not only took the gold but the bronze medal in the summer games five years ago, held several gymnastic demonstrations last Thursday while working individually with students on a variety of gymnastics activities.

Boys and girls learned cartwheels, handstands, balance beam, and floor gymnastics from one of the world’s greatest athletes.

Children aged 10 to 17 were instructed by the champion, who admitted “being impressed with the students, who took turns looking at the medals and waited patiently for my autograph. The children were very friendly and very nice.”

Yoneda added that he provided demonstrations many times for children in his home country, but the “Green Chimneys’ students were the bestbehaved group I have ever taught. I truly believe the dedicated staff at the school makes the difference. Teachers who I met were all positive and warm and had incredible attitudes.”