View source for Justin Spring

{{short description|American artistic gymnast}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox gymnast
| name            = Justin Spring
| image           = Justin Spring.jpg
| image_size      =
| caption         = Spring in 2008
| full_name       = Justin Edward Spring
| country         = [[United States men's national artistic gymnastics team|United States]]
| formercountry   = 
| birth_date      = {{Birth date and age|1984|03|11}}
| birth_place     = [[Houston]], [[Texas]], U.S.
| death_date      = 
| death_place     = 
| spouse          = 
| training        = 
| height          = 170 cm
| discipline      = MAG
| natlteam        = 2005–2009
| gym             = Team Chevron<br />Capital Gymnastics
| collegeteam     = [[Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnastics|Illinois Fighting Illini]]
| headcoach       = [[Yoshi Hayasaki]]
| assistcoach     = Jon Valdez
| formercoach     = 
| eponymousskills = 
| retired         = 2009
| worldranking    = 
| show-medals     = yes
| medaltemplates  = {{MedalSport|Men's [[artistic gymnastics]]}}
{{MedalCountry|{{USA}}}}
{{MedalCount
|[[Summer Olympic Games|Olympic Games]]|0|0|1
|[[Pan American Games]]|1|0|1
| total = yes
}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Summer Olympic Games|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[2008 Summer Olympics|2008 Beijing]]|[[Gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic team all-around|Team]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Pan American Games]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[Gymnastics at the 2007 Pan American Games|2007 Rio de Janeiro]]|[[Gymnastics at the 2007 Pan American Games – Men's parallel bars|Parallel bars]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[Gymnastics at the 2007 Pan American Games|2007 Rio de Janeiro]]|[[Gymnastics at the 2007 Pan American Games – Men's artistic team all-around|Team]]}}
| module          = {{Infobox person
| embed              = yes
| awards             = [[Nissen-Emery Award]] (2006)
}} 
}}

{{infobox college coach
| name               = 
| image              = 
| current_title      = Associate head coach
| current_team       = [[Alabama Crimson Tide women's gymnastics|Alabama Crimson Tide]]
| current_conference = [[Southeastern Conference|SEC]]
| current_record     = 
| alma_mater         = [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign|University of Illinois]]
| coach_years1       = 2007–2010
| coach_team1        = [[Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnastics|Illinois]] (Asst.)
| coach_years2       = 2011–2022
| coach_team2        = [[Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnastics|Illinois]]
| coach_years3       = 2022–2023
| coach_team3        = [[Alabama Crimson Tide women's gymnastics|Alabama]] (Asst.)
| coach_years4       = 2024–present
| coach_team4        = [[Alabama Crimson Tide women's gymnastics|Alabama]] (Associate HC)
| overall_record     = 
| tournament_record  = 
| championships      = 
| awards             = 
| coaching_records   = 
}}

'''Justin Edward Spring''' (born March 11, 1984) is a retired [[Americans|American]] [[gymnast]] and current gymnastics coach. He was a member of the [[United States men's national artistic gymnastics team]] and won an Olympic bronze medal at the [[2008 Summer Olympics]]. He was also a top gymnast in [[NCAA Men's Gymnastics championship|NCAA competition]], where he represented the [[Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnastics|University of Illinois]].

==Early life and education==
Spring was born in [[Houston]], [[Texas]], and raised in [[Burke, Virginia]]. His father, [[Sherwood C. Spring]], was a [[United States Army]] [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] and former [[NASA]] [[astronaut]]. His sister, Sarah, was also a highly decorated collegiate gymnast at Ohio State University from 2000 to 2004.

Spring graduated from [[Lake Braddock Secondary School]] in 2002 and went on to attend the [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]].

==Gymnastics career==
Overall, the Burke, Va., native is a four-time NCAA Champion, winning a pair of titles on the horizontal bar in 2004 and 2006 and back-to-back crowns on parallel bars in 2005 and 2006. Along with his national recognition, Spring earned 2006 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year accolades after winning the all-around crown at the Big Ten Championships. Spring finished his illustrious career being named to the All-Big Ten first team three times, grabbed Big Ten Gymnast of the Week laurels six times, and earned Inside Gymnastics' NCAA Gymnast of the Week honors three times.

During his four-year career, Spring garnered three Big Ten Championships with titles on parallel bars and all-around in 2006 and on the floor exercise in 2004. Spring is a two-time recipient of the [[Dike Eddleman]] Athlete of the Year award (2004, 2006), which goes to Illinois' top male and female athlete. A face and name that will forever be remembered in Illini record books, Spring left the Fighting Illini a 12-time All-American, the most since Abie Grossfeld earned 12 from 1957–59, and holds the Illinois record on the floor exercise, vault, parallel bars, and horizontal bar.

