Chari Knight (Born July 7, 1972) was another in a string of Oregon State University gymnasts who broke records and set even higher expectations for the program. She made perfect 10.0 scores routine.
Chari began her gymnastics journey at six years old and graduated from Churchill High School in Eugene in 1990. She was already a member of USA national squads. Chari was an instant leader for Jim Turpin's Beaver squad, winning All-America honors as a freshman. She finished second on uneven bars at the NCAA championships, the best national finish for an OSU athlete at the time, and fifth in all-around. Oregon State advanced to nationals as a team all four years with Knight leading the way and finished 7th or better all four times.
Knight was a threat to score big on all four implements and in the all-around. She had eight perfect 10.0 performances as a collegian, including two in the same meet TWICE. Her signature move was the gravity-defying planche on the balance beam (see picture above).
Her junior season (1993) was cut short due to a knee injury that demanded reconstruction surgery and might have ended her career. She returned as a senior and picked right back where she left off, earning All-America honors in three events.
Knight is a Three-time selection to the Pac-10’s All-Conference and All-Academic teams and a Two-time Pac-10 Gymnast of The Year. In 1992, she became only the 2nd woman in NCAA history to post two perfect 10.0s in one meet. She duplicated that same feat in 1993. She achieved a total of eight perfect 10.0s in her collegiate career.
A seven-time all-American, Chari also was a CoSIDA/GTE Academic All-American and a four-time NACGC Academic All-American. She graduated from OSU with a 3.58 GPA. Knight is a two-time Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year, three-time Pac-10 All-Conference and Conference All-Academic Team member. She held OSU records in all-around, bars and beam and received the Hayward Award, honoring the top female athlete in the state or Oregon.
In 1994, she received the American Award which honored the Nation’s top gymnast. Chari continued to participate in Gymnastics for several years after college, competing and placing high in the Elite Nationals and was on the selection committee for the 2000 U.S. Olympic team.
Chari Knight was inducted into the Oregon State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003