COLORADO SPRINGS — 15-year-old Ryan Maccagnan grew up in the Springs and spent most of his life here at Stars Gymnastics where his mother is a co-owner of this gym. So it’s no surprise that playing in the gym turned to hours of training hard, leading him to see much success.
The young gymnast specializes in trampoline and tumbling and he’s been able to accomplish a lot through his craft.
This year he placed 1st in the USA junior division at the USA championships. But his skill level is even more advanced than the junior level.
In fact, at 15, he is at the senior skill level of those who will be competing in the Olympics in Tokyo, but he’s simply a year too young to qualify.
Still, he has worked incredibly hard to get to this point and he spent most of his time crafting his skills over zoom and in this gym, isolated without teammates during covid, all while working towards his goal of competing in the Olympics.
“That’s something huge. The Olympics is my dream. That’s my end goal, 2024 or 2028, but being able to be there and see the senior leagues compete in the big arena at nationals is one of the biggest things for me, knowing that I can be there one day,” said Ryan Maccagnan, Trampoline & Tumbling, USA gymnast.
“He persevered. He was in here where no one else was. It was boring and he had the stamina and the grace and the perseverance to just keep training, keep going, constantly pushing himself. It was amazing,” Terri DeVries, Head Coach of Stars Tumbling and Trampoline Program at Stars Gymnastics.
Ryan says while he feels like he is ready to compete at the senior level, he is thankful to have the time to fine-tune his skillset. He says his teammates here help push him daily to be the best athlete of his ability.
Ryan says he wants to thank his coaches and his mom for helping to push him this far.
