Heath Thorpe (born 3 September 2000) is an Australian artistic gymnast. He represented Australia at the 2022 World Championships and at the 2019 Summer Universiade.

Heath Thorpe
Full nameHeath Thorpe
Born (2000-09-03) 3 September 2000 (age 25)[1]
Australia
Gymnastics career
Country
represented
Australia Australia
(2017–present)
ClubNew South Wales High Performance Centre
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Men's artistic gymnastics
Oceania Championships
Gold medal – first place2022 Gold CoastTeam
Gold medal – first place2022 Gold CoastFloor Exercise
Gold medal – first place2023 CarraraTeam
Gold medal – first place2023 CarraraFloor Exercise
Silver medal – second place2022 Gold CoastVault
Silver medal – second place2023 CarraraHorizontal Bar
Bronze medal – third place2022 Gold CoastHorizontal Bar

Personal life

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Thorpe studied communication at the Queensland University of Technology.[2] He currently resides in Sydney, Australia. He is openly gay.[3]

Gymnastics career

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2018

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Thorpe made his international debut as a junior at the 2018 RD761 Junior International Team Cup, where he placed third in the vault final.[4] 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.[5]

Thorpe competed at the 2018 Australian Gymnastics Championships and placed first on floor.[6]

In October, Gymnastics Australia announced Thorpe to the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships team.[7] While in Doha, Thorpe was announced as the alternate for the team and did not compete in the event.[8]

2019

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In February, Thorpe was announced to compete at the Individual Apparatus Artistic Gymnastics World Cup taking place in Melbourne,[9] despite having had surgery to remove screws from his elbow just eight weeks prior to the event.[10]

Thorpe competed at the 2019 Australian Gymnastics Championships, finishing sixth all around, second on floor and third on vault in the senior international competition.[11]

Thorpe was announced to represent his country at the 2019 Summer Universiade in Naples, Italy.[12] Thorpe went on to qualify to the event finals, placing sixth in the vault final.

2020–2021

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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.[13] 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.[14] 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.

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.

2022

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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 the FIG.

2023

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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.[15][16]

Competitive history

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Competitive history of Health Thorpe
Year Event Team AA FX PH SR VT PB HB
2018 RD761 Junior International Team Cup73rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Pacific Rim Championships44
Australian Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 Australian Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)62nd place, silver medalist(s)53rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Summer Universiade86
2021 Australian Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Wase Gym Cup1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
2022 Australian Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)52nd place, silver medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Oceania Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)41st place, gold medalist(s)862nd place, silver medalist(s)73rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Szombathely Challenge Cup5
World Championships2250
2023 DTB Pokal Team Challenge14
Oceania Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)682nd place, silver medalist(s)
Australian Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)
2024 DTB Pokal Team Challenge10
Luxembourg Open2nd place, silver medalist(s)63rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Australian Championships3rd place, bronze medalist(s)95171st place, gold medalist(s)
Oceania Championships3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Wase Gymcup1st place, gold medalist(s)
2025 Osijek World Cup5
World University Games67
World Championships58

References

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  1. "THORPE Heath – FIG Athlete Profile".
  2. "2019 WSG Gymnastics | UniSport Australia". unisport. Archived from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  3. "The Australian athletes championing LGBTIQ+ pride in sport". Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  4. "U.S. wins team bronze at 2018 RD761 Junior International Team Cup". USA Gymnastics. 22 January 2018.
  5. "2018 Pacific Rim Championships Snr MAG Event Finals" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  6. "MAG 2018 Nationals Results". Gymnastics Australia. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  7. "Worlds Team Announcement". Gymnastics Australia. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  8. "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.
  9. "Gymnastics Australia Announces 2019 World Cup Team". Gymnastics Australia. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  10. "World Cup Wrap". www.gymqld.org.au. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  11. "Results | Ausgymnasticschamps". ausgymnasticschamps.com.au. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  12. "2019 World Universiade Team Announcement". Gymnastics Australia. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  13. Countdown to Aus Champs – Ep 2, retrieved 4 July 2021
  14. "Results | Ausgymnasticschamps". ausgymnasticschamps.com.au. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  15. Bregman, Scott. "Aussie champ Heath Thorpe left off 2023 World Championships team – Gymnastics weekly news". Olympics. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  16. 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.