Mark Caso

Early life and education Caso was born in and raised in Syracuse, New York. As a youth, he participated in gymnastics with his brother, Chris, and both later competed for East Syracuse-Minoa Central High School. He was coached by his father, Ron Caso. At the inaugural Empire State Games in 1978, Caso won seven medals. He graduated in 1979 and enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles to pursue gymnastics.

Gymnastics career While a student at UCLA, Caso was a UCLA Bruins men's gymnastics team member. He competed from 1980 to 1984 and was the captain of the 1984 NCAA men's gymnastics championships-winning Bruins team. His brother, Chris, would also later join him at UCLA and was a member of the championship-winning team.

During his freshman year on January 31, 1980, Caso suffered a cervical fracture at practice while attempting a one-and-a-half twisting, one-and-three-quarters Arabian on the floor. The fracture resulted in paralysis and doctors fused his fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae using bone from his hip. Caso's doctor said that he was "a millimeter away from being paralyzed completely."

The following year, Caso became a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team for the first time. At the 1981 U.S. National Sports Festival in front of a hometown Syracuse crowd, Caso won four medals, one shy of the NSF record, and was given two standing ovations.

Caso represented the United States at the 1983 Pan American Games. He won a silver medal in the team all-around and added two individual bronze medals on the floor and still rings. He later competed at the 1984 United States Olympic trials and placed 10th, missing the Olympic team by two spots. He tied for 14th place and was not selected for the team.

Later career, legacy, and personal life After gymnastics, Caso pursued an acting career in 1985 and had appeared in 30 commercials by 1988. He reprised the role in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. He appeared as a series regular on Xuxa.

He later had a corporate career with Bruder. He has been rated as the top athlete to ever come from the school across all sports.