Kurt Bilteaux Thomas (March 29, 1956 – June 5, 2020) was an American Olympic gymnast and part-time actor.

Thomas considered pursuing professional basketball and football, but his interest in gymnastics was piqued at age 14 after watching the team from Miami-Dade Junior College practice.

[1] Two years later, he became the first American male gymnast to win a gold medal in floor exercise, accomplishing the feat in the 1978 World Championships.

Thomas earned six medals at the 1979 World Championships, including gold on the horizontal bar and floor exercise, and silver in the all-around, parallel bars, and pommel horse, establishing a new American record for most medals won at a single Worlds.

[4][9] He was seen as a favorite to win a gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow; however, the games were boycotted by the United States government in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

[12] Thomas featured in the 1985 film Gymkata, playing the role of an American gymnast who travels to the fictional country of Parmistan to compete in a deadly competition called The Game.

[4][8] The film earned Thomas a Razzie Award nomination for Worst New Star and was poorly received by critics, but has developed somewhat of a cult following due to its unintentional comedy.

[13] Thomas also starred in the syndicated TV series True Confessions and worked as a commentator for ABC Sports[14] and ESPN.