Topic: Jonathan Horton

Jonathan Alan Horton (born December 31, 1985 in Houston, Texas) is an American gymnast. Jonathan began gymnastics in 1990. "I was a wild child," Horton said. "I once climbed a pole in the middle of Target all the way to the ceiling. I used to do back flips on my parents' bed and I rode a garage door to the top when I was 3 years old."

Jonathan won the 2008 Olympic silver medal on the high bar. He was a member of the U.S. team to the 2006 and 2007 World Gymnastics Championships and finished fourth in the all-around at the latter. He is a six-time medalist at the U.S. Championships and is the 2006 champion in the floor exercise.

Horton was named to the U.S. Olympic team following the men's competition at the 2008 Olympic Trials, where he won the All-Around. The team entered the 2008 Beijing Olympics amongst much skepticism as to whether the team could compete against such established teams as the Japanese, Chinese, and German teams. Injuries had forced team leaders Paul Hamm and Morgan Hamm to withdraw from competition, thus causing the American team to bring in alternates Raj Bhavsar and Alexander Artemev. The American men performed better than many had anticipated, with Horton being the team's top performer. The American team ended the competition with the bronze medal after a stressful pommel horse event. In the event finals, Horton added a silver medal in the high bar event.