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Peter Vidmar      

Olympic Gymnast, Fitness Advocate

The Vidmars brought Peter to the gym and He practiced and practiced, and then practiced some more. While his friends rode dirt bikes and surfed, Peter was busy learning and developing new skills in the gym. And as his friends' interests changed with time, Peter remained focused on gymnastics. He had a goal in mind and was determined to achieve it.

In 1984, what began as an ad became a forecast of the future. Peter Vidmar captained the US Men's Gymnastics Team to its first-ever Olympic Gold Medal. He also captured the gold in the pommel horse - scoring a perfect 10. And he won a Silver Medal while becoming the first American to medal in the individual all-around men's competition. His winning performances averaged 9.89, making him the highest scoring US male gymnast in Olympic history.Today, Peter translates his skills as a leader and motivator into inspirational presentations for Fortune 500 companies looking to benefit from his Gold Medal performances. In addition to his Olympic success, he has numerous NCAA and international titles, and economics degree from UCLA, and experience as a television announcer for CBS. He also serves on the Executive Committee of USA Gymnastics and the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports for the State of California. In Short, Peter is in a category all his own.

Peter now lives in Coto de Caza, California with his wife Donna, a former UCLA gymnast, and their five children. It probably comes as no surprise that two are competing gymnasts, and a third is a Jr. Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. "So far they all seem to be natural gymnasts,"comments Peter. "But hey, if one ends up wanting to play basketball instead, we'll be supportive. There's always room for a good point guard."

Speech Topics


Getting your Team on the Podium

Innovation: Pushing The Envelope

One of the reasons gymnastics is the most watched event of the Olympic Games is that the viewer can always expect something new and different from the athletes. Gymnasts are masters at pushing the envelope, as they constantly try to reinvent their athletic art form. Innovation also involves some risk, and Peter shows how ROV: Risk, Originality, and Virtuosity, can become a mandate for constant change in his sport and in your business. In describing how we need to stop playing “catch up” with the competition, Peter says, "A perfect 10 just a few years ago may only score an 8.5 today. If you don't innovate, you’ll be left behind very quickly!"

Teamwork: Getting your Team on the Podium

Gymnastics, while a team sport, is based entirely on a collection of individual performances for it's outcome. At the Olympic Games, while he was competing with his teammates, Peter was simultaneously competing against them for individual medals. So how did these individual athletes work together on a daily basis for the benefit of the team? Using the ROV principles, Peter answers this important question, describing the tools you and your team can use, every day, to reach the top of your Olympic Podium.

Overcoming the Odds: World Class Performance in any Environment

You don’t need to tell Olympians that some things don’t always go according to plan. Every athlete has had to deal with setbacks and changing conditions. If organizations and individuals are going to thrive in any environment, they will need to take calculated risks, continually innovate, and take their products or service to entirely new levels of performance. This process never ends. Using his effective ROV principles, Peter vividly describes the lessons learned from setbacks and mistakes, how to fuel the creative process, and how to achieve world class performance, even when circumstances are less than desirable. Peter’s personal experiences, as well as those of recent Olympic athletes help to reinforce the message that with proper planning and focused drive, we can overcome hardships and achieve results that elevate us above the rest of our competitors.

Motivation: ROV... Risk, Originality and Virtuosity

In his powerful keynote presentation, Peter converts Olympic Gold into corporate wisdom. With a live demonstration on the pommel horse, artfully blended into his speech, Peter uses the ROV principles to vividly describe requirements for a perfect 10 in business and in life. Audiences gain fresh perspectives on reaching higher levels of performance, using their creativity to separate them from the competition, and perfecting their needed skills on a daily basis. As Peter says, "If you want to be at your best when it really matters, you've got to be at your best when it doesn’t matter." Humor, relevance to his audience, high energy, drama and standing ovations are all characteristic of this presentation.

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