Bart Conner Biography: In His Own Words — Exclusive Video, News, Photos, Age, Olympics

Bart Wayne Conner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, winning two gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He also gained widespread recognition for his role as “Bart Taylor” in the 1986 film Rad. Conner was the first American gymnast to win gold at every level of competition, including NCAA Champion, Pan American Games Champion, USA Champion, World Cup Champion and Olympic Champion.

BART CONNER: AGE, EARLY LIFE, FAMILY, EDUCATION

Bart Conner was born on March 28, 1958 (Bart Conner age: 67) in Chicago, but raised in Morton Grove, Illinois, the son of Harold Conner and Jacqueline May, with two siblings, Michael and Bruce. 

He attended the University of Oklahoma in the fall of 1976, joining the men’s gymnastics team under coach Paul Ziert. He earned 14 NCAA All-American honors and led the team to two NCAA titles.

He won the Nissen Award in 1981 and became the nation’s top male collegiate gymnast.

BART CONNER: GYMNASTICS CAREER

In an exclusive interview with uInterview, Conner opens up about his long journey to the Olympics and his experience with the film RAD.

He began his gymnastics career at the YMCA at the age of 5, joining an all-girls acrobatic class, initially thinking, “Oh no, this is not for me.” However, a few years later, he went back to the gym and joined a boys gymnastics team. With hard work and determination, he eventually advanced to the Olympics.

Throughout his highly successful career, Conner faced numerous challenges. “I had to overcome a lot of odds and a lot of obstacles because of injuries,” he stated. 

By the time his career was done, he had undergone nearly 10 different surgeries, including torn biceps, a knee injury and elbow surgery. 

Reflecting on his challenges, he said, “I was pretty beat up.” Despite those struggles, he bounced back from his injuries and made it on the 1984 Olympic team, defying the odds when America beat China by seven-tenths of a point. “I was getting older and had several injuries, and it took a lot of grit and a lot of persistence to stick it out, but I’m glad I did.”

BART CONNER: RAD

In 1986, Conner starred as “Bart Taylor” in the American cult classic film RAD, directed by Hal Needham. The film centers around a bicyclist/motorcyclist attempting to sabotage a nationally televised race for a cash prize. 

Initially, Conner had no interest in pursuing an acting career and chose to focus on gymnastics instead. However, Needham took notice of him at the Olympics. 

At the time, Needham was unsure of exactly which stunts could be performed or how to find actors capable of executing them. When he witnessed a cyclist perform a backflip on a bike, he thought, “I’ve got to call that Bart Conner guy.”

“He called me and asked me to do the shot, and I did, I loved it — everything about it,” Conner said.

He went on to explain his feelings about being on a film set, describing what it was like to be the “gymnastic guy” in “a bunch of groups he didn’t belong in.”

On the first day, Conner walked in on crutches. “I blew my knee out three weeks before the movie doing a dismount,” he said. When he called Needham to deliver the bad news, expecting to be cut from the movie, Needham simply responded: ”Oh, you’ll be fine.”

The crew was “shocked,” to say the least. “They were looking at me and were like ‘What happened — What’s going on?'” 

Most of the movie was shot from the waist up due to his injuries, so the lower half of his body had to be edited in later.

Conner will revisit his classic character and reflect on iconic moments from the film in the 2025 release of the new documentary A RAD Documentary (2025), directed by Michael Kirsch.

Conner discusses how he got involved in the documentary and reflects on the audience’s reaction to the film after so many years.

“I was in Rad, which was shot almost 40 years ago, and even to this day, it still amazes me the number of people that are like 40 to 50 years old, who grew up watching this movie,” Conner said. “And that was back in the day when the movie only stayed in the theater for a couple of days.”

The film gained a significant following as a cult classic from its massive popularity as a blockbuster video rental. “It did big business from Blockbuster Video, and a lot of people went down to the store and they rented that VHS and wore those videos out,” Conner said.

He explained that the movie’s success resonates with people who watched it as kids, some of whom were just learning how to ride a bike. “Guys who were like, you know, maybe 13, 14 years old, and now all these years later [the film] resonates with them because it’s a love story, it’s a story about an independent guy going against a big, bad corporate culture and overcoming the odds.”

BART CONNER: PERSONAL LIFE, NADIA COMANECI

During the American Cup International gymnastics competition at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1976, Conner met Romanian Olympic gymnast Nadia Comăneci. At 14 years old, she won the women’s all-around title, while Conner took the win in the men’s portion.

The couple eventually married in 1996 and welcomed their son, Dylan Paul Conner, in 2006. 

After settling in Norman, Oklahoma, Conner and his former coach, Paul Ziert, founded The Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy in 1992, which has seen significant success over the past 33 years.

Conner and Comăneci have traveled extensively and are actively involved in charitable work, including serving as members of the Special Olympics International Board of Directors and the Nadia Comăneci Foundation in Romania, a nonprofit organization focused on promoting sports and education, as well as improving the quality of family life in Romania.

Conner currently works as an Announcer for ESPN for women’s gymnastics and focuses on the success of his gymnastics academy.