Hobbies
Travel, reading, swimming, playing video games, listening to music, hiking, spending time with family. (teamusa.org, 19 Jul 2019)
Occupation
Athlete, Coach, Student
Education
Salt Lake Community College, United States
Spoken languages
English, Spanish
Club
Wasatch Trampoline and Tumbling [Draper, UT, USA]
Coach
Sven Nielsen [club, national]
Injuries
In August 2021 he returned to training after recovering from a concussion. (GymCrew Acro Consultants YouTube channel, 10 Aug 2021)
He was sidelined for most of 2016 due to a bulging disc in his back. (thepress.net, 13 Jun 2018)
In 2011 he fractured his shoulder. The injury took five months to heal. (thepress.net, 09 Aug 2012)
Start sporting career
He took up trampoline gymnastics at age seven in Oakley, CA, United States of America. (GymCrew Acro Consultants YouTube channel, 10 Aug 2021; flogymnastics.com, 01 Feb 2021)
Reason for taking up the sport
His mother enrolled him in a gymnastics class because he would use furniture as gym equipment when he was a child. "I did [artistic gymnastics] from five to 10 [years old]. I really loved artistic gymnastics, it was definitely harder on the body, and longer training hours. Then they introduced trampoline and tumbling to our gym. It was just kind of something I did on the side. It turned out with the base that I had from artistic gymnastics that it actually carried over really well. Within my first year of trying it, just doing it for fun, I qualified for our nationals, and I ended up with gold. I was then put into a position where I had to choose one or the other. I found I just enjoyed trampoline more, I mean as a seven-year-old kid, who doesn't like jumping on trampolines." (GymCrew Acro Consultants YouTube channel, 10 Aug 2021; thepress.net, 13 Jan 2016)
Ambitions
To compete at the Olympic Games. (USA Gymnastics Instagram profile, 19 Sep 2021)
Trainings
"I'm training about 15 hours a week, and coaching about 20." (GymCrew Acro Consultants YouTube channel, 10 Aug 2021)
Most memorable sporting achievement
Winning silver in the double mini event at the 2018 World Championships in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. (Getting To Know Trampoline Gymnastics YouTube channel, 24 Nov 2020)
Hero / Idol
Russian trampoline gymnast Mikhail Zalomin. (TheWorldGames YouTube channel, 12 May 2021)
Most influential person in career
His first coach Yoshi Nakayama. (GymCrew Acro Consultants YouTube channel, 10 Aug 2021)
Awards
He was named the 2020 Double Mini Athlete of the Year by the USA Gymnastics. (USA Gymnastics YouTube channel, 10 Aug 2020)
Additional information
General
MOVE TO UTAH
At age 17 he left his hometown of Oakley, CA, United States of America, to train at Wasatch Trampoline and Tumbling in Draper, Utah. "I moved in with [US trampoline gymnast] Kaden Brown and his family. He's a tumbler, and I've competed against him throughout the years. We're pretty close already. When I was training in California, I finished up the season and then changed gym after nationals. It just really wasn't working out, me and my coach. Kaden's coach, Becky Brown, she knew my coach. They used to train together a long time ago. Throughout my years of gymnastics, growing up I've been in a couple different gyms and I would go to competitions or national team camps by myself. I'm not saying that was a bad thing but it was hard to stay motivated. So when I moved to Utah and trained with other elites, it felt like I was finally being pushed and I didn't have to self-motivate." (GymCrew Acro Consultants YouTube channel, 10 Aug 2021)
COACHING
He has worked as a coach at Wasatch Trampoline and Tumbling in Draper, UT, United States of America. "Being on the other side and seeing how it actually is, and how much work the coaches have to put in into every single athlete, it really opened my eyes. I love coaching, and it's kind of like a break." (GymCrew Acro Consultants YouTube channel, 10 Aug 2021; Facebook profile, 27 Feb 2021; wasatchtt.com, 01 Jan 2021)
Last update : 2021-11-01