In 2006, Spring strung together one of the best seasons in Illinois gymnastics' history, earning the 2006 [[Nissen-Emery Award]], an honor that goes to the top senior male gymnast in the nation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://fightingillini.cstv.com/sports/m-gym/spec-rel/061406aab.html |title=Men's Gymnastics Illinois Fighting Illini :: The official athletic site |access-date=2007-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061219043131/http://fightingillini.cstv.com/sports/m-gym/spec-rel/061406aab.html |archive-date=2006-12-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A double titlist at the 2006 NCAAs, Spring took home the crown in the horizontal bar and defended his title in parallel bars. In addition, he carded five total All-America honors with a second-place finish in all-around, third on floor exercise, and fourth on vault.

Along with his individual honors, Spring helped the Illini to runner-up finishes at the 2006 NCAA and Big Ten Championships. The finish at NCAAs came half a point shy of team-champion Oklahoma, and just short of the Orange and Blue's 10th national title.

Overall in his collegiate career, he is
* 2006 Nissen-Emery Award winner
* 2006 NCAA Parallel Bars Champion
* 2006 NCAA Horizontal Bar Co-Champion
* 2006 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year
* 2006 Big Ten Parallel Bars Champion
* 2006 Big Ten All-Around Champion
* 2005 U.S. National Horizontal Bar Champion
* 2005 NCAA Parallel Bars Champion
* 2004 NCAA Horizontal Bar Champion
* 2004 Big Ten Floor Exercise Champion
* 12-time [[All-American]]
* Three-time All-Big Ten Team Member
* Six-time Big Ten Gymnast of the Week
* Three-time Inside Gymnastics NCAA Gymnast of the Week
* Two-time UI Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year (2004, 2006)
* Illinois School Record Holder (FX, VT, PB, HB)
* Two-Year Team Captain

===International career===
Spring has also competed internationally representing the United States.

He represented the U.S. at the 2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne, Australia on floor exercise, parallel bars, and horizontal bar as a member of the 2005 U.S. National Team. At the 2005 World Championships, Spring finished 10th to qualify as a reserve on horizontal bar and finished 12th on parallel bars. In 2005, Spring became the first Illini to ever win a U.S. National title with his two-day combined horizontal bar score of 18.750, while also scoring a 9.500 on the horizontal bar at the 2005 American Cup to take home the silver medal behind Olympic champion Paul Hamm.

The Illini gymnast finished fourth on the horizontal bar at the 2004 Visa U.S. Championships with scores of 9.600 and 9.650 in the two-day format, and competed for Team USA at the 2003 [[World University Games]] in Daegu, South Korea, advancing to the finals on floor. In 2006, Spring garnered a selection to the 2006 Men's World Championships team, but had to withdraw due to injury. Spring graduated from the University of Illinois in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in speech communication.

He is a three-time U.S. Senior National Team Member, a 2005 U.S. World Championships Team Member, the 2005 Visa U.S. Championships Horizontal Bar Champion, the 2005 Winter Cup Horizontal Bar Champion, the 2005 American Cup Horizontal Bar Silver Medalist, the 2003 World University Games Team Member

Spring tore his [[anterior cruciate ligament]] at the 2007 Visa Championships.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/07/AR2007110702629.html For Star Gymnast Spring, It Really Hurts to Get Better]</ref>

Spring was named to the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team on June 22, 2008. He performed very well at the Olympics, and was a key part of the United States Team's bronze medal victory, posting high scores on the vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar, and the floor exercise. His high-flying horizontal bar routine in team finals was particularly impressive and included a stuck triple-back dismount and scored 15.675.

Spring's resemblance to [[Prince Harry]] has earned him the nickname ''Prince''.<ref>[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/08/justin-spring-p.html Justin Spring, Prince Harry, separated at birth?]</ref>

===Retirement===
In 2010 Spring was named Head Coach of the [[Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnastics]]. He indicated that the new position required him to retire from the sport.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-gym/mtt/justin_spring_126883.html |title=FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Justin Spring Bio |access-date=2013-12-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217221607/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-gym/mtt/justin_spring_126883.html |archive-date=2013-12-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Coaching career==
Spring began his coaching career in 2010 with the [[University of Illinois]] men's gymnastics program. Spring, one of the Illinois's most talented gymnasts, finished his competitive career in 2006, and since then he has led the Orange and Blue to [[Big Ten]] and NCAA Championship titles in his role as head coach.

Following the 2009–10 season, Spring was named head coach for the Illinois men's gymnastics program after spending one year as an associate head coach. Spring handles all of the gym coaching duties along with assistant coaches Ivan Ivankov and 2010 graduate [[Luke Stannard]].

In one season as associate head coach, Spring led Illinois to its second-straight Big Ten team title and a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Individually, five Illini earned All-America accolades, three took home Big Ten titles and Stannard became just the third Illini to win the prestigious Nissen-Emery Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top senior male gymnast.

