Patti Sebestyen

Athlete (1995)

Gymnastics

Patti Sebestyen was born in Saskatoon in 1949 and since her grandfather had helped build St. Mary's Hall and her dad was interested in gymnastics, it was no accident that Patti would follow the family tradition.

Although she also competed in track, basketball and volleyball, gymnastics was the natural attraction. She and her sister Glenna dominated the Canadian junior championships, unique because Glenna won the crown in 1962, Patti won in 1963 and Glenna in 1964, the only times that sisters had dethroned each other. With their dad as coach, the Marian Gymnastics Club often travelled to national events and she shared in team victories while competing from 1961 until 1970. Patti was a silver medallist on Saskatchewan's team at the First Canada Winter Games in Quebec City in 1967 and also competed for the University of Saskatchewan.

Patti showed natural instincts towards coaching, travelling to North Battleford and Prince Albert and the Northwest Territories to teach their young as well as devoting 28 years to the Marian gymnastic club. She was technical chairperson for Saskatchewan women's gymnastics from 1967 until 1973, judging chairperson in Saskatchewan from 1976 until 1983; and was on the national committee from 1976 to 1988.

She is the only Saskatchewan woman ever to attain an international brevet-judging honor - the highest possible status - and she has been a judge or a guest coach in England, Hungary, United States, China, Romania and Yugoslavia.