Alexander Michael Diab (born April 25, 1997) is an American

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

. He is a

still rings The rings, also known as still rings (in contrast to flying rings), is an artistic gymnastics apparatus and the event that uses it. It is traditionally used only by male gymnasts, due to its extreme upper body strength requirements. Gymnasts oft ...

specialist and is a member of the

United States men's national gymnastics team The United States men's artistic gymnastics team represents the United States in FIG international competitions. History The first national team roster was established in 1998. The team has competed at the Olympic Games 21 times, winning six med ...

. He was an alternate for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. Diab was a member of

Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnastics The Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnastics team represents the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Fighting Illini have been invited to 47 NCAA tournaments and have won 10 team NCAA champion ...

team from 2016 to 2019, where he won 44 career event titles, and set a program record with 31 career still rings titles. He also is a two time NCAA National Champion on still rings, and a six-time NCAA All-American.

Personal life

Diab was born in

Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,395 at the 2020 census, most of whom lived in DuPage County. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town ...

to Mark and Jennifer Diab. His father Mark was an

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

gymnast from 1981 to 1986 and was the Male Athlete of the Year in 1986. He attended

Glenbard West High School Glenbard West High School is a public four-year high school located at the corner of Ellyn Avenue and Crescent Boulevard in Glen Ellyn, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Glenbard Township High School Distri ...

. He also has a sister, Maddie Diab, who also competes for

Gymnastics career

Senior

2016–17

Diab began competing for the

in 2016. During his freshman year he won the still rings title at the 2016 Big Ten Championships, with a score of 15.125. That was his eighth event title he won during the season, tying for second-most on the team. He also earned All-America honors on high bar at the

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

, finishing fifth on high bar with a score of 14.900. Following the season he was named Fighting Illini Newcomer of the Year. During his sophomore year, he won his second-straight Big Ten still rings event title, with a score of 14.875. He was NCAA All-American on still rings, earning a score of 14.650 for seventh place overall at the NCAA Championships. In August 2017, he competed at the 2017 World University Games.

2018

In February 2018, he competed at the

2018 Winter Cup The 2018 Winter Cup was an artistic gymnastics competition held at the Westgate Las Vegas in Las Vegas from February 15 to February 17, 2018. Competition The competition was the first to feature separate junior and senior competitive divisions. T ...

, where he posted a combined score of 28.550 on still rings and won silver. During his junior year in April 2018, he competed at the NCAA Championships, where he posted a score of 14.500 on still rings and won gold and helped his team win bronze at the event. The win marked his 10th rings title during the season, which is the most in a season in program history. In August 2018, he competed at the 2018 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, where he posted a score of 14.500 on still rings on day one, and 14.450 on day two, for a combined score of 28.950, and won silver.

2019

In February 2019, he competed at the 2019 Winter Cup, where he posted a score of 14.550 on still rings during the preliminary round, and 14.600 to finish with a two-day total of 29.150 and won silver on the event. He also placed 10th on both floor and vault, finishing with scores of 27.250 and 28.350, respectively. On March 2, 2019, Diab set a career-best and Illinois program record score of 15.200 on rings. He was subsequently named Big Ten Gymnast of the Week. During his senior year in April 2019, he competed at the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships, where he won his second straight national championship on still rings with a score of 14.733, becoming the first gymnast in program history to win two national titles on the event. Diab finished his Illinois career as a six-time NCAA All-American, a four-time Big Ten still rings champion, a two-time still rings national champion, the school's all-time leader with 31 titles on still rings. Following the season, he was named a finalist for the

Nissen Award The Nissen Award (Nissen Emery Award) is the award given to the best male collegiate gymnast in the United States. The award reflects admirable scholarship and moral characteristics as well as sporting success. List of winners See also * AAI Awa ...

and 2019 CGA Specialist of the Year. In August 2019, he competed at the 2019 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, where he finished with a two-day total of 29.350 and won gold on still rings.

2020–21

In February 2020, he competed at the 2020 Winter Cup, where he posted a score of 14.600 on still rings in the preliminary round, and scored a 14.850 to finish with a two-day total of 29.450 to win gold on the event. He also competed on floor exercise, vault and high bar, placing within the top-20 on each apparatus. In February 2021, he competed at the

2021 Winter Cup The 2021 Winter Cup was an artistic gymnastics competition held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. In past iterations it was only for Men's Artistic Gymnastics, however, this competition was the first time that Women's Artistic Gymn ...

, where he won gold on still rings. In June 2021, he competed at the 2021 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, where he won gold on still rings with a score of 14.950. As a result, he qualified to compete at the Olympic trials and was named to the

. At the Olympic trials, he posted scores of 14.500 and 14.900 (29.400) and finished in first on still rings. He was subsequently named an alternate for team USA at the

Competitive history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diab, Alex 1997 births Living people American male artistic gymnasts Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnasts Sportspeople from Hinsdale, Illinois Sportspeople from Illinois