Wendy Bruce-Martin is the new head coach of women's artistic gymnastics national team

The Central Committee of the Swiss Gymnastics Federation has elected Wendy Bruce-Martin from the USA as the new head coach of women's artistic gymnastics. In this position, the 48-year-old will be responsible for leading the national women's artistic gymnastics squad. She will also play an important role in the holistic development of women's artistic gymnastics in Switzerland. As an artistic gymnast, Bruce-Martin won a bronze medal with the U.S. team at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. After retiring from competitive gymnastics, she remained loyal to artistic gymnastics and served in various capacities as a coach, choreographer and mental coach.  Since 2016 Bruce-Martin has also been a member of USA Gymnastics' Safe Sport program.

 «I am happy and grateful to have been given this opportunity by the Swiss Gymnastics Federation. My mission is to create a culture and training environment that empowers the Swiss National Women’s Gymnastics Team with the skills needed to succeed to achieve excellence in sport as well as life», says the new head coach. 

«My career is now dedicated to providing my athletes with the highest level of coaching possible in a manner that teaches them important skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, independence, resilience, motivation, and a work ethic that prepares them to handle the pressure that is involved in high level competition. My plan is assembling a team of hardworking coaches that will provide high level technical excellence. We will focus on a training program that builds a strong physical foundation, detailed skill development, and competition readiness. This will include both long term strategies for the 2028 games as well as shorter term goals for the coming year. I am really excited about this new challenge and am looking forward to continuing working with the athletes, the staff and the Federation», explains Wendy Bruce-Martin. 

Bruce-Martin has already been working as a coach at the Federations center in Magglingen since mid-October this year. She had temporarily taken over the management of the training of the national squad together with her compatriot Tony Retrosi, Giulia Steingruber and Desislava Bürgi (choreographer).   

«It is our goal to successfully and sustainably develop women's artistic gymnastics in Switzerland, focusing on the athletic and personal development of female athletes. For this purpose, we have launched the 2028/2032 project. We are very pleased that we have found the right person in Wendy Martin to tackle this project with her as head coach», says Fabio Corti, Central President of the Federation.  

Wendy Bruce-Martin convinced the Federation with her good work in the last two months as well as her high social competence and her skills. «She has built up a very good relationship with the athletes in a short time. The gymnasts are very motivated and there is a good atmosphere in the team. With her background as an Olympic gymnast, coach and mental trainer, she brings exactly the right skills for this challenging position», says David Huser, head of elite sports of the Swiss Gymnastics Federation, about the new head coach.   

As a next important step, the Federation will work with Wendy Bruce-Martin to fill the other coaching positions in women's artistic gymnastics.