Nickname
Dom (Instagram profile, 26 Aug 2023)
Hobbies
Riding motorcycles, repairing cars and motorcycles, boxing, mixed martial arts. (irishexaminer.com, 17 Aug 2022; thesun.ie, 17 Aug 2022)
Occupation
Athlete
Spoken languages
English
Coach
Luke Carson [national]; Conor McGovern [national]
Injuries
He was dealing with a collarbone injury in the lead-up to the 2022 European Championships in Munich, Germany. (irishexaminer.com, 17 Aug 2022)
He underwent surgery on both ankles in 2022. (irishexaminer.com, 17 Aug 2022)
He sustained a grade two lateral collateral ligament [LCL] injury to his knee at the 2019 European Championships in Szczecin, Poland. His recovery took eight weeks and he returned to competition after nearly six months. (Twitter profile, 06 Jun 2019, 03 Jun 2019; Instagram profile, 17 Apr 2019)
In 2011 he suffered a vertebral fracture and was out of action for nine months. (eveningexpress.co.uk, 11 Jul 2020)
Start sporting career
He took up gymnastics at age five.
Reason for taking up the sport
His mother took him to a gym to put him in a safe environment as he was an energetic child.
Ambitions
To work as a stuntperson. (irishexaminer.com, 17 Aug 2022)
Most influential person in career
His father. (irishexaminer.com, 17 Aug 2022)
Awards
He was named the 2018 Outstanding Athlete of the Year by British Gymnastics. (british-gymnastics.org, 27 Jan 2019)
In 2018 he was named Amateur Sportsman of the Year in Birmingham, England. (fig-gymnastics.com, 22 Oct 2018)
Additional information
REPRESENTING IRELAND
In early 2022 he switched from competing for Great Britain to representing Ireland. He is eligible to compete for Ireland through his father. "My dad's always been invested in gymnastics but, now, competing for Ireland, he's suddenly become more invested. He's like, 'When's your next competition?' and I'm like, 'You weren't asking this four years ago'. Now I've been with Team Ireland I've just enjoyed every part of my gymnastics. People keep saying I look really happy in the gym and I am because I've got a focus now. I'm happy with these guys, the team, we've got so much potential." (gymnasticsireland.com, 18 Aug 2022; thesun.ie, 17 Aug 2022; irishexaminer.com, 17 Aug 2022; gymnastics.sport, 26 Feb 2022)
MEDIA WORK
He did not compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. He did attend the Games though, working as a presenter at the gymnastics venue during the event. "I had such a great experience but I still had to do all of my training afterwards. I was there from like 06:30 in the morning until about 20:30. I'd be getting home at 01:00 and then start my day again at 06:00. It was rough, it battered me. But I was happy, the producers were happy. I'd never seen how much hard work goes on." (thesun.ie, 17 Aug 2022)
LEOTARD BUSINESS
In 2020 he started selling leotards through a business called DC Leotards. "I've decided to create some leotards because creativity is a part of our sport and I've always wanted male gymnasts to feel good when they train. It is important that male and female gymnasts both feel good. I'm always a happy person and I want gymnasts who look up to me to say, 'I've got a leotard from Dom Cunningham who started gymnastics at my age and he has a dream to go to the Olympics'. I want them to have the inspiration needed on days when it gets tough." (dcleotards.co.uk, 01 Jan 2021)
Last update : 2024-07-22
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