| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Taeja Nicole James | |||||||||||
| Born | 15 October 2002 Nottingham, England [1] | |||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Women's artistic gymnastics | |||||||||||
| Countries represented | ||||||||||||
| Club | Notts Gymnastics Academy City of Birmingham (formerly) | |||||||||||
| Head coach(es) | Jodie Kime, Lee Woolls | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||
Taeja Nicole James (born 15 October 2002) is an English artistic gymnast. She won a silver medal in the team event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and competed at the 2018 European Championships and the 2019 World Championships. As a junior she won a silver medal with the British team at the 2016 Junior European Championships.
James won the silver medal in the junior all-around at the 2016 British Championships. [2] She then competed at the 2016 Junior European Championships and helped the British team win the silver medal behind Russia. [3] At the 2016 Elite Gym Massilia, she won the silver medal on the floor exercise behind Anastasia Ilyankova. [4]
James won the junior all-around title at the 2017 British Championships despite falling off the beam. [5] She then finished fifth in the all-around at the 2017 European Youth Olympic Festival. [6]
James became age-eligible for senior competitions in 2018. She won the vault bronze medal and the floor exercise silver medal at the 2018 British Championships. [7] At 15 years and 6 months old, James was the youngest athlete representing England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. [1] She was not originally selected for the team but was brought in to replace the injured Amy Tinkler. [8] While there, she helped England win the team silver medal. [9] She qualified for the floor exercise final in first place, but she stepped out of bounds twice in the final and finished seventh. [8] She then competed with the British team that finished fourth at the 2018 European Championships. [10]
James finished eighth in the all-around at the 2019 British Championships. In the event finals, she won a bronze medal on the floor exercise and finished fifth on the balance beam. [11] She helped Great Britain finish sixth at the 2019 World Championships. [12]
After a 5-year break from gymnastics, James teased her return on Instagram. She trialled for the 2025 World Championships, where she was named as a non-travelling reserve. [13] She made her return to competition at the 2025 British Team Championships, where Notts Gymnastics Academy came second and individually James placed third on vault, second on balance beam and fourth on floor.
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | English Championships | 7 | |||||
| 2016 | International Gymnix | 7 | 26 | ||||
| British Team Championships | 6 | ||||||
| English Championships | |||||||
| British Championships | 4 | 7 | 6 | ||||
| Züri Gym Days | |||||||
| Italian Junior Friendly | 6 | ||||||
| European Championships | 86 | ||||||
| Olympic Hopes Cup | 7 | 5 | |||||
| Elite Gym Massilia | 8 | 5 | |||||
| 2017 | British Championships | ||||||
| English Championships | |||||||
| European Youth Olympic Festival | 5 | 5 | |||||
| British Team Championships |
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | English Championships | 8 | |||||
| British Championships | 16 | ||||||
| Doha World Cup | 6 | ||||||
| Commonwealth Games | 7 | ||||||
| European Championships | 4 | ||||||
| British Team Championships | 20 | ||||||
| 2019 | English Championships | 68 | |||||
| British Championships | 8 | 5 | |||||
| British Team Championships | 4 | 6 | |||||
| World Championships | 6 | ||||||
| 2025 | British Team Championships | 4 |