Dominick "Dom" Adam Cunningham (born 9 May 1995) is an English-born elite artistic gymnast representing

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

since 2022, having previously represented Great Britain and England. He won a team gold at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, and the Individual Floor Gold at the

2018 European Championships The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburgh hosting the diving events and Gleneagles ...

in Glasgow.

Early life

Cunningham was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and is from

Kings Heath Kings Heath (historically, and still occasionally King's Heath) is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, four miles south of the city centre. Historically in Worcestershire, it is the next suburb south from Moseley on the A435, Alcester road. ...

, a suburb in the south of the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

city. He attended

Bishop Challoner Catholic College Bishop Challoner Catholic College is a Roman Catholic secondary school in the Kings Heath area of Birmingham, England. The school has a roll of 1,152 students, including 212 sixth form students. More than the national average are entitled to fre ...

in Birmingham until 2013. As a child, Cunningham played football and ice hockey but was captivated by gymnastics the most. His parents supported his interest despite struggling to pay his gymnastics fees. His mother took him to his first gymnastics session aged 5. He started competitions at age 7. He also took some boxing lessons. Cunningham was regularly bullied at primary school for participating in gymnastics and was subjected to name-calling. Labelled "gay" and accused of taking up a "girls' sport", he has said he felt humiliated and hid in his mother's car, refusing to go into school. Cunningham said "I was only about 9 or 10 years old at the time and I didn't want to go to school because people were calling me names because of what sport I did. I felt humiliated really. I remember just coming home and crying about it." Cunningham has trained at City of Birmingham Gymnastics Club in Perry Barr and the Earls Gymnastics Club in Halesowen.

Career

Cunningham had success at the junior level at the

2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival Australian Olympic Committee Australian Youth Olympic Festival Australian Youth Olympic Festival Australian Youth Olympic Festival The Australian Youth Olympics Festival (AYOF) is an international multi-sport event organised by the Australian Ol ...

and the 2011 European Youth Olympic Festival. Cunningham was a member of the British team for the

2017 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 7th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships were held from 19 to 23 April 2017 at the Polyvalent Hall in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. As usual in this format, no team competitions took place. Medalists Medal tabl ...

Cluj-Napoca, Romania ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Status , subdivision_name2 = County seat , settlement_type = City , le ...

in April 2017, advancing to the floor exercise and vault event finals.

2018

At the

held in

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, Cunningham was part of the team that won gold on the men's all-around event. Although he finished third in the all-around team event behind

Nile Wilson Nile Michael Wilson (born 17 January 1996) is a former British artistic gymnast. He won an Olympic bronze medal in the Gymnastics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's horizontal bar, men's horizontal bar at the 2016 Summer Olympics; he was a wo ...

and James Hall, he did not qualify for the individual all-around as only two competitors from each country may qualify. He won a bronze on the

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

. Cunningham attended the official handover ceremony at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as an ambassador representing his home city of Birmingham, which will be hosting the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

. At the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Cunningham won gold in the

floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...

. He also won a silver as part of the team. In his first World Championships at the 2018 World Championships in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

, Cunningham narrowly missed out on a bronze medal by 0.009 marks in the men's vault final.

2019

Cunningham sustained a leg injury at the 2019 European Championships in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, which left him on an 18-week rehabilitation programme to be able to walk again. At the

2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held in Stuttgart, Germany from October 4–13, 2019. The championships took place at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, and was the third time the city of Stuttgart hosted the event following the ...

held in

Stuttgart, Germany Stuttgart (; Swabian German, Swabian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fe ...

, Cunningham was part of the team that finished in fifth place in qualifications, qualifying the Great Britain team a place at 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 ...

. Cunningham and the team went on to retain their fifth place in the team final. Individually, Cunningham qualified to the

final where he placed eighth (13.566) and the vault final where he placed fifth (14.566).

2020

During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Cunningham revealed he was struggling to train without use of gyms during UK lockdown periods. Describing the training situation for gymnasts as "impossible", he took to training at a stable in

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

to prepare for the delayed

being held in Tokyo in 2021.

2022

In early 2022 Cunningham officially switched nationalities and began representing Ireland, his father's birth nation. Shortly thereafter he was selected for his first Irish team at the

2022 European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 35th European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held from 18 to 21 August 2022 in Munich, Germany as part of the second multi-sport European Championships. There were 38 nations that sent athletes. Gymnasts from Russia and Belarus ...

in Munich.Dominick Cunningham on debut for Ireland: ‘Exciting is the word’
John Crumlish, ''International Gymnast Online'', 23 September 2022

References

External links

*
Dominick Cunningham
at

British Gymnastics British Gymnastics, also known as the British Amateur Gymnastics Association (BAGA), is the sports governing body for gymnastics and Trampolining in the UK. History It was founded in 1888 as the Amateur Gymnastics and Fencing Association. Gy ...

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Dominick 1995 births Living people Irish male artistic gymnasts English male artistic gymnasts Commonwealth Games medallists in gymnastics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Gymnasts at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Birmingham, West Midlands Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games English people of Irish descent Citizens of Ireland through descent