Grace McCallum

Last updated
Grace McCallum
Grace McCallum 2021 USChamps.png
Personal information
Full nameGrace Ann McCallum
Born (2002-10-30) October 30, 2002 (age 22)
Cambridge, Minnesota, U.S.
Height5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Gymnastics career
Discipline Women's artistic gymnastics
Country
represented
Flag of the United States.svg United States
(2018–2022)
College team Utah Red Rocks (2022–2025)
ClubTwin Cities Twisters
Head coach(es)Sarah Jantzi
Medal record
Event1st2nd3rd
Olympic Games 010
World Championships 200
NCAA Championships 053
Total263
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Olympic Games
Olympic rings.svg
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2020 Tokyo Team
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2018 Doha Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2019 Stuttgart Team
Pacific Rim Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2018 Medellín Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2018 Medellín All-Around
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2018 Medellín Vault
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2018 Medellín Floor Exercise
Pan American Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2018 Lima Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2018 Lima All-Around
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2018 Lima Uneven Bars
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2018 Lima Vault
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2018 Lima Balance Beam
FIG World Cup
Event1st2nd3rd
All-Around World Cup010
Representing Utah Red Rocks
Utah Utes logo.svg
NCAA Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2023 Fort Worth Uneven Bars
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2025 Fort Worth All-Around
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2025 Fort Worth Vault
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2025 Fort Worth Uneven Bars
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2025 Fort Worth Floor Exercise
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2022 Fort Worth Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2023 Fort Worth Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2024 Fort Worth Team

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.

Contents

Personal life

McCallum was born in Cambridge, Minnesota to Sandra and Edward McCallum. She is one of seven children and has a German Shepherd named Bella. [1] [2] She finished high school online through Connections Academy. [3] McCallum is a devout Roman Catholic. [4]

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. [5] There she won gold in the team and all-around finals and won silver on vault and floor exercise. [6] 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. [7]

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. [8]

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. [9]

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. [10] 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. [11] 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. [12] [13] 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. [14]

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. [15] 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. [16] [17]

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. [18] 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). [19] [20]

2019

In January, it was announced that McCallum would represent the USA at the American Cup alongside first year senior Leanne Wong in March. [21] [22] 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. [23] At February’s team training camp, McCallum placed first in the all-around ahead of the other national team members. [24]

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. [25]

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. [26] 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. [27]

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. [28]

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. [29] 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. [30]

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. [31] However, the Birmingham World Cup was later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. [32]

In November, McCallum signed her National Letter of Intent with the University of Utah, intending to start in the 2021–22 school year. [33]

2021

McCallum competed at the American Classic in April. She only competed on the balance beam where she recorded the fourth highest score. [34] In May, McCallum competed the all-around at the U.S. Classic where she placed fourth behind Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, and Kayla DiCello. [35] 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. [36] 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. [37]

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. [38] 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. [39]

In August, McCallum announced that she would be joining Simone Biles' Gold Over America Tour . [40]

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. [41] 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. [42] As a result, she was named Pac-12 freshman of the week. [43] On February 4, in a meet against UCLA, McCallum earned her first collegiate perfect ten on the uneven bars. [44]

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. [45]

Career perfect 10.0

SeasonDateEventMeet
2022February 4, 2022Uneven barsUtah @ UCLA
March 19, 2022Pac-12 Championships
2024February 23, 2024Floor exerciseUtah vs Stanford
March 8, 2024Uneven barsUtah @ Arizona
2025February 14, 2025Utah @ Arizona State
March 15, 2025Balance beamUtah vs UCLA
April 3, 2025Uneven barsUtah Regional Semifinal
April 5, 2025Utah Regional Final

Regular season rankings

SeasonAll-AroundVaultUneven BarsBalance BeamFloor Exercise
20226th20th2nd17th12th
2024N/AN/A10th26th14th
20259th48th2nd4th30th

Selected competitive skills

ApparatusNameDescriptionDifficulty [a] Performed
VaultServente Yurchenko half-on entry, tucked salto forwards with ½ twist4.02018
Baitova Yurchenko entry, laid out salto backwards with two twists5.02018–21
Uneven Bars Chow 1/2 Stalder Shaposhnikova transition with ½ twist to high barE2018, 2021
Piked Jaeger Reverse grip swing to piked salto forwards to catch high barE2021
Ricna Stalder to counter reversed straddled hecht over high barE2019
Van Leeuwen Toe-on Shaposhnikova transition with ½ twist to high barE2019
Downie Stalder to counter reversed piked hecht over high barF2019–21
Balance BeamDouble PikeDismount: Double piked salto backwardsE2019–21
Mitchell 1080° (3/1) turn in tuck stand on one legE2018–21
Floor Exercise Mitchell 1080° (3/1) turn in tuck stand on one legE2019–21
Mukhina Full-twisting (1/1) double tucked salto backwardsE2018–21
Triple TwistSalto backward laid out with triple twistE2018–19
Silivas Double-twisting (2/1) double tucked salto backwardsH2018–21
  1. Valid for the 2022-2024 Code of Points

Competitive history

YearEventTeamAA VT UB BB FX
Junior
2017 U.S. Classic Bronze medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svg1695
P&G National Championships 114231812
Senior
2018 City of Jesolo Trophy 55Bronze medal icon.svg
Pacific Rim Championships Gold medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svg66Silver medal icon.svg
American ClassicSilver medal icon.svg9
U.S. Classic 1118127
U.S. National Championships 4654
Pan American Championships Gold medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svgBronze medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svgBronze medal icon.svg4
Worlds Team Selection CampBronze medal icon.svg575Silver medal icon.svg
World Championships Gold medal icon.svgR2
2019 American Cup Silver medal icon.svg
U.S. Classic Bronze medal icon.svgBronze medal icon.svg5Silver medal icon.svg
U.S. National Championships Bronze medal icon.svg684
Worlds Team Selection Camp641146
World Championships Gold medal icon.svg
2021 American Classic4
U.S. Classic 41555
U.S. National Championships 719Bronze medal icon.svg16
Olympic Trials 4554
Olympic Games Silver medal icon.svg
NCAA
2022 Pac-12 Championships Gold medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svg6Gold medal icon.svg12Gold medal icon.svg
NCAA Championship Bronze medal icon.svg142149277
2023 Pac-12 Championships Gold medal icon.svg
NCAA Championship Bronze medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svg
2024 Pac-12 Championships Gold medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svgBronze medal icon.svg
NCAA Championships Bronze medal icon.svg1745332418
2025Big 12 ChampionshipsGold medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svg14Bronze medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svg
NCAA Championships 4Silver medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svg18Silver medal icon.svg

Floor music

YearMusic Title
2019"Hava Nagila" [46]
2021"Birthday - Didula / Matador - Marnik and Miami Blue"

References

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