Trinity Lemyra Thomas (born April 7, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast and a four-time
National Team member (2016–20). She was a member of the gold-medal winning team at the
2018 Pan American Gymnastics Championships, where she also won silver medals in the individual all-around and on the uneven bars, as well as the bronze medalist on balance beam and floor exercise at the 2017 national championships. She is also currently a member of the
Florida Gators women's gymnastics
The Florida Gators women's gymnastics team represents the University of Florida in the sport of gymnastics. The team competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gator ...
team.
Gymnastics career
Pre-Elite
2011–2012
Thomas commenced gymnastics training in 2008, at the age of 7 – a relatively late start for an elite-level gymnast. In 2011, training at Skyline Gymnastics in York, she was the Pennsylvania state champion for Level 7 in the all-around and on all four pieces. As a result, she skipped Level 8 to compete as a Level 9 gymnast, placing second at the 2012 Regionals. At the 2012 Level 9 Eastern Championship in
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, she was fourth in the all-around; she competed against future teammate
Sydney Johnson-Scharpf
Sydney Ashlyn Johnson-Scharpf (born August 2, 2000, in Orlando, Florida) is an American artistic gymnast and daughter of Brandy Johnson, a member of the 1988 USA Olympic Team.
Competitive history
2013
Johnson-Scharpf competed at the 2013 ...
.
2013-2014
For the 2013 season, Thomas moved to Artistic Sports Academy Plus (ASAP) in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...
, and moved up to
Level 10; the highest level of the USAG program. She was third at States, ninth at Regionals and, as a result, qualified to the J.O. NIT competition. At the competition, held in
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
, Thomas finished fourth in the all-around and was the National Champion on floor.
In 2014, following her move to Prestige Gymnastics in
Lancaster, she only competed three events at the Pennsylvania State Championships.
Junior Elite
2015
In February 2015, Thomas qualified as a Junior International Elite gymnast through her performance in the WOGA Classic Elite Qualifier.
Senior Elite
2017
Thomas turned senior in 2017. She made her senior international debut at the
2017 City of Jesolo Trophy
The 2017 City of Jesolo Trophy was the 10th annual ''Trofeo di Jesolo'' gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The ...
where she helped the USA finish first. In July Thomas competed at the
2017 U.S. Classic. She only competed on uneven bars and balance where she placed third on each. Later in the summer Thomas competed at the
2017 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships
The 2017 P&G U.S. National Gymnastics Championships is the 54th edition of the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships. The competition was held from August 17–20, 2017 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Competition schedule
The com ...
where she placed fourth in the all-around behind
Ragan Smith
Ragan Elizabeth Smith (born August 8, 2000) is an American collegiate gymnast. She is a five-time member of the US National Team (2014–2019). She is the 2017 United States national all-around champion and was an alternate for the 2016 Olymp ...
,
Jordan Chiles
Jordan Lucella Elizabeth Chiles (born April 15, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the team event. She was a member of the team that won gold at the 2 ...
, and
Riley McCusker
Riley Shannon McCusker (born July 9, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast and a six-time member of the United States women's national gymnastics team (2016–2021). She is the 2019 Pan American Games and 2017 United States national uneven ba ...
, sixth on bars, and third on beam and floor. As a result, she was named to the
senior national team and invited to participate in the
Worlds Team Selection Camp. After the two days of trials, Chiles and Thomas were selected as the non-traveling alternates for the 2017 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.
2018
In the beginning of the year Thomas was selected to compete at the
Tokyo World Cup, where she won silver behind
Mai Murakami of Japan. In April she announced her commitment to the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
and their
gymnastics team. In August Thomas competed at the
2018 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships where she placed eighth in the all-around, fourth on bars, and sixth on beam and floor, and was once again named to the senior national team. On August 20, 2018 Thomas was named to the team to compete at the
Pan American Championships A Pan American Championship is a top level international sports competition between athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs in the Americas. Typically these championships are recurring, the most ...
alongside
Grace McCallum
Grace Ann McCallum (born October 30, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the team event. She is the 2018 Pan American and 2018 Pacific Rim individual a ...
,
Jade Carey
Jade Ashtyn Carey (born May 27, 2000) is an American artistic gymnast who represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Best known for her abilities on vault and floor exercise, she is the 2020 Olympic champion on floor e ...
,
Kara Eaker
Kara Eaker (born November 7, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. On the balance beam she is the 2018 Pan American and 2019 Pan American Games champion and a two-time United States national silver medalist (2018, 2019). On floor exercise she ...
, and
Shilese Jones
Shilese Jones (born July 26, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the teams that won gold at the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 2022 World Championships and the 2018 Pan American Gymnastics Championships, 201 ...
. There she won gold in the team final and silver in the all-around and on uneven bars. Thomas was invited to attend the
Worlds Team Selection Camp but declined.
NCAA and Elite
2019
In 2019 Thomas became one of the few gymnasts to train both NCAA and elite gymnastics simultaneously.
