Joshua Jefferis (born 29 August 1985) is an Australian

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 was an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

scholarship holder. He has won medals at the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

Personal

Jefferis was born on 29 August 1985 in Brisbane, Queensland. He was educated at the

Anglican Church Grammar School The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in East Brisbane, an inner suburb of Brisbane, ...

. Jefferis is tall and weighs . In November 2010, he completed a degree in Sports Science, and then enrolled in a program that will enable him to become a physiotherapist.

Artistic gymnastics

Jefferis is a parallel bars and rings specialist, starting in the sport when he was only two years old. He was first coached by Anthony Beake at Y-West. In 1992 as a seven-year-old with Y-West, Jefferis became part of the Queensland HPC development program and stayed with the program for three years. From 1995 to 2005, he trained and was on scholarship with the

Queensland Academy of Sport The Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1991 by the Queensland Government to support athletes in the state of Queensland. Its headquarters are currently located at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre in ...

, before he earned a scholarship with the Australian Institute of Sport in 2005. Since 2005, he has been coached by

Vladimir Vatkin Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

. , he is still on scholarship at the

. Jefferis represented Australia at the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Commonwealth Games. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he earned a gold medal in the men's all around event, a gold medal in the rings, and a silver medal in the team competition. At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, he helped Australia win their first gold medal in the men's team event, and took an individual gold on the parallel bars and bronze in the all around event. He competed in the World Championships in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, and 2011. At the 2003 Championships, he was the youngest member of the Australian all around team. His best performance at Worlds was twelfth place in the all around competition in 2006. In January 2012, Jefferis was passed over by

Gymnastics Australia Gymnastics Australia (GA) is the governing body for the sport of gymnastics in Australia. History Gymnastics in Australia is thought to have originated in the early 20th century by eastern European immigrants. It wasn't until after World War I ...

to participate at a London Olympic Games test event. However, after Sam Offord injured his ankle, he beat out training partner and national team teammate

Thomas Pichler Thomas Pichler (born 18 September 1986) is an Australian former artistic gymnast. Born in Austria, Pichler suffered from health problems as a child which resulted in his family moving to Australia in search of a warmer climate. He grew up in Br ...

for a spot on the team. Jefferis represented Australia at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in men's artistic gymnastics. He was officially selected on 1 June 2012, one of the first to be named to Australia's gymnastic squad, and was Australia's only male artistic gymnast at the Games. Jefferis was twenty-six years old when he made his Olympic debut. His family faced difficulty getting tickets to watch him compete, as Gymnastics Australia was only able to secure two tickets per gymnast at the Games.

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferis, Joshua 1985 births Living people Australian Institute of Sport gymnasts Australian male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Gymnasts at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Gymnasts at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Gymnasts at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Australia People educated at Anglican Church Grammar School Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in gymnastics 21st-century Australian people Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Brisbane Sportsmen from Queensland