Additionally, Spring helped guide Illinois to a 22–5 overall record and the top spot in the rankings on four separate occasions and never dropped out of the top five. For his efforts, Spring was honored as both Central Region Coach of the Year and Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Spring was promoted to associate head coach following the 2009 season after three years as an assistant under the legendary Yoshi Hayasaki. The promotion meant that Spring had to retire from competitive gymnastics to concentrate on coaching full-time.

In 2009, Spring was named Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year along with Ivankov after helping Illinois to the Big Ten Championship, a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, and three individual NCAA titles.

In 2012, Spring helped the University of Illinois Fighting Illini win the NCAA national championship in Gymnastics.
https://web.archive.org/web/20120430011148/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-gym/recaps/042012aaj.html
<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://fightingillini.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1019&path=mgym |title=Player Bio, Justin Spring |access-date=2018-08-13 |archive-date=2018-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813112540/https://fightingillini.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1019&path=mgym |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Personal life==
On May 29, 2010, Spring married fellow [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign|Illinois]] alumna Tori Tanney. Justin and Tori welcomed their first child, Cody, in July 2012.

Spring has been a spokesperson for the skincare line [[Proactiv]].

==Head coaching record==
{{CBB Yearly Record Start
|type=coach
|conference=
|postseason=
|poll=no
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
|name=Illinois
|startyear=2010
|conference=[[Big Ten Conference]]
|endyear=
|}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = conference
 | season       = 2010
 | name         = Illinois
 | overall      = 22–5
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 1st
 | postseason   = [[NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships|NCAA]] Fourth Place
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = conference
 | season       = 2011
 | name         = Illinois
 | overall      = 25–8
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 1st
 | postseason   = [[NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships|NCAA]] Third Place
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = national
 | season       = 2012
 | name         = Illinois
 | overall      = 28–2
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 1st
 | postseason   = [[NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships|NCAA]] Champions
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | season       = 2013
 | name         = Illinois
 | overall      = 12–18–1
 | conference   = 5–5–1
 | confstanding = 5th
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | season       = 2014
 | name         = Illinois
 | overall      = 19-12-1
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 4th
 | postseason   =  [[NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships|NCAA]] Fourth Place
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | season       = 2015
 | name         = Illinois
 | overall      = 18-7
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 2nd
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | season       = 2016
 | name         = Illinois
 | overall      = 23-10
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 2nd
 | postseason   = [[NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships|NCAA]] Fourth Place
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | season       = 2017
 | name         = Illinois
 | overall      = 
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 2nd
 | postseason   = [[NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships|NCAA]] Third Place
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = conference
 | season       = 2018
 | name         = Illinois
 | overall      = 
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 1st
 | postseason   = [[NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships|NCAA]] Third Place
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Illinois
 | overall    = 87–23–1
 | confrecord = 29–11–1
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record End
|overall=87–23–1
|legend=yes
| cbb_c1=
| cbb_c2=
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite web
 |url=http://media.www.dailyillini.com/media/storage/paper736/news/2007/08/23/Sports/Former.Illini.Spring.Tears.Acl-2935088.shtml 
 |title=Former Illini Spring Tears ACL 
 |publisher=dailyIllini.com 
 |year=2007 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618082952/http://media.www.dailyillini.com/media/storage/paper736/news/2007/08/23/Sports/Former.Illini.Spring.Tears.Acl-2935088.shtml 
 |archivedate=2008-06-18 
}}
* {{cite news
 |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/08/justin-spring-p.html
 |title=Justin Spring, Prince Harry, Separated at birth?
 |work=Los Angeles Times
 |date=August 12, 2008}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{Sports links}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20211007200712/https://fightingillini.com/staff-directory/justin-spring/216 Justin Spring] at [[Illinois Fighting Illini]] (archived)

{{Footer USA Gymnastics 2008 Summer Olympics}}
{{Gymnastics at the Pan American Games – Men's parallel bars}}
{{Navboxes
|title = United States National Championships for Justin Spring
|list =
{{USAGChampionsArtisticGymnasticsMenPBars}}
{{USAGChampionsArtisticGymnasticsMenHBar}}
}}
{{Nissen-Emery Award}}
{{Navboxes
|title = NCAA Championships for Justin Spring
|titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle|Illinois Fighting Illini|color=white}}
|list =
{{Footer NCAA Gymnastics Parallel Bars Champions (Men)}}
{{Footer NCAA Gymnastics Horizontal Bar Champions (Men)}}
}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spring, Justin}}
[[Category:1984 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:College men's gymnastics coaches in the United States]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in gymnastics]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Fairfax County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Houston]]
[[Category:American male artistic gymnasts]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnasts]]
[[Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnastics coaches]]
[[Category:People from Burke, Virginia]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 2007 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in gymnastics]]
[[Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in gymnastics]]
[[Category:21st-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:Alabama Crimson Tide women's gymnastics coaches]]