TIGER RAG NEWS SERVICES
BATON ROUGE, La. – Armando Vega, who enjoyed a tremendous career as the LSU men’s gymnastics coach from 1972-84, has passed away at his home in Dallas, Texas. He was 90 years old.
Vega, who was inducted into the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021, produced teams that finished in the NCAA Top 10 on nine different occasions. The NCAA Gymnastics Coach of the Year in 1977 and 1978, he developed 58 All-Americans during his LSU tenure.
Vega, a native of Hurley, N.M., led the Tigers to 12 straight Southern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League championships, and he was named SIGL Coach of the Year in 1973 and 1976. He was inducted into the United States Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1977.
Vega traveled throughout the world during his coaching career, conducting gymnastics clinics and promoting LSU as an elite institution.
As a gymnast at Penn State, he won six NCAA titles, including twice in the All-Around, in 1957 and in 1959. In the AAU Championships, Vega won 11 titles between 1957 and 1964, earning seven silver and seven bronze medals.
Vega was a member of the 1956 and 1964 U.S. Olympic gymnastics teams that competed in Melbourne and Tokyo, respectively, and he served as head coach of Mexico’s 1968 Olympic squad.
Following his competitive gymnastics career, he became engaged in land management, sales and operations in Panama.
Funeral arrangements for Armando Vega are pending at this time.
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