Thomas began competing as a collegiate gymnast for the
Florida Gators
The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...
in the 2018–2019 season. At the 2019 SEC Championships Thomas placed first on vault, second of floor exercise behind
Sarah Finnegan
Sarah Finnegan (born November 14, 1996) is a retired American artistic gymnast and was an alternate for the 2012 Summer Olympics Gymnastics team. She competed for the Louisiana State Lady Tigers at the collegiate level, and was the 2017 and 20 ...
of
Louisiana State
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisian ...
third in the all-around behind Finnegan and
Lexi Graber of Alabama. She helped Florida place second overall. During the Regional Finals, the Florida Gators lost, being upset by the
Denver Pioneers
The Denver Pioneers are the sports teams of the University of Denver (DU). They play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Denver is a member of The Summit League for men's and women's basketball, swimming and diving ...
and the
Oregon State Beavers
The Oregon State Beavers are the athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ( Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for c ...
, and thus did not qualify as a team to compete at the
2019 NCAA Championships. Thomas, however, qualified as an individual on floor exercise and uneven bars. At the
2019 NCAA Championships Thomas placed seventh on floor exercise and 30th on uneven bars.
Thomas returned to elite competition and competed at the
2019 GK US Classic in July, opting to only compete on uneven bars and balance beam. On the two events, she placed sixth and seventh, respectively.
At
U.S. National Championships Thomas competed in the all-around, where she finished in ninth place. She also placed fourth on uneven bars behind
Sunisa Lee
Sunisa "Suni" Lee (born Sunisa Phabsomphou; March 9, 2003) is a Hmong American artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic all-around champion and uneven bars bronze medalist. She was a member of the teams that won gold at the 2019 World Champio ...
,
Morgan Hurd
Morgan Elizabeth Hurd (born July 18, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast and a five-time member of the United States women's national team (2016–21). She is the 2017 World all-around champion and balance beam silver medalist and the 2018 ...
, and
Simone Biles
Simone Arianne Biles (; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most de ...
, tenth on balance beam, and fifteenth on floor exercise. As a result she was added to the national team for the fourth time.
2020
On January 24, in a meet against
Louisiana State
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisian ...
, while performing on the uneven bars Thomas earned her first collegiate perfect 10.0. The following week she earned her second perfect 10, this time on balance beam, in a meet against Denver and Iowa State. On March 7, in a meet against Penn State, Thomas earned a perfect 10 on floor exercise; she was the second of two gymnasts that season to be awarded the perfect score, the first was
Gracie Kramer. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...
, the NCAA cancelled the remainder of the 2020 season on March 12. Thomas was nominated for the
Honda Sports Award
The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...
alongside
Kyla Ross
Kyla Briana Ross (born October 24, 1996) is a retired American artistic gymnast and current assistant coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team. She is the first female gymnast to win NCAA, World, and Olympic championship titles.
Ross w ...
(who won the award),
Maggie Nichols, and
Lexy Ramler
Lexy Ramler (born February 6, 1999) is an American artistic gymnast. An international elite for 3 years, she currently competes for the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's gymnastics team.
Career
She tied with UCLA's Kyla Ross for second in the al ...
.
2021
Thomas announced her retirement from elite gymnastics in May, citing that her ankle injuries earlier in the year has hindered her training for the
2020 Olympic Games
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 1 ...
and that she would instead focus on rehabbing her injury and continuing to compete at the NCAA level.
2022
On January 16, in a meet against
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
, Thomas earned a perfect 10 on both vault and floor exercise. By earning a 10 on vault, Thomas became the 12th NCAA gymnast and third
Florida Gator after
Bridget Sloan
Bridget Elizabeth Sloan (born June 23, 1992) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2009 world champion in the all-around, the 2009 United States national champion, and a silver medalist with the American team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in ...
and
Alex McMurtry
Alexandra Claire McMurtry (born December 8, 1996) is an American former artistic gymnast. She is the 2013 Nastia Liukin Cup champion and the 2017 NCAA Champion. She competed in NCAA gymnastics for the Florida Gators and was the 10th person in ...
to earn a
gym slam (a perfect 10 on all four apparatuses). She is also the only NCAA gymnast to earn a perfect 10 on each apparatus at least 3 times.
2023
During the season opener quad meet versus West Virginia, Ball State, and Lindenwood on January 6th, Thomas earned a perfect 10 on the balance beam, joining
Bridget Sloan
Bridget Elizabeth Sloan (born June 23, 1992) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2009 world champion in the all-around, the 2009 United States national champion, and a silver medalist with the American team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in ...
as the only Gators to open a season with a perfect mark. On January 27 Thomas scored a perfect ten on vault in a meet against Georgia. In doing so she earned her fourth career
gym slam.
Personal life
Thomas was born on April 7, 2001 in
York, Pennsylvania
York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...
to parents Titania and Tisen Thomas. Her father, Tisen, was a
wide receiver for
Penn State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...
's
Nittany Lions football team – a 1993 graduate. She has four siblings; Tesia, a former gymnast, volleyball player and swimmer now competing in track and field at Penn State, University Park Taleyn, a gymnast, diver and pole vaulter Tristen, a gymnast and swimmer and Tayvon, an offensive and defensive football player and swimmer.
Competitive history
Career perfect 10.0
NCAA Regular season ranking
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Trinity
2001 births
Living people
African-American female gymnasts
American female artistic gymnasts
Florida Gators women's gymnasts
Sportspeople from York, Pennsylvania
U.S. women's national team gymnasts
NCAA gymnasts who have scored a perfect 10
21st-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century African-American women