Utes Insider – Kristina Baskett, Former Gymnast and Hollywood Stunt Performer
5/5/2020
The second installment of “Utes Insider” presented by Pepsi features former Ute national champion gymnast and current stunt performer Kristina Baskett.
Mike Lageschulte talks to Kristina about her gymnastics career, which started at the age of two and culminated with 12 All-America awards and an NCAA bars title with the Red Rocks. She also tells us how she transitioned to the entertainment business with the help of a former rival college coach, dives deep into her time as a stunt double on HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and gives a preview of her upcoming project “Stargirl.” Kristina, who is married to former Ute football player John Peel, also looks ahead to becoming a mother.
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Kristina Baskett, Utah Gymnast, 2006-09
One of the most successful gymnasts in Utah history, Kristina Baskett was crowned a national champion and 12-time All-American before embarking on a highly successful career in the entertainment business.
While growing up just outside of Seattle, Wash., Baskett began gymnastics classes at the age of two and developed into an elite level competitor. In 2005, she won the all-around, vault and floor titles at the USA Junior Olympics.
Baskett wasted little time in making her mark at the collegiate level, winning a share of the 2006 NCAA uneven bars title as a freshman. In 2007, she finished fourth in the same event.
“I won NCAAs on uneven bars and that was the event I struggled with my whole life really. It was kind of my nemesis throughout my childhood where I went in and out of maybe not even wanting to do gymnastics because I struggled so much on uneven bars.
So, to go from that to the NCAA champion on bars was a huge uplift for my confidence and set the stage for the rest of my time at Utah.”
Baskett emerged as one of the premier all-arounders in the nation the last two years of her career. In 2008, she finished third in the all-around, second on vault and sixth on bars.
As a senior in 2009, Baskett made a strong charge at NCAA gold in the all-around, winning her qualifying session before finishing second overall. She placed third on three events: vault, bars and beam.
For her career, Baskett was a seven-time medalist at nationals. Her efforts kept the Red Rocks in the title hunt each year as they recorded three consecutive runner-up finishes from 2006-08 and placed third in 2009.
We were so close to first place and I really do think we did have what it takes. It could have gone either way because it was that close. For us at the time, it definitely wasn’t satisfying, but looking back now I couldn’t be happier and I wouldn’t change a thing about my experience.
A CoSIDA Academic All-American, Baskett graduated with a degree in mass communication and electronic journalism. She also developed a passion for photography during her time at the U, and had her work displayed at the NCAA Convention.
For the past decade, Baskett has done most of her work in front of the camera.
She performed as an acrobat in the Las Vegas shows “Le Reve” (Leh Rehv) and Cirque du Soleil's “Viva Elvis” before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a stunt performer.
She has accumulated over 100 credits between major motion pictures, television shows and commercials.
Her most notable role was serving as the stunt double for Arya (R-ee-uh) Stark in HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”
It is a really hard industry to break into, but it is the same with gymnastics. I was determined that it was what I wanted to do and put the work in, and people saw that. I was able to make a really big impact and reputation in the industry and worked really hard on other skill sets. It was very rewarding.
Kristina currently resides in Scottsdale, Ariz., and is married to former Utah football player John Peel. Kristina and John are expecting a baby girl this May.
She continues to enjoy photography with her small business K Peel Photo, and this past spring was named an assistant gymnastics coach at Arizona State University.
A lot of times it is the little things that make memories or experiences that much better and I have so many of those from my time at the U that almost stand out more than the big accomplishments. You’ll always remember life changing moments and at the time, I had no idea that the little spark with football player John Peel would mean so much.