‘Gonna Miss You’: Gymnastics Community Emotional as Simone Biles’ Former Teammate Bids Farewell to the Sport
With the most achievements in the locker and an undisputed authority over the sport, Simone Biles has always played a prominent role in popularizing gymnastics. At 27, she won four Olympic medals in Paris, challenging the notion of age in athletics. Such achievements have established her as a global icon of gymnastics. But there is someone who once gained almost a similar tag by making gymnastics easy to grasp for all. Surprisingly, the gymnast doesn’t have a resume like Biles’s or most other elite gymnasts. Rather, for all he’s done for the sport, he’s often labeled the “unintentional ambassador.” Quite impressive, isn’t it? Still, his impact is hard to ignore. But now, things are trending toward witnessing a change. The individual has recently announced taking a fresh turn in his career.
In the Gold Over America Tour, Simone sent a call to Ian Gunther, not for his phenomenal achievement in Stanford gymnastics. Rather, the 25-year-old had a unique factor. Through social media, he became a global celebrity. His shared gymnastics videos amassed thousands of views and a huge fan following across the borders. Unlike many others, his videos reflect on the gymnastics lives, presenting a way to explore the world closely. This unique feature made Ian Gunther a household name in the USA and many other countries. However, Gunther will no longer be seen on the mat, nor will he take hold of the equipment again.
On December 7, the four-time NCAA champion put a detailed note on Instagram, announcing his retirement. He further noted, “Although I’m no longer competing, my passion for the sport remains unwavering. Moving forward, I’m committed to staying even more engaged and finding new ways to give back to gymnastics and the community that has given me so much.” Nonetheless, his absence in the direct role will be hard to fill. This factor may have made Khoi Young emotional.
In the comment box, the world championship medalist put his heartfelt words, “Gonna miss you man 😢.” At Stanford, both gymnasts spent memorable phases. And it was about all those days when Gunther had yet to gain a global identity. Back then, he was all about someone from Houston who was trying to settle his feet on the men’s gymnastics. But the job wasn’t easy.
In the USA, men’s gymnastics doesn’t have factors like women’s gymnastics does. The NCAA gymnastics has been facing a lack of funds, with many institutions bidding the program goodbye. Furthermore, at the NCAA level, men’s gymnastics does not have many meets. This issue has hurt the sport differently, limiting the broadcasting opportunity. There are a few more issues that have haunted Gunther’s sport. But being a standout, he couldn’t stay a mute spectator. He started doing something to break his boredom. But later, his activities added oxygen to the sport on some levels.
According to Gunther, in 2020, he started to upload gymnastic snippets on social media. In the COVID period, he had nothing much to do. So his thinking was to embrace the fresh activity to break the shackles of boredom. The activity later turned into Ian’s hobby. After all, in four years, he gained more than 1.5 million followers on social media. And folks, can you guess his rate of consistency in sharing videos on social media? It is almost 2 per day. Yet he has never tried to accept his social media activity as his main stint.
Rather, Simone Biles‘s teammate often argued, “I still feel like at heart, I’m a gymnast first.” Soon, he elaborated, “I’ve only been doing social media for four years now. I’ve been doing gymnastics for like 20. I’m taking it one day at a time, breaking it down to one event at a time, and just stressing my training and trying to stay in the moment as much as I can.” Now, that schedule is on the cards to witness a break as Ian Gunther is moving away. He termed his retirement as a “poetic way” to drop the curtain on his career. However, his colleagues and the gymnastics community have found it hard to settle with the emotions.
Simone Biles’s colleagues line up to give flowers to the ‘inspiration’
For Ellie Black, Ian Gunther poses an ‘inspiration.’ The four-time Olympian penned in the comment box, “Congrats Ian! An inspiration to us all ❤️ Can’t wait for the continued memories.” The ‘memories’ may have signified all those moments from the GOAT tour when she, Simone Biles, and many others matched their moves with Gunther on the stage and in the practice room. Another Olympian and GOAT member, Jade Carrey, dropped her message for a fellow gymnast on an emotional day.
In the comment box, Carrey wrote, “you’re awesome ian.” Again the GOAT connection worked to bond the Olympic champion with Gunther. That’s another part of his success. In his phases, Ian never came among the hopefuls of the Olympics. Also, before the US Olympic gymnastics trials this year, he clarified his mindset. He was all set to call the Winter Cup his last elite contest and wanted to retire in the Olympic cycle. The decision was made barring his participation in the Paris Olympics. At last, Gunther proved the reality of his statement. Such values made Kayla DiCello comment, “Proud of you!!” in the space. But what about his contribution to the men’s gymnastics? A fan surely reminisced over that on the important day.
In the comment box, someone put in, “Congrats on an incredible career! Thank you for bringing so much awareness to men’s gymnastics. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for you next!” It is all about his impact on sports, created through the videos and posts in the last four years. Coming from Stanford, Gunther has been able to keep the light on in his alma mater and many other institutions to keep men’s gymnastics in the curriculum. Now, as per his words, he will be continuing to perform that, irrespective of his tenure as a retired gymnast. Isn’t that something magical?
