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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 all-around champion, the 2018 Pan American uneven bars champion, and was a member of the U.S. gymnastics team that won gold at the 2018 and 2019 World Championships and the 2018 Pan American Championships.

Personal life

McCallum was born in Cambridge, Minnesota to Sandra and Edward McCallum. She is one of seven children.[2][3] She finished high school online through Connections Academy and has a German Shepherd named Bella.[4] McCallum is a devout Roman Catholic.[5]

Elite gymnastics career

2017

In 2017 McCallum competed at the 2017 U.S. Classic where she placed third in the all-around and first on vault in the junior division. At Nationals she placed 11th in the all-around and fourth on vault.

2018

McCallum turned senior 2018 and was officially added to the senior national team when she was named to the team to compete at the 2018 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships.[6] There she won gold in the team and all-around finals and won silver on vault and floor exercise.[7] McCallum also competed at the 2018 City of Jesolo Trophy where she placed fifth in the all-around, fifth on vault, and third on floor exercise.[8]

In early July, McCallum competed at the American Classic, where she only competed on uneven bars and balance beam. She finished second and ninth respectively.[9]

Later that month, McCallum competed at the GK US Classic, where she placed eleventh in the all-around. She also placed eighteenth on bars, twelfth on beam, and tied for seventh on floor with Shania Adams.[10]

In August McCallum competed at the National Championships where she placed fourth in the all-around, behind Simone Biles, Morgan Hurd, and Riley McCusker. She also finished fourth on floor exercise, sixth on uneven bars, and fifth on balance beam.[11] On August 20 McCallum was named to the team to compete at the Pan American Championships alongside Jade Carey, Trinity Thomas, Kara Eaker, and Shilese Jones.[12] There she won gold in the team finals, all-around, and uneven bars and won bronze on vault and balance beam. She had the fourth highest score on floor exercise.[13][14] Her all-around score of 57.000 during the team final was the second-highest international score in the world in 2018, behind only all-around champion Biles.[15]

In October McCallum participated in the Worlds Team Selection Camp. During the competition she placed second on floor exercise behind Biles, third in the all-around behind Biles and McCusker, fifth on balance beam and vault, and seventh on uneven bars.[16] The following day she was named to the team to compete at the 2018 World Championships alongside Biles, Hurd, McCusker, Eaker, and alternate Ragan Smith.[17][18]

During qualifications the US qualified in first place to the team final. Individually McCallum qualified as the second reserve to the vault final and placed seventh on floor exercise, but did not qualify due to teammates Biles and Hurd scoring higher.[19] During the team final McCallum competed on only vault and floor exercise. She contributed 14.533 and 13.633 respectively towards the USA's team total. USA won gold with a score of 171.629, 8.766 points ahead of second-place Russia, beating previous margin of victory records set in the open-ended code of points era at the 2014 World Championships (6.693) and the 2016 Olympic Games (8.209).[20][21]

2019

In January, it was announced that McCallum would represent the USA at the American Cup alongside first year senior Leanne Wong in March.[22][23] There she won the silver all-around medal behind Wong and ahead of the two previous World silver all-around medalists, Ellie Black of Canada (2017) and Mai Murakami of Japan (2018), who tied for third place.[24] At February’s team training camp, McCallum placed first in the all-around ahead of the other national team members.[25]

At the 2019 GK US Classic in July, McCallum placed third in the all-around behind Simone Biles and Riley McCusker. She also tied for third on bars with McCusker and behind Morgan Hurd and Sunisa Lee, placed fifth on beam, and tied for second on floor with Jade Carey and behind Biles. Additionally she had the fourth highest single vault score behind Biles, Carey, and MyKayla Skinner but had the highest scoring double-twisting yurchenko.[26]

At the 2019 U.S. National Championships, McCallum competed all four events on the first day of competition but counted two falls and ended the night in ninth place, tied with MyKayla Skinner.[27] On the second day of competition she competed all her routines cleanly and was able to make a comeback and finished the competition in third place behind Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee. She also finished in sixth on bars, eighth on beam, and fourth on floor. As a result she was added to the national team for the third time.[28]

In September McCallum competed at the US World Championships trials where she placed sixth in the all-around behind Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Kara Eaker, MyKayla Skinner, and Jade Carey after falling off the uneven bars. On the second day of trials, she competed on bars and beam, finishing third on bars behind Lee and Biles. The following day she was named to the team to compete at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart alongside Biles, Lee, Eaker, Skinner, and Carey.[29]

