Kathleen Corrigan on balance beam at Rec Hall. She has her arms outstretched for balance and is sporting a classic beehive hairdo

1964 Tokyo Olympics

  • NUMBER OF PENN STATERS COMPETING: 2
  • NUMBER OF PENN STATERS IN ALL ROLES: 4
  • NUMBER OF OLYMPIC ALTERNATES: 1

 

After Tokyo withdrew its rights to host the 1940 Olympics, it took more than two decades for the Japanese capital to finally take its place as the first Asian city to host the tournament. A small contingent of two American athletes and two American support staff made their way across the Pacific to represent not only the United States but also Penn State on a global stage. The most prominent member of the bunch, though, was still two years removed from officially joining the Nittany Lions family.

 

Profile: Kathleen Corrigan

Kathy Corrigan on balance beam at Rec Hall
Kathy Corrigan on balance beam at Rec Hall (Pennsylvania State University, Intercollegiate Athletics, Athlete and Athletics personnel files)

Kathleen Corrigan came to gymnastics late, taking up the sport at 16 after she was recognized at a ballet recital for a routine that resembled a floor exercise. The South Weymouth, Massachusetts native rose quickly up the high school ranks, winning the New England high school tumbling championship prior to enrolling as a physical education major at Springfield College. While in college Corrigan competed for the gold-medal-winning United States team at the 1963 Pan-American Games in São Paulo, Brazil, finishing in a tie with U.S. teammate Dale McClements for a silver medal in the individual competition.

Ahead of her junior season at Springfield College, after two straight seasons as the New England intercollegiate all-around champion, Corrigan was selected for the 1964 U.S. Olympic team that traveled to Tokyo. While in Japan, Corrigan finished 52nd in the all-around competition and third among the six women competing for the United States. “Fifty-second sounds terrible, but I am very proud of it,” Corrigan said in an interview decades after her Olympics experience. “That was excellent for an American in an international meet back then.”

After graduating from Springfield College in 1966, Corrigan moved to State College to study for a master’s degree in physical education. While at Penn State, Corrigan coached the women’s gymnastics team for two years in lieu of serving a teaching assistantship. After two years on the University Park campus, Corrigan married fellow Penn State graduate Nance Ekas and returned to Massachusetts to take over as the gymnastics coach at Weymouth High. In addition to her coaching duties, Corrigan also opened the Kathy Corrigan School of Gymnastics in Rockland to provide training and daycare facilities for the local community.

 

SOURCES AND ADDITIONAL READING

  • “Former Olympian Coaches Women Gymnasts,” Daily Collegian (University Park, PA), February 1, 1967, 6. https://panewsarchive.psu.edu/lccn/sn85054904/1967-02-01/ed-1/seq-6.
  • “Former Olympian Now Teaches,” Boston Globe, February 18, 1990, SOU-13.
  • “Gymnastic Team Picked,” Baltimore Sun, March 8, 1964, 2A.
  • “New Corrigan Girl Stars at Weymouth,” Boston Globe, March 10, 1969, 32.
  • Anne Wyman, “Weymouth High ‘Values’ Group Stimulates Exercises at Home,” Boston Globe, November 15, 1961, 8.