Houry Gebeshian

Houry Gebeshian (; born July 27, 1989) is an Armenian-American artistic gymnast, who has represented Armenia at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, the 2015 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and the 2016 Summer Olympics. She was a member of the Iowa Hawkeyes team during the 2008 to 2011 seasons.

Early life and education Gebeshian was born on July 27, 1989, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to parents Christine Abrahamian and Hagop Gebeshian. She graduated from Newton North High School in 2007.

Gymnastics career 2005-2007: Club career Gebeshian placed 34th at the 2005 J.O. Nationals, her first J.O. competition. During her club competitive years, she trained at Massachusetts Gymnastics Center; under coaches Patrick Palmer, Shixin Mao and Joe Massimo.

2008-2011: College career Houry started competing for the Iowa Hawkeyes team in the 2008 season. She was a steady bars and beam worker, competing at every meet during the regular season. In her sophomore year, in 2009, Gebeshian was a consistent all-arounder, competing in every event at every meet. She was the Big-10 beam champion in 2010 with a score of 9.950. In her senior season, in 2011, Gebeshian advanced to the 2011 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship as an individual all-arounder.

2011-present: International career for Armenia In an article with International Gymnast Magazine, Gebeshian said that she was first inspired to compete for Armenia when her mother informed her that as an Armenian by birth, she was eligible for dual citizenship and thus able to represent Armenia at the Olympics if she wished to. Gebeshian's mother contacted a parent of another gymnast training at the same gym, who was the Olympic liaison for Armenia, checking the possibility of Gebeshian representing Armenia as being of Armenian descent. He told her to "go for it!". Gebeshian's family helped foot the bill for finances for Gebeshian to attend the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in October 2011 in Tokyo, Japan. She did not receive a berth to the 2012 Olympics but was third reserve.

After four years of international hiatus, Gebeshian returned to international competition at the 2015 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in April 2015, held in Montpellier, France. She qualified for the all-around final, finishing 19th overall with a score of 51.198. Apparatus Name Description Difficulty Added to the Code of PointsUneven bars Gebeshian Hecht jump (legs together) with hand repulsion and 1/1 turn (360°) over low bar to hang on high bar D 2016 Olympic Games

Personal life Gebeshian graduated from the University of Iowa in 2011, with a bachelor's degree in athletic training. In 2012, she started her graduate education at Wake Forest School of Medicine, graduating in 2014 with a master's degree in medical science and now practices as a physician assistant at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. She worked at Precision Choreography.

She maintains dual citizenship of America and Armenia.