During the qualification round at the World Championships, McCallum helped the USA qualify to the team final in first place over five points ahead of second place China. She recorded the fifth highest all-around score despite falling on balance beam, but did not advance to the final due to teammates Biles and Lee scoring higher than her. Additionally, she placed ninth on floor exercise and tenth on uneven bars, but was not named a reserve athlete for either final due to both Biles and Lee qualifying above her on those two events.[30] In the team final, McCallum competed on vault and uneven bars, helping the USA win the gold medal ahead of Russia and Italy, making this McCallum’s second consecutive gold medal in the team final.[31]

2020

In early February it was announced that McCallum was selected to represent the United States at the Birmingham World Cup taking place in late March.[32] However the Birmingham World Cup was later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.[33]

In November McCallum signed her National Letter of Intent with the University of Utah, intending to start in the 2021–22 school year.[34]

2021

McCallum competed at the American Classic in April. She only competed on the balance beam where she recorded the fourth highest score.[35] In May McCallum competed the all-around at the U.S. Classic where she placed fourth behind Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, and Kayla DiCello.[36] At the National Championships McCallum finished seventh in the all-around. Additionally she won bronze on balance beam behind Biles and Sunisa Lee. As a result she was named to the national team and selected to compete at the upcoming Olympic Trials.[37] McCallum finished fourth at the Olympic Trials and was named to the four-person team to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics alongside Biles, Lee, and Chiles.[38]

At the Olympic Games McCallum performed the all-around during qualifications and helped the USA qualify to the team final in second place behind the athletes from Russia. She finished qualifications in thirteenth place; however she did not advance to the final due to two-per-country limitations as Biles and Lee had placed higher.[39] During the team final McCallum competed on all four apparatuses. After the first rotation Biles withdrew from the competition and the United States finished second behind the Russian Olympic Committee athletes.[40]

In August McCallum announced that she would be joining Simone Biles' Gold Over America Tour.[41]

Collegiate gymnastics career

2021–22 season

McCallum made her NCAA debut on January 7 at the Best of Utah meet where she competed the all-around to help Utah win. She put up the highest vault score of the night, a 9.90, alongside teammate Jaedyn Rucker.[42] The following week McCallum once again competed the all-around to help Utah win against Oklahoma. She recorded the highest all-around and floor exercise scores of the night with a 39.675 and 9.975 respectively.[43] As a result she was named Pac-12 freshman of the week.[44] On February 4, in a meet against UCLA, McCallum earned her first collegiate perfect ten on the uneven bars.[45]

At the Pac-12 Championships McCallum helped Utah win their second consecutive team title. Individually she placed second in the all-around behind Olympic teammate Jade Carey. She earned her second perfect ten on the uneven bars to outright win the title and co-won the title on floor exercise alongside Carey.[46]

Career perfect 10.0

Season Date Event Meet
2022 February 4, 2022 Uneven bars Utah @ UCLA
March 19, 2022 Pac-12 Championships
2024 February 23, 2024 Floor exercise Utah vs Stanford
March 8, 2024 Uneven bars Utah @ Arizona

Regular season rankings

Season All-Around Vault Uneven Bars Balance Beam Floor Exercise
2022 6th 20th 2nd 17th 12th
2024 N/A N/A 10th 26th 14th

Selected competitive skills

Apparatus Name Description Difficulty[a] Performed
Vault Servente Yurchenko half-on entry, tucked salto forwards with ½ twist 4.0 2018
Baitova Yurchenko entry, laid out salto backwards with two twists 5.0 2018–21
Uneven Bars Chow 1/2 Stalder Shaposhnikova transition with ½ twist to high bar E 2018, 2021
Piked Jaeger Reverse grip swing to piked salto forwards to catch high bar E 2021
Ricna Stalder to counter reversed straddled hecht over high bar E 2019
Van Leeuwen Toe-on Shaposhnikova transition with ½ twist to high bar E 2019
Downie Stalder to counter reversed piked hecht over high bar F 2019–21
Balance Beam Double Pike Dismount: Double piked salto backwards E 2019–21
Mitchell 1080° (3/1) turn in tuck stand on one leg E 2018–21
Floor Exercise Mitchell 1080° (3/1) turn in tuck stand on one leg E 2019–21
Mukhina Full-twisting (1/1) double tucked salto backwards E 2018–21
Triple Twist Salto backward laid out with triple twist E 2018–19
Silivas Double-twisting (2/1) double tucked salto backwards H 2018–21
  1. ^ Valid for the 2022-2024 Code of Points

Competitive history

Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
Junior
2017 U.S. Classic 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 16 9 5
P&G National Championships 11 4 23 18 12
Senior
2018 City of Jesolo Trophy 5 5 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Pacific Rim Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6 6 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
American Classic 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 9
U.S. Classic 11 18 12 7
U.S. National Championships 4 6 5 4
Pan American Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 4
Worlds Team Selection Camp 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 7 5 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Doha World Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) R2
2019 American Cup 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
U.S. Classic 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
U.S. National Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 8 4
Worlds Team Selection Camp 6 4 11 4 6
Stuttgart World Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2021 American Classic 4
U.S. Classic 4 15 5 5
U.S. National Championships 7 19 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 16
Olympic Trials 4 5 5 4
Tokyo Olympic Games 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
NCAA
2022 Pac-12 Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6 1st place, gold medalist(s) 12 1st place, gold medalist(s)
NCAA Championship 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 14 21 49 27 7
2023 Pac-12 Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s)
NCAA Championship 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2024 Pac-12 Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
NCAA Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 17 45 33 24 18

References

  1. ^ "Just the beginning: McCallum, Wong nurture big dreams at American Cup". USA Gymnastics. February 21, 2019. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  2. ^ "Grace McCallum". USA Gymnastics.
  3. ^ Get to Know the Freshman - Grace McCallum, retrieved 2021-09-22
  4. ^ Johnson, Anna Rose (July 27, 2018). "Amazing Grace!". Inside Gymnastics.
  5. ^ Grace Doerfler, Amelia Jarecke, Chloe Gunther (July 16, 2021). "Ten American Catholic athletes to watch for in the Tokyo Olympics". America. Retrieved July 20, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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  8. ^ "2018 City of Jesolo Trophy Results". The Gymternet. April 16, 2018.
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  10. ^ "GK Classic Results 2018" (PDF).
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  23. ^ "World medallists headline 2019 American Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. January 10, 2019.
  24. ^ "2019 American Cup Live Blog". The Gymternet. 2019-03-02. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  25. ^ "Sarah Jantzi on Instagram: "Amazing Grace 1st AA at national team camp in the senior division!!!"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2019-07-18.
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  29. ^ "USA Gymnastics announces 2019 U.S. Women's World Championships Team". USA Gymnastics. September 23, 2019. Archived from the original on March 3, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
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  31. ^ "Simone Biles breaks record; U.S. women win gymnastics world team title". NBC Sports. October 8, 2019.
  32. ^ "Birmingham World Cup roster bursts with World stars". FIG. February 7, 2020.
  33. ^ "British Gymnastics national events announcement, including FIG World Cup". British Gymnastics. March 16, 2020. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  34. ^ "Two Team USA Olympic hopefuls sign with Utah gymnastics". Deseret News. November 11, 2020. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  35. ^ "Blakely claims 2021 American Classic senior all-around title, eight qualify to U.S. Gymnastics Championships". USA Gymnastics. April 24, 2021. Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  36. ^ "Biles debuts unprecedented Yurchenko double pike vault en route to fifth GK U.S. Classic title". USA Gymnastics. May 22, 2021. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  37. ^ "Biles wins seventh national all-around championship, most in U.S. women's gymnastics history". USA Gymnastics. June 7, 2021. Archived from the original on August 1, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  38. ^ "Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee highlight six U.S. women's gymnasts for Tokyo Olympics". NBC Sports. June 27, 2021.
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  40. ^ "ROC wins women's team gold medal, ending Team USA's decade long reign". International Olympic Committee. July 27, 2021. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  41. ^ "Cheer For Your Favorite Team USA Gymnasts at the Gold Over America Tour This Fall". Yahoo!. August 19, 2021. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  42. ^ Wodraska, Lya (January 7, 2022). "Utah gymnastics team opens season with victory in Best of Utah Meet". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  43. ^ "With win over Oklahoma, Utah showed it is 'a force to be reckoned with'". Deseret News. January 14, 2022.
  44. ^ "No. 2 Utah's Grace McCallum is the Pac-12 Gymnastics Freshman/Newcomer of the Week". Pac-12 Conference. January 18, 2022.
  45. ^ "Suni Lee Earns First Perfect 10 of Collegiate Career". Sports Illustrated. February 5, 2022.
  46. ^ "Utah claims 2022 Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Championship". Pac-12 Conference. March 19, 2022.
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