Gina Pongetti Angeletti

Gina Pongetti Angeletti is a certified physical therapist and coach, and one of the world's foremost experts on the health of athletes who perform. She owns MedGym, LLC and the Achieve Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Institute in the Chicago area, and for more than two decades she has kept gymnasts, dancers, figure skaters, and performers healthy, training, and on stage.

Who she works with

Her clients include Olympians, World Champions, and NCAA champions, alongside musicians, dancers, and Broadway actors. Beyond the gym and the stage she has worked the AVP volleyball tour, Ironman triathlon treatment teams, and PGA golf events, and has been personal medical manager to professional tennis players, MLB pitchers, and track and field champions.

The twisties, and the media work

During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 Gina gained international attention for explaining "the twisties," the condition that affected Simone Biles and became one of the defining stories of the Games. Working as medical editor for Inside Gymnastics magazine, she appeared live across NBC's television platforms and gave commentary to BBC Sport, BBC News, and France TVSport. Throughout her career she has provided background to national newspapers and wire services. The features, broadcasts, and bylines are collected in the Press Box.

What she gets asked to explain

• Pain and injury: how pain shapes both the physical and the psychological side of an athlete's path, and what rehabilitation really involves
• The aging athlete: how age affects performance, recovery, and risk, as more Olympians chase multiple Games
• How much is too much: the physical, mental, and social cost of chasing greatness
• Female athlete injuries: why they are different, and how age, hormones, children, and physiology change the treatment path
• The coach and athlete relationship: from adolescent stars to adult professionals, and the line between motivational coaching and bullying
• The team around the athlete: why proactive medicine now means a multidisciplinary group of experts, and how traditional programs are receiving that
• Gymnastics-specific demands: skill performance, flexibility and strength, progression, physical stress, and the lifelong training path

Teaching, research, and certification

Gina is internationally recognized as a lecturer, educator, and researcher, and co-wrote the only manual and course on performing arts medicine approved by the American Physical Therapy Association. She built the GSMC certification in gymnastics sports medicine, and the clinicians who have earned it are listed in the practitioner directory. Her conference talks and two decades of published columns live in Presentations and published work.

Coaching, and her own sport

A former gymnast and Ironman triathlete, Gina spent five years coaching at Swiss Turners Gymnastics, from beginners through the elite level, and served as an assistant women's gymnastics coach at Michigan State University.

Education and credentials

• MPT (Master of Physical Therapy), Marquette University, 2002
• M.A., Health Communication, Michigan State University, 2003
• B.A., Communications, Marquette University, 1999
• CSCS, ART-Certified: strength and conditioning, Active Release