Gold medal gymnast Marcia Frederick turns 52

Henry Frederick was reading and writing at 3. Marcia Frederick was tumbling and doing back flips when she was 3. She performed on a world stage, winning the gold in the uneven parrallel bars.

Marcia Frederick stands on podium for gold medal in Stasbourg, France in 1978 / Headline Surfer®DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Marcia Frederick, the first American female gymnast to win a gold medal in Strasbourg, France, in 1978, during the world championships, celebrated her 52nd birthday on Sunday. She is the second cousin of this internet newspaper publisher.

Elena Mukhina of the Soviet Union won the silver and Nadia Comaneci of Romania won the bronze. Had it not been for President Carter having the US boycott the Moscow Olympics in 1980, because of the communist nation's Afghanistan invasion, perhps it would have been Marcia Frederick winning multiple golds instead of rival Nadia Comaneci.

And while Marcia Frederick's gymnastics feats are long behind her, Henry Frederivck continues to tell her story to a global digital audience via HeadlineSurfer.com.