Heath Thorpe (born 3 September 2000)[2] is an Australian artistic gymnast. He made his World Championships debut at the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.[3] He was a reserve athlete for the Australian team at the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships,[4] and represented his country at the 2019 Summer Universiade.[5] He advanced to the vault final at the 2019 Universiade where he finished sixth.[6] Thorpe is a member of Men's Artistic Gymnastics Australian National Squad (2017–present).[7]

Heath Thorpe
Full nameHeath Thorpe
Country represented Australia
Born (2000-09-03) 3 September 2000 (age 23)[1]
Australia
ResidenceSydney, Australia
Years on national team2017–present
ClubNew South Wales High Performance Centre
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Men's artistic gymnastics
Oceania Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Gold Coast Team
Gold medal – first place 2022 Gold Coast Floor Exercise
Gold medal – first place 2023 Carrara Team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Carrara Floor Exercise
Silver medal – second place 2022 Gold Coast Vault
Silver medal – second place 2023 Carrara Horizontal Bar
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Gold Coast Horizontal Bar

Personal life edit

Thorpe studies at the Queensland University of Technology where he is pursuing a degree in communications.[8] He currently resides in Sydney, Australia. He is openly gay.[9][10]

Gymnastics career edit

2018

Thorpe made his international debut as a junior at the 2018 RD761 Junior International Team Cup, where he placed third in the vault final.[11] Thorpe then went on to make his senior international debut at the 2018 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships in April and qualified to the vault final, to finish fourth.[12]

Thorpe competed at the 2018 Australian Gymnastics Championships and placed first on floor.[13]

In October, Gymnastics Australia announced Thorpe to the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships team.[14] While in Doha, Thorpe was announced as the alternate for the team and did not compete in the event.[15]

2019

In February, Thorpe was announced to compete at the Individual Apparatus Artistic Gymnastics World Cup taking place in Melbourne,[16] despite having had surgery to remove screws from his elbow just eight weeks prior to the event.[17]

Thorpe competed at the 2019 Australian Gymnastics Championships, finishing sixth all around, second on floor and third on vault in the senior international competition.[18]

Thorpe was announced to represent his country at the 2019 Summer Universiade in Naples, Italy.[19] Thorpe went on to qualify to the event finals, placing sixth in the vault final.[20]

2021–2022

Thorpe missed out on qualifying for the Oceania quota spot for the Tokyo Olympic Games following a subpar performance at a National Team Camp in April.[21] Despite this, Thorpe competed and finished third all around at the 2021 Australian Gymnastics Championships, hosted on the Gold Coast, in May. His success in the all around was accompanied by a first place in the team event and a second place finish on horizontal bar.[22] Due to a hamstring injury, he could not compete in floor and vault finals, where he finished first place on both apparatus during the all around competition on day 1.[23]

Thorpe competed in Bundesliga for TG Allgäu in Germany throughout September and October 2021. This was his first professional competitive season. Thorpe also went on to compete in the Wase GymCup in Belgium under the Australian flag where he placed first on floor, horizontal bar and second on vault.

2023 edit

In May, Thorpe won his first all-around title at the 2023 Australian Gymnastics Championships at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre in Carrara, Queensland. Despite this, he was not named to the Australian team for the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.[24][25]

Eponymous skill edit

In 2022, Thorpe submitted a request to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) to allow leaps to be added to the Code of Points for Men's Artistic Gymnastics. The request was denied by FIG.

Competitive history edit

Year Event Team AA FX PH SR VT PB HB
Senior
2018 Pacific Rim Championships 4 4
Australian Championships    
2019 Australian Championships   6   5  
Summer Universiade 8 6
2021 Australian Championships      
Wase Gym Cup      
2022 Australian Championships   5      
Oceania Championships   4   8 6   7  
Szombathely Challenge Cup 5
World Championships 22 50
2023 DTB Pokal Team Challenge 14
Oceania Championships     6 8  
Australian Championships  
2024 DTB Pokal Team Challenge

References edit

  1. ^ "THORPE Heath – FIG Athlete Profile".
  2. ^ https://results.universiade2019napoli.it/assets/pdf/SENIORS%20-%20Individual%20-%20EntryListByNocMag.pdf [dead link]
  3. ^ "Gymnastics Australia". gymnastics-australia-stage.incrowdsports.com. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Worlds Team Announcement". Gymnastics Australia. Archived from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  5. ^ https://results.universiade2019napoli.it/assets/pdf/SENIORS%20-%20Individual%20-%20Qualification%20Floor%20exercises%20ApparatusResultsMag.pdf [dead link]
  6. ^ https://results.universiade2019napoli.it/assets/pdf/SENIORS%20-%20Individual%20-%20Apparatus%20Final%20Vault%20ApparatusResultsMag.pdf [dead link]
  7. ^ "MAG National Squad". Gymnastics Australia. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  8. ^ "2019 WSG Gymnastics | UniSport Australia". unisport. Archived from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  9. ^ "r/Gymnastics – Diego Hypolito officially comes out: "I want people to know that I'm gay and that I'm not ashamed of it."". reddit. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  10. ^ "The Australian athletes championing LGBTIQ+ pride in sport". Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  11. ^ "2018 RD761 Jr Event Results" (PDF). Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  12. ^ "2018 Pacific Rim Championships Snr MAG Event Finals" (PDF). Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  13. ^ "MAG 2018 Nationals Results". Gymnastics Australia. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Worlds Team Announcement". Gymnastics Australia. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Heath Thorpe on Instagram: "Podium training was a heap of fun and a pretty successful day on the big stage! As expected coming over here to Doha, I was always the…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  16. ^ "Gymnastics Australia Announces 2019 World Cup Team". Gymnastics Australia. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  17. ^ "World Cup Wrap". www.gymqld.org.au. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  18. ^ "Results | Ausgymnasticschamps". ausgymnasticschamps.com.au. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  19. ^ "2019 World Universiade Team Announcement". Gymnastics Australia. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  20. ^ "2019 Universiade MAG Event Final Results" (PDF). Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  21. ^ Countdown to Aus Champs – Ep 2, retrieved 4 July 2021
  22. ^ "Results | Ausgymnasticschamps". ausgymnasticschamps.com.au. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  23. ^ Twitter https://twitter.com/thorpeheath/status/1396366733514969091. Retrieved 4 July 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ^ Bregman, Scott. "Aussie champ Heath Thorpe left off 2023 World Championships team – Gymnastics weekly news". Olympics. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  25. ^ Duffy, Patricia (19 July 2023). "Reigning Australian all-around champion Heath Thorpe left off world championships team – Gymnastics Now". gymnastics-now.com. Retrieved 28 September 2023.