Career
In 1979 he became the first gymnast to receive the Sullivan Award for the best amateur athlete in the United States and earned six medals at the World Championships, including gold on the horizontal bar and floor exercise, and silver in the all-around, parallel bars, and pommel horse. Two gymnastic moves were named for him, the Thomas Flair, a pommel horse move and the Thomas salto, his signature skill on floor exercise, a tucked 1.5 backward salto with 1.5 twist into a roll out (a difficult and dangerous skill even by today"s standards). The Thomas Flair on pommel horse, and then also performed on floor, was developed over years by several Pommel Horse specialists.
But in gymnastics new moves are named in the gymnastics rule book after the gymnast who is the first to perform the move in international competition.
In 1996, Thomas married Rebecca Jones, a dancer who also choreographs gymnastic routines. They have 2 children together, named Kassidy and Hunter Thomas.
In 2003 Thomas was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. His gym has hosted the USAG-sanctioned Kurt Thomas International Invitational gymnastics meet annually since 2003.
Thomas starred in the 1985 film Gymkata as an athlete sent by the United States government to compete in a deadly competition called "The Game." The film was not a major hit and was poorly received by critics, but has developed somewhat of a cult following due to its unintentional comedy.
Thomas also starred in the syndicated television series True Confessions and has worked as a commentator for American Broadcasting Company Sports